Sixes Across The Board

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean reacting to a scoreboard full of 6.0's

Not so long ago, a judging system existed where talented young jumpers with as much musical sense as gymnasts didn't receive 9.25's for Interpretation of the Music at the Olympic Games. It wasn't a perfect system by any means, as was evidenced in numerous judging fiascos. Who could forget the Austrian 'calculation office' in the fifties, the Soviet judging ban in the seventies, the 'tap-dancing' judges in the nineties and the Salt Lake City scandal of 2002? That said, the 6.0 judging system managed to accomplish something its successor still hasn't quite figured out - deliver scores that are memorable. Mnemonists, let alone die-hard fans, would struggle to rattle off their favourite skater's TES and PCS scores from the last Olympics. They would certainly remember a shorter and sweeter number that for decades was the benchmark of perfection - a perfect six. Today's blog highlights the skaters who have achieved perfect marks on Olympic ice and at Senior ISU Championships!

Robin Cousins' short program from the 1980 Winter Olympic Games

PERFECT MARKS GIVEN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (INCOMPLETE)

Year	Skater	Phase Of Competition	Number Of 6.0's	Notes
1908	Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger*	Free Skate	7	AUT, GRB (Contents Of The Programme), GER, AUT, ARG, GRB, RUS (Manner Of Performance)
1908	Phyllis and James Henry Johnson	Free Skate	1	AUT (Contents Of The Programme)
1908	Madge and Edgar Syers	Free Skate	2	AUT, ARG (Manner Of Performance)
1932	Emília Rotter and László Szollás	Free Skate	2	HUN (Contents Of The Programme), HUN (Manner Of Performance)
1948	Dick Button	Free Skate	1	USA (Contents Of The Programme)
1960	David Jenkins	Free Skate	1	CZE (Manner Of Performance)
1968	Emmerich Danzer	Free Skate	1	ITA (Artistic Impression)
1972	Janet Lynn	Free Skate	1	SWE (Artistic Impression)
1976	Dorothy Hamill	Short Program	1	ITA (Presentation)
1976	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Short Program	1	CZE (Required Elements)
1976	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	SOV (Composition)
1976	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	1	SOV (Artistic Impression)
1980	Robin Cousins	Short Program	1	CAN (Presentation)
1984	Rosalynn Sumners	Free Skate	1	ITA (Artistic Impression)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Compulsory Dance #3	3	HUN, GRB, JPN (Combined Score)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Set Pattern Dance	4	HUN (Composition), HUN, ITA, CAN (Presentation)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	12	HUN, GRB, JPN (Technical Merit), HUN, SOV, FRG, GRB, JPN, CZE, ITA, CAN, USA (Artistic Impression)
1988	Brian Orser	Free Skate	1	CZE (Artistic Impression)
1988	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	FRA (Presentation)
1988	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	3	SOV, ITA, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1994	Viktor Petrenko	Free Skate	1	ROM (Presentation)
1994	Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov	Free Skate	1	RUS (Artistic Impression)
1994	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	1	RUS (Artistic Impression)
1994	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Dance	2	UKR, GRB (Presentation)
1994	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	1	GRB (Artistic Impression)
1998	Elvis Stojko	Short Program	1	CAN (Presentation)
1998	Philippe Candeloro	Free Skate	1	FRA (Presentation)
1998	Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev	Free Skate	1	CZE (Presentation)
1998	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	2	ITA, FRA (Presentation)
2002	Alexei Yagudin	Free Skate	3	USA, ROM, AZE (Presentation)

*In figure skating's early days, the Closed Marking System was used. Records from the first five Olympics recorded judge's totals and ordinals for singles events, not their marks in each category. However, published results from the pairs events in 1908, 1924 and 1932 recorded each judge's individual scores. At the pairs event at the 1908 Summer Games in London, all three pairs received at least one perfect mark of 6.0. Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger received a total of seven 6.0's – including unanimous perfect marks for Manner Of Performance.

Toller Cranston's short program and free skate at the 1974 World Championships. Video courtesy Frazer Ormondroyd.

PERFECT MARKS GIVEN AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (INCOMPLETE)

