Figure skating

Figure skating

Figure Skater Carolina Kostner
Highest governing body	International Skating Union
Nicknames	Skating
First played	1742 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Characteristics
Team members	Individuals, duos, or groups
Mixed sex	Yes
Equipment	Figure skates
Glossary	Glossary of figure skating terms
Presence
Olympic	Part of the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1920; Part of the first Winter Olympics in 1924 to today

Figure skating is both an art and a sport, in which people skate around on ice, doing jumps and spins. It is done at the Winter Olympics, and it has its own world championships. The name means to make figures or patterns on the ice. People skate with music.

In figure skating, sometimes women or men skate alone, or they skate in couples. Couples dancing includes pairs and ice dancing. Pairs skating has jumps, and sometimes the man lifts the woman in the air. These things are not done in ice dancing. In ice dancing, the woman must be held in the man's arms. Another kind of figure skating is synchronized skating done in groups.