Year	Skater	Phase Of Competition	Number Of 6.0's	Notes
1930	Karl Schäfer*	Compulsory Figures**	11	AUT (One Perfect Score For Each Figure)
1949	Dick Button	Free Skate	1	USA (Manner Of Performance)
1952	Jacqueline du Bief	Free Skate	1	GER (Manner Of Performance)
1955	Ronnie Robertson	Free Skate	1
1958	David Jenkins	Free Skate	1	Manner Of Performance
1958	Carol Heiss	Free Skate	3
1958	June Markham and Courtney Jones	Free Dance	2	The report in "Skating World" magazine noted "The programme and performance of Courtney Jones and June Markham was outstanding - and some judges produced 6's."
1959	David Jenkins	Free Skate	1	FRA (Manner Of Performance)
1962	Donald Jackson	Free Skate	7	CAN, FRG, HUN (Contents Of The Programme), CAN, CZE, GRB, SOV (Manner Of Performance)
1964	Tommy Litz	Free Skate	1	SOV (Manner Of Performance)
1966	Emmerich Danzer	Free Skate	2	FRG, HUN (Artistic Impression)
1966	Peggy Fleming	Free Skate	1	USA (Artistic Impression)
1966	Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov	Free Skate	1	SUI (Artistic Impression)
1966	Tatiana Zhuk and Aleksandr Gorelik	Free Skate	1	FRG (Technical Merit)
1967	Emmerich Danzer	Free Skate	1	AUT (Artistic Impression)
1968	Peggy Fleming	Free Skate	2	CZE, GRB (Artistic Impression)
1968	Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov	Free Skate	2	FRG, GDR
1968	Diane Towler and Bernard Ford	Free Dance	3	Artistic Impression
1969	Tim Wood	Free Skate	3	USA, FRG, GDR (Artistic Impression)
1970	Tim Wood	Free Skate	3	2 For Technical Merit, 1 For Artistic Impression
1970	Gaby Seyfert	Free Skate	1	GDR (Artistic Impression)
1971	Janet Lynn	Free Skate	2	SUI, ITA (Artistic Impression)
1971	Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov	Free Skate	1	SOV (Artistic Impression)
1972	Sergei Chetverukhin	Free Skate	2	FRA, SOV (Artistic Impression)
1972	Toller Cranston	Free Skate	1	AUT (Artistic Impression)
1972	Janet Lynn	Free Skate	2	HUN, FRG (Artistic Impression)
1972	Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov***	Short Program	2	SOV (Technical Merit), FRG (Artistic Impression)
1973	Toller Cranston	Short Program	1	ROM (Artistic Impression)
1973	Sergei Chetverukhin	Short Program	1	ROM (Artistic Impression)
1973	Ondrej Nepela	Free Skate	1	ROM (Artistic Impression)
1973	Sergei Chetverukhin	Free Skate	1	SOV (Artistic Impression)
1973	Janet Lynn	Free Skate	2	GDR, AUT (Artistic Impression)
1973	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	6	One For Technical Merit, Five For Artistic Impression
1974	Toller Cranston	Short Program	2	Artistic Impression, one from CAN
1974	Toller Cranston	Free Skate	2	CAN, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1974	Dorothy Hamill	Free Skate	1	GRB (Artistic Impression)
1974	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	SOV (Artistic Impression)
1974	Irina Vorobieva and Aleksandr Vlasov	Free Skate	1	SOV
1974	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov****	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	FRG (Presentation)
1974	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	8	SOV (Technical Merit), SUI, POL, USA, HUN, FRG, SOV, CAN (Artistic Impression)
1975	John Curry	Short Program	1	GRB (Artistic Impression)
1975	Yuri Ovchinnikov	Short Program	1	SOV (Artistic Impression)
1975	Toller Cranston	Free Skate	1	HUN (Artistic Impression)
1975	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	GDR (Artistic Impression)
1975	Colleen O'Connor and Jim Millns	Free Dance	1	USA (Artistic Impression)
1976	John Curry	Free Skate	1	GRB (Artistic Impression)
1976	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Original Set Pattern Dance	2
1976	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	10	CZE, SOV, CAN (Technical Merit), ITA, CZE, FRG, AUS, SOV, CAN, AUT (Artistic Impression)
1977	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	JPN (Artistic Impression)
1979	Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner	Free Skate	1	FRG (Artistic Impression)
1979	Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay	Free Dance	1	HUN (Artistic Impression)
1980	Robin Cousins	Free Skate	3	SOV (Technical Merit), SWE, SOV (Artistic Impression)
1982	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Set Pattern Dance	1
1982	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	5	SUI, USA, ITA, JPN, POL (Artistic Impression)
1983	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Set Pattern Dance	7	SUI (Composition), ITA, SUI, JPN, USA, CAN, HUN (Presentation)
1983	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	9	ITA, SUI, JPN, USA, CAN, AUT, SOV, HUN, GRB (Artistic Impression)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Compulsory Dance #2	3	HUN, GRB, SUI (Combined Score)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Compulsory Dance #3	4	HUN, GRB, JPN, SUI (Combined Score)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Set Pattern Dance	9	AUT, SOV, HUN, ITA, USA, GRB, JPN, CAN, SUI (Presentation)
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	13	HUN, ITA, GRB, JPN (Technical Merit), AUT, SOV, HUN, ITA, USA, GRB, JPN, CAN, SUI (Artistic Impression)
1985	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	2	CAN, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1986	Katarina Witt	Free Skate	2	FRG, GDR (Artistic Impression)
1986	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Original Set Pattern Dance	1
1986	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	3	HUN, SOV, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1986	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	1	SUI (Artistic Impression)
1987	Katarina Witt	Free Skate	1	GDR (Artistic Impression)
1987	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	6	AUT, ITA, HUN, POL, FRA, SOV (Artistic Impression)
1987	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	1	FRA (Artistic Impression)
1988	Brian Orser	Free Skate	3	SWE, CAN, SOV (Artistic Impression)
1988	Katarina Witt	Short Program	1	GDR (Presentation)
1988	Katarina Witt	Free Skate	1	BUL (Artistic Impression)
1988	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	FRA (Presentation)
1988	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	2	SOV, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1989	Midori Ito	Original Program	2	ITA, HUN (Technical Merit)
1989	Midori Ito	Free Skate	5	BUL, SWE, ITA, HUN, BEL (Technical Merit)
1989	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Compulsory Dance #2	1	SUI (Combined Score)
1989	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Original Set Pattern Dance	2	SOV, CZE (Presentation)
1989	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	6	AUT (Technical Merit), USA, SOV, JPN, FRA, ITA (Artistic Impression)
1990	Kurt Browning	Original Program	1	HUN (Presentation)
1990	Viktor Petrenko	Original Program	2	AUS, AUT (Presentation)
1990	Midori Ito	Free Skate	3	HUN, SUI, ITA (Technical Merit)
1990	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	JPN (Presentation)
1990	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay	Original Set Pattern Dance	2	POL, FRA (Presentation)
1990	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	1	CZE (Artistic Impression)
1990	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay	Free Dance	5	POL, FRA, USA, CZE, BUL (Artistic Impression)
1991	Viktor Petrenko	Free Skate	1	USA (Artistic Impression))
1991	Petr Barna	Short Program	1	HUN (Presentation)
1991	Kristi Yamaguchi	Free Skate	1	ITA (Artistic Impression)
1991	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay	Free Dance	1	SUI (Artistic Impression)
1991	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin	Compulsory Dance #2	1	SOV (Combined Score)
1991	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	AUT (Presentation)
1992	Petr Barna	Short Program	1	GER (Presentation)
1992	Viktor Petrenko	Free Skate	2	ROM, AUS (Artistic Impression)
1992	Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev	Free Skate	4	POL, FRA, CZE, CIS (Artistic Impression)
1993	Mark Mitchell	Short Program	1	RUS (Artistic Impression)
1993	Kurt Browning	Free Skate	1	FRA (Artistic Impression)
1994	Elvis Stojko	Free Skate	1	USA (Technical Merit)
1995	Elvis Stojko	Free Skate	1	FRA (Technical Merit)
1996	Michelle Kwan	Free Skate	2	BUL, JPN (Presentation)
1996	Lu Chen	Free Skate	2	FRA, HUN (Presentation)
1997	Elvis Stojko	Free Skate	1	ITA (Technical Merit)
1997	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Original Dance	1	FRA (Presentation)
1997	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	2	ITA, GRB (Presentation)
1998	Michelle Kwan	Short Program	1	CAN (Presentation)
1999	Alexei Yagudin	Free Skate	1	POL (Presentation)
1999	Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov	Free Dance	1	RUS (Presentation)
2000	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat	Free Dance	4	FRA, ISR, USA, POL (Presentation)
2002	Alexei Yagudin	Short Program	6	ISU (Technical Merit), ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2002	Alexei Yagudin	Free Skate	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2002	Irina Slutskaya	Short Program	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2003	Evgeni Plushenko	Qualifying Group A	1	ISU (Presentation)
2003	Michelle Kwan	Short Program	1	ISU (Presentation)
2003	Michelle Kwan	Free Skate	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2003	Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao	Free Skate	4	ISU, ISU (Technical Merit), ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2003	Irina Lobatcheva and Ilya Averbukh	Free Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)
2004	Evgeni Plushenko	Free Skate	4	ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2004	Sasha Cohen	Short Program	4	ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2004	Michelle Kwan	Free Skate	6	ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2004	Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin	Short Program	1	ISU (Presentation)
2004	Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao	Free Skate	12	ISU, ISU (Technical Merit), ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Artistic Impression)
2004	Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin	Free Skate	1	ISU (Presentation)
2004	Qing Pang and Jian Tong	Free Skate	1	ISU (Presentation)
2004	Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov	Original Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)
2004	Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov	Free Dance	9	ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2004	Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski	Free Dance	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2004	Kati Winkler and Rene	Free Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)

*In 1930, Karl Schäfer was awarded perfect 6.0's for eleven of the twelve compulsory figures by Austrian judge Julius Edhoffer. The editors of "Skating" magazine noted: "Mr. Edhoffer was quite upset when he learned that we criticised him somewhat for giving Schäfer eleven sixes on school figures, and we had a very interesting conversation with him and the Brunets on that subject. He stated that in Germany, Austria and the Scandinavian countries the judges use six to show the best performance on any particular figure and he was much surprised when we told him we felt that our judges considered six perfection and practically never used it. The Brunets said that although six had been used to their knowledge in France, it was not customary and they thought the English regarded it as perfection as we do."

**In 1969, two-time Olympian Per Cock-Clausen noted, "Prior to and just after World War II, good figure skaters seldom received marks below 5.0 in any figure, and sometimes such skaters as Sonja Henie and Karl Schaefer even received a 6.0. But very few skaters ever earned a 5.5 in the free... With the exception of a few post-war skaters such as Jeannette Altwegg, Tenley Albright and Carol Heiss, figure standards decreased.... particularly in the areas of style, circles and clean turns, during recent years judges have rarely come up to a 5.0 in any figure. On the other hand, very few top free skaters ever receive marks below 5.3. Often marks of 5.8 and 5.9 are awarded. Even if free-skating standards have risen and figure standards have declined, the results have been over-emphasized through the marking of most judges." One of the highest marks given in figures at an ISU Championship after the fifties was a 5.2, received by Olympic Gold Medallist Trixi Schuba.

***Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov made history as the first duo to receive a pair of 6.0's in the pairs short program at the World Championships in 1972.

****Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Zaitsev's 6.0-winning OSP in 1974 later became a compulsory dance – the Tango Romantica.

Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay's free dance at the 1990 European Championships

PERFECT MARKS GIVEN AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (INCOMPLETE)

Year	Skater	Phase Of Competition	Number Of 6.0's	Notes
1936	Karl Schäfer	Free Skate	4	AUT, CZE (Contents Of The Programme), AUT, CZE (Manner Of Performance)
1936	Felix Kaspar	Free Skate	2	GER, FIN (Contents Of The Programme)
1961	Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler	Free Skate	1	Sporting Merit
1965	Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov	Free Skate	1	FIN (Artistic Impression)
1966	Emmerich Danzer	Free Skate	2	Artistic Impression
1966	Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov	Free Skate	2	Artistic Impression
1967	Diane Towler and Bernard Ford	Free Dance	2	FRA, HOL (Artistic Impression)
1969	Gaby Seyfert	Free Skate	4	AUT, GDR, HUN, ITA (Artistic Impression)
1969	Diane Towler and Bernard Ford	Free Dance	1
1970	Gaby Seyfert	Free Skate	3	Artistic Impression
1970	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	2
1972	Sonja Morgenstern	Free Skate	1	ITA (Artistic Impression)
1972	Angelika and Erich Buck	Free Dance	1	FRG (Artistic Impression)
1973	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Short Program	3	1 for Technical Merit, 2 for Presentation
1973	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	12	4 for Technical Merit, 8 for Artistic Impression
1973	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	1	Artistic Impression
1974	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Short Program	3
1974	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	11	7 for Technical Merit, 4 for Artistic Impression
1974	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	10	2 for Technical Merit, 8 for Artistic Impression
1975	Vladimir Kovalev	Free Skate	1	FRG (Technical Merit)
1975	John Curry	Free Skate	1	FRA (Artistic Impression)
1975	Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov	Short Program	3	Presentation
1975	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	3
1976	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Short Program	6	1 for Technical Merit, 5 for Presentation
1976	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	SUI
1976	Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov	Free Dance	3	Artistic Impression
1976	Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov	Free Dance	1	Artistic Impression
1977	Robin Cousins	Short Program	1	Artistic Impression
1977	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	Artistic Impression
1977	Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov	Free Dance	2	Artistic Impression
1978	Robin Cousins	Short Program	1	AUT (Artistic Impression)
1978	Robin Cousins	Free Skate	1	FRA (Artistic Impression)
1978	Denise Biellmann	Free Skate	1	GRB (Technical Merit)
1978	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Short Program	1
1978	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	Artistic Impression
1979	Robin Cousins	Short Program	1	FRG (Presentation)
1979	Robin Cousins	Free Skate	2	Artistic Impression
1980	Robin Cousins	Free Skate	3	SOV, YUG, POL (Artistic Impression)
1980	Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev	Free Skate	1	POL (Technical Merit)
1982	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Set Pattern Dance	3	GRB, FRA, AUT (Presentation)
1982	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	11	3 for Technical Merit, 8 for Artistic Impression
1984	Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev	Free Skate	2	Artistic Impression
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean*	Compulsory Dance (Rhumba)	1
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Set Pattern Dance	6	Presentation
1984	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Free Dance	11	3 for Technical Merit, 8 for Artistic Impression
1985	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	8	SUI (Technical Merit), AUT, SOV, SUI, FRG, CZE, ITA, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1986	Jozef Sabovčík	Free Skate	1	SOV (Technical Merit)
1986	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	4	BUL, SOV, ITA, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1987	Alexandr Fadeev	Free Skate	3	1 for Technical Merit, 2 for Artistic Impression
1987	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	5	Artistic Impression
1988	Katarina Witt	Short Program	5	YUG (Technical Merit), YUG, POL, HUN, GDR (Presentation)
1988	Katarina Witt	Free Skate	2	HUN, GDR (Artistic Impression)
1988	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Original Set Pattern Dance	3	HUN, ITA, SOV (Presentation)
1988	Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin	Free Dance	7	HUN, SUI, ITA, CZE, SOV, AUT, FRG (Artistic Impression)
1989	Alexandr Fadeev	Free Skate	4	BUL, YUG, FRA, HUN (Artistic Impression)
1989	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	2	SOV, ITA (Artistic Impression)
1989	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin	Free Dance	1	SOV (Artistic Impression)
1990	Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov	Free Skate	1	YUG (Artistic Impression)
1990	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Original Set Pattern Dance	1	BUL (Artistic Impression)
1990	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	2	HUN, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1990	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay	Free Dance	1	FRA (Artistic Impression)
1991	Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay	Free Dance	1	FRA (Artistic Impression)
1992	Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko	Free Dance	4	AUT, ITA, FIN, CZE (Artistic Impression)
1993	Maya Usova and Alexandr Zhulin	Free Dance	2	UKR, FRA (Artistic Impression)
1994	Viktor Petrenko	Technical Program	2	POL, SVK (Technical Merit)
1994	Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov	Free Skate	4	CZE, RUS, SUI, BLS (Artistic Impression)
1994	Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean	Original Dance	2	GRB, CZE (Presentation)
1994	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	3	POL, GRB, GER (Artistic Impression)
1995	Alexei Urmanov	Free Skate	1	GEO (Presentation)
1997	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	6	EST, POL, ITA, HUN, AUT, FIN (Presentation)
1997	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	6	EST, POL, ITA, HUN, FIN, GER (Presentation)
1998	Philippe Candeloro	Free Skate	1	BEL (Presentation)
1998	Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze	Short Program	1	POL (Presentation)
1998	Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov	Free Dance	4	AUT, LIT, ITA, RUS (Presentation)
1999	Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov	Original Dance	1	HUN (Presentation)
2000	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat	Free Dance	2	FRA, ITA (Presentation)
2001	Evgeni Plushenko	Free Skate	3	ISU (Technical Merit), ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2001	Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze	Free Skate	1	ISU (Presentation)
2001	Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio	Original Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)
2002	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat	Original Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)
2002	Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat	Free Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)
2003	Evgeni Plushenko	Free Skate	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2003	Irina Lobatcheva and Ilya Averbukh	Original Dance	1	ISU (Presentation)
2003	Irina Lobatcheva and Ilya Averbukh	Free Dance	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2004	Evgeni Plushenko	Short Program	1	ISU (Presentation)

*Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's 6.0 for the Rhumba in 1984 was the first perfect mark for a compulsory dance at the European Championships.

Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao's free skate from the 2003 Four Continents Championships

PERFECT MARKS GIVEN AT THE FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year	Skater	Phase Of Competition	Number Of 6.0's	Notes
2000	Jamie Salé and David Pelletier	Free Skate	1	FRA (Presentation)
2001	Jamie Salé and David Pelletier	Free Skate	1	ISU (Presentation)
2003	Takeshi Honda	Free Skate	5	ISU, ISU (Technical Merit), ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2003	Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao	Free Skate	3	ISU, ISU (Technical Merit), ISU (Presentation)
2003	Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz	Original Dance	2	ISU, ISU (Presentation)
2003	Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz	Free Dance	5	ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU, ISU (Presentation)

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html. 

The Art Of Special Figures

"For quite a long period... this branch of skating was placed in the forefront of skating artistry, and halted the development of pure skating. More than anything else it was a skater's ability to cut upon the ice the most original creation in artistic design and to execute it with ease and elegance that stamped him as a champion. But the craze for a designing was a temporary diversion from the true course of development in skating. It did however show how much could be done upon a skate." - Nigel Brown, "Ice-Skating: A History", 1959

Figure skating was first contested at the Olympic Games in London, England in 1908. Sweden's Ulrich Salchow and Great Britain's Madge Syers were the victors in the men's and women's events and Germany's Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger won the gold medal in the pairs competition. Russia's Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin had the distinction of winning a gold medal in a fourth category, at the time termed Gentlemen's Special Figure Skating. The 1908 Games marked the only time that Special Figures were contested at the Olympic Games, but the rise in popularity and demise of this specialized branch of skating was far from straight-forward. 

Skaters have had a fascination with carving out discernable patterns on the ice for centuries. In 1772, in the oldest surviving book on figure skating, Captain Robert Jones described how "to cut the figure of a heart on one leg". Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century in North America, the best 'fancy' skaters of the day were celebrated not for their jumping and spinning prowess, nor their skill at basic figures, but their ability to use their blades as quills. 

In 1882, the Internationalen Preis-Figurenlaufen (Great International Skating Tournament) was held in Vienna, Austria. Skaters were required to demonstrate their proficiency at a long list of school figures, as well as exhibit a specialty or 'special figure' of their own choosing. It was in this 'special figure' category that Axel Paulsen demonstrated his namesake jump. Another skater, Theodore Langer, chose to perform an intricate star figure. By the time the Neva Skating Association in St. Petersburg hosted another major international competition in 1890, there were three distinctly defined, separate categories: compulsory figures, special figures (patterns) and 'fantasifigurer' (free skating). The winner of the special figure competition, Russia's Alexei Pavlovich Lebedeff, tied for first place in the free skating category and included several of his special figure designs in his winning performance. 

Georg Sanders, in Irving Brokaw's book "The Art Of Skating", posited, "The origin of the name 'Special Figures' is pretty obvious. It first came into vogue when, many years ago, an opportunity was given to figure skaters to exhibit whatever special degree of proficiency they might have attained in movements or drawings on the ice. Thus some were past masters in jumping, executing pirouettes, spread-eagles, grapevines, and pivot figures... Then deftness in cutting various patterns on the ice surface furnished the basis of another important class of special figures... A more correct designation would, perhaps, be Figure Combinations or Figure Designs... Special figures ought, as far as possible, to be original, the creations of the artistic faculty of each individual, and a proof of his ability to adapt, combine and harmonize. The elements of school figures and various supplementary figures supply the materials on which his ingenuity goes to work, out of which he produces fresh designs."

Special Figures were often skated on one foot, through a combination of rockers, loops, counters, brackets and threes connected by edges and crosscuts. They also often included a type of figure at the time referred to as Beaks, which were variations on rockers and counters where, instead of the curves being carried forward, they were brought sharply back by swinging the free foot forward at the same time the skating foot moved in front. 

Special Figures emphasized pattern over form, and due to their small size often entailed rather jarring, lurching movements of both the free foot and arms, which made them inherently unattractive to English Style skaters. Montagu Sneade Monier-Williams' 1892 book "Figure-Skating Simple And Combined" bemoaned, "Small figures which are performed on one foot, and which, owing to the energetic action of the unemployed leg, and strange contortions of the body they seem to necessitate, have earned for themselves the generic name of 'Kickers.'... These interesting little figures are of a too stationary nature to work well in 'combined skating'... These figures so often proved themselves to be absolutely destructive to the good form of those who practise them."

However, the very best exponents of Special Figures were able to accomplish both form and finesse. In their book "The Art Of Skating: International Style", Madge and Edgar Syers recalled, "Most of them are difficult to skate in good form, owing to the incessant and rapid action of the free foot, which is apt to give the appearance of a series of kicks. These figures should be skated slowly and the effort should be concealed as much as possible... Panin, who has made this branch of skating his [specialty], was mathematically precise in his tracings, and his positions and movements were never in the least awkward or jerky; with body and head erect he found it only necessary to glance occasionally at the maze of curves and turns which his skate described with such consummate ease."

Special Figures were a specialized niche, practiced mainly by only the best skaters in the world... because they were hard to do. They were particularly popular in Russia and Finland, which was then a Royal Duchy of the Russian Empire. Georg Sanders, Alexei Pavlovich Lebedeff, Karl Antonovich Ollo and John Catani were all masters of the art. 

The earliest winners at ISU Championships - skaters like Gustav Hügel, Gilbert Fuchs and Ulrich Salchow - all excelled at Special Figures, in addition to school figures and free skating. The top skaters of the day in the Victorian and Edwardian eras often plagiarized each others' designs, no doubt leading to many skirmishes that were never recorded. Ulrich Salchow's famous row with Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin at the 1908 Olympic Games was likely exacerbated by the fact that Panin-Kolomenkin handed him a rare defeat at an international Special Figures competition in St. Petersburg earlier that year.

A skater's skill talent at Special Figures was a boost to their reputation, and indeed an integral part of their success at free skating. A well-balanced free skating program for much of the early twentieth century included not only dance steps, small jumps and spins, pivots, spirals and spread eagles, but both school and special figures.

Arthur Cumming, the 1908 Olympic Silver Medallist in Special Figures (top) and Special Figures of Cumming's design (bottom)

As was the case at the 1908 Olympics, skaters competing in Special Figures competitions in Russia, Russian Finland, Sweden, Austria and Germany at the turn of the century were required to submit  diagrams of their figures in a sealed envelope, as well as provide descriptions, to the judges days before any competition. This format took Planned Program Content to the extreme... nearly a century before the IJS System was even conceived.

Not every attempt to translate art to ice was a success story. In an article in "The Field" in 1909, Geoffrey Hall-Say, who won the bronze medal in Special Figures at the 1908 Games, remarked that some unsuccessful attempts of translating designs to the ice resulted in "something like that which would be produced by a child scrawling in a large unformed hand with a diamond on a sheet of plate glass." Hall-Say also jokingly suggested that "Fig. 40 - the portrait of a skating judge - may be recommended to an unsuccessful competitor." Hall-Say and Arthur Cumming's participation in the Special Figures event in 1908 was particularly interesting, as Great Britain's National Skating Association had abandoned their test for Special Figures seven years prior to the Games.

A Portrait Of A Skating Judge figure, described by Geoffrey Hall-Say

Numerous factors contributed to Special Figures falling out of vogue. The ISU's 1897 adoption of a schedule of school figures, as well as their exclusion of Special Figures at ISU Championships after 1896, was one factor. The rise in popularity of the Continental Style, with its focus on free movement and form, was another. Of Special Figures in 1913, Hugo Winzer wrote, "These tricky things demand continual training - and spoil the fine, artistic skating."

It's also key to recognize the fact that as this branch of skating was such a specialized, niche pursuit, the premature deaths of several of its top exponents no doubt hastened its popularity. Alexander Nikitich Panschin committed suicide in 1904; Karl Antonovich Ollo and Ivan Pavlovich Malinin died on the front lines during The Great War. 

Gillis Grafström

By the roaring twenties, exceedingly few skaters devoted any effort whatsoever to Special Figures. Madge and Edgar Syers suggested that weather played a rule in their exclusion from free skating programs. Many ISU Championships were held outdoors under unpredictable and, at times, grueling conditions. In their "Book Of Winter Sports", the Syers' wrote, "The uncertainty of reproducing in competitions figures which a slight inequality in the ice or a gust of wind may mar, has led to their being generally omitted from free skating."

Gillis Grafström's Change-Of-Edge star figure

Though he was in the minority, Olympic Gold Medallist Gillis Grafström, demonstrated an unusual interest and ability in this area. Though Grafström never competed in a Special Figures competition, he was responsible for the creation of dozens of new patterns. In 1943, future ISU Historian Benjamin T. Wright recalled, "He invented more than fifty... In England in 1937 the National Skating Association instituted a Platinum Test, even higher than the Gold, which included some of [his] special figures, such as rocker eights, counter eights, three-loop-three, bracket-rocker-bracket and various others. This test was taken and passed at Bournemouth by Graham Sharp, the present World Champion." North American skaters Tim Brown and Gary Beacom devoted time and effort to mastering Special Figures in the decades that followed.

Quilt created by Marion Wolfe of Wisconsin, displayed at the 1993 U.S. Championships. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Many know that dramatic video of the last figures being skated at the World Championships in Nova Scotia in 1990 and the gradual demise of the compulsory figures in international competition, but few mourn the loss of Special Figures. Perhaps that's because beautiful pictures are still being painted on the ice today... just in a different way.

SPECIAL FIGURES COMPETITIONS OF NOTE

This data has been compiled from various German, Austrian, Russian, Swedish and Finnish newspaper archives, as well as Gilbert Fuchs' book “Theories und Praxis des Kunstlaufs am Eise” and Georg Sanders' chapter on Special Figures in the first edition of Irving Brokaw's book “The Art Of Skating”.

Year and Location	Event	Winner	2nd	3rd
1879 (St. Petersburg)	Yusupov Gardens Specialfiguren-Wettbewerb	Alexei Pavlovich Lebedeff	(not recorded)	(not recorded)
1882 (Vienna)	Internationalen Preis-Figurenlaufen (Great International Skating Tournament)*	Leopold Frey	Eduard Engelmann Jr.	Axel Paulsen
1883 (Helsinki)	Skridskotäflan i Helsingfors	Alexei Pavlovich Lebedeff	John Catani	Rudolf Sundgrén
1887 (Munich)	Preis-Figurenlaufen	Robert Büchtger	Victor Seybert	Franz Rosenstengel
1888 (Stockholm)	Skridskotäflingarna i Stockholm	Rudolf Sundgrén	Ivar Hult	Alfred Franklin
1889 (Helsinki)	Skridskotäflingarna i Stockholm - Den Internationella Amatörstäflingen - Men	Rudolf Sundgrén	Ivar Hult	John Catani
1889 (Helsinki)	Skridskotäflingarna i Stockholm - Den Internationella Amatörstäflinge – Women	Nadja Franck	Anna Weibull	Magda Mauroy
1889 (St. Petersburg)	Wettlaufen St. Petersburg – Simesnovski-Eisbahn	Georg Sanders	N. Semenoff	(not recorded)
1890 (St. Petersburg)	Internationale Kunstlaufen**	Alexei Pavlovich Lebedeff	Louis Rubenstein/John Catani (tie)	Carl Kaiser
1891 (St. Petersburg)	Kunstlaufen, Simesnovski-Eisbahn	Georg Sanders	(not recorded)	(not recorded)
1891 (St. Petersburg)	Kunstlaufen, Stern-Eisbahn	Georg Sanders	Herr Simnitzki	(not recorded)
1892 (St. Petersburg)	Spezialfiguren-Wettlaufen (St. Petersburg Society Of Ice Skating Amateurs)	Georg Sanders	(not recorded)	(not recorded)
1896 (St. Petersburg)	World Championships – Special Figures	Georg Sanders	Gilbert Fuchs	Gustav Hügel
1897 (St. Petersburg)	Spezialfiguren-Wettlaufen (St. Petersburg Society Of Ice Skating Amateurs)	Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin	Herr Morozoff	Herr Rimer
1903 (Munich)	Specialfiguren-Wettlaufen des Münchener Eislaufvereines	Gilbert Fuchs	Ludwig Niedermeyer	(not recorded)
1906 (St. Petersburg)	Specialfiguren-Wettbewerb um den Alexander Panschin-Preis	Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin	Ulrich Salchow	Karl Ollo
1907 (Davos)	Spezialfigurenlaufen (held in conjunction with European Speed Skating Championships)	Phyllis (Squire) Johnson	Edgar Syers/Dr. Halden (tie)	H. Charles Holt
1907 (St. Petersburg)	Specialfiguren-Wettbewerb um den Alexander Panschin-Preis	Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin	Fedor Datlin	(not recorded)
1908 (St. Petersburg)	World Championships - Specialfiguren-Wettbewerb um den Alexander Panschin-Preis***	Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin	Ulrich Salchow	Karl Ollo
1908 (London)	Olympic Games – Special Figures	Nikolay Panin-Kolomenkin	Arthur Cumming	Geoffrey Hall-Say
1909 (Paris)	Specialfiguren-Wettlaufen Club des Patineurs	Louis Magnus	Lucien Trugard	Maurice del Valle
1909 (St. Petersburg)	Jubileumstäfling	Karl Ollo	H.O. Wächter	Oskar Hoppe
1909 (Vyborg)	Internationell konståkning om N. D. Bojarinoff's vandringssköld****	Karl Ollo	Aleksander Huuri	T. Landelius
1910 (Vyborg)	Internationell konståkning om N. D. Bojarinoff's vandringssköld****	Karl Ollo	Aleksander Huuri	Sakari Ilmanen
1912 (Vyborg)	Internationell konståkning om N. D. Bojarinoff's vandringssköld****	Karl Ollo	Herr Langenheim	(no other competitors)
1913 (Vyborg)	Internationell konståkning om N. D. Bojarinoff's vandringssköld****	Herr Langenheim	Sergei van der Vliet	(no other competitors)

*The 1882 competition in Vienna consisted of both Compulsory and Special Figures. Leopold Frey was the overall winner, but Axel Paulsen's Special Figure, which was actually his namesake jump, earned top marks in that phase of the event. Eduard Engelmann Jr. won the compulsory figures, but Frey was judged the overall winner.

**Though held before the formation of the ISU, the 1890 competition in St. Petersburg was billed by its organizers as a World Championship for amateurs. Skaters from Austria, Canada, Russia and Scandinavia participated. There were three separate categories: Compulsory Figures, Special Figures and 'Fantasifiguren' (Free Skating). Canada's Louis Rubenstein won the Compulsory Figures and Russia's Alexei Pavlovich Lebedeff the Special Figures. Lebedeff and Finland's John Catani tied in the Free Skating class, in which Rubenstein did not participate.

***The competition for the Alexander Panschin-Preis, held in conjunction with the 1908 World Championships for pairs in St. Petersburg, included Special Figures as part of the programme.

****Archives of the “Finskt idrottsblad” note that the annual competition for the N.D. Bojarinoff Shield consisted of three Special Figures and a five minute free skating competition. Compulsory figures were not included.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html. 

The First Summer Skating School In Canada

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

In modern times, we take it for granted that any elite Canadian skater would have the opportunity to train year round. This simply wasn't always the case. In the early twentieth century a number of skating clubs still operated solely on outdoor ice and with the thaw, the skates returned to the shelf. Though a handful of Canadian skaters travelled abroad in the summer for a couple of weeks to train in year-round rinks, but it wasn't until the roaring twenties that there was really any serious discussion of year-round skating in North America.

Many elite Canadian skaters got their first taste of summer skating in 1932, when they travelled down to the United States to perform in North America's first Mid-Summer Carnival, supervised by H.L. 'Jack' Garren at the newly opened Lake Placid Arena, site of the 1932 Winter Olympic Games. By the outbreak of World War II, summer skating had exploded in the U.S. There were about a dozen schools in all, the most popular being in Lake Placid, Colorado Springs, Sun Valley and San Francisco. Detroit even boasted a summer skating school in a cold storage warehouse called 'The Ice Box'. While Canadian skaters were thankful for the opportunity to receive expert instruction 'closer to home' during the warmer months, they no doubt longed for a summer skating school of their own.

Otto Gold teaching his daughter Frances at the Kitchener Summer Skating School. Photo courtesy University of Waterloo Library, Special Collections And Archives.

The first summer skating school in Canada officially opened its doors on July 15, 1940, after three years of offering ice time in July and August on an informal basis. Held in Kitchener, Ontario, the school operated for six weeks and promised "a professional staff of unquestionable merit", lounge and locker room accommodations and the use of Canada's "largest swimming pool within a mile of the Club." The instructors at the Kitchener school in the summer of 1940 were Otto Gold of the Minto Skating Club and Madge Austin of the Toronto Skating Club. Compared to the flashy summer schools in America, which offered ice dance conferences and open competitions, the Kitchener school was a decidedly modest affair, but within a year it had proven successful enough to expand to an eight-week program.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

In 1942, the famous summer school at the home of the Porcupine Skating Club, the McIntyre Community Building in Schumacher, Ontario, opened its doors. Madge Austin was the head instructor, and was supported by Beryl Goodman, Robert Courter and Freddy Mésot. The brand new half a million dollar facility gave skaters access to a gymnasium, game rooms, lounges, a ballroom and a host of outdoor summer activities within walking distance. It also offered skaters three patch sessions a day and the opportunities to appear in two carnivals and take the new CFSA dance and figure tests. It made the school in Kitchener look like small potatoes.

Otto Gold

However, Otto Gold's modest summer skating school in Kitchener persevered through the War years. Among its more prominent attendees were perennial U.S. Champion Gretchen Merrill, future Olympic Gold Medallist and World Champion Barbara Ann Scott and future Canadian Champion Roger Wickson. A popular feature of the school was a weekly session where skaters could exhibit their free skating program before an audience. Today, we call sessions like this simulations. 

In 1942, the first summer skating school on the West Coast opened at the Forum Arena in Hastings Park, Vancouver. In 1944, Sadie Cambridge and Albert Enders opened a summer school in Niagara Falls. In 1946, Mary Rose Thacker organized a school in Nelson, British Columbia. In 1947 came Sadie Cambridge and Albert Ender's summer school in St. Catharine's and Osborne Colson's Summer Ice Club in Toronto. In 1948 and 1949 came Gerrard and Betty Lee Blair's school in Cobourg, Ontario and Marcus Nikkanen's school seven miles west of Toronto. 1950 brought the first summer school in the Prairies, held at Edmonton Gardens, and Beryl Goodman Williamson's Royal City Summer School in Guelph, Ontario. In 1952, Arnold Gerschwiler came over to teach at Lewis and Eleanor Elkin's new school in Stratford On Avon. 

These new schools, coupled with the success of the Schumacher school and the popularity of the schools 'south of the border', were the death knell to Otto Gold's pioneering effort in Kitchener. He disbanded Canada's first summer skating school in the late forties and spent his summers teaching in Lake Placid.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.