Figure Skating is always a spectacle at the Winter Olympic Games. This is one of the events that never fail’s to draw large crowds into noisy stadiums to cheer for their country’s best skaters.

The figure skating competition has been an official Olympic event since 1908 however, that competition was a part of the Summer Olympics not the winter games. This changed in 1924 adding the figure skating discipline to the events schedule for the Winter Olympics.

In the Vancouver Olympics the entries into the event are limited to a quota set by the Olympic committee or IOC (International Olympic Committee). There are 30 contestants in each of the men’s and women’s singles event, 24 couples will compete in the Ice Dancing and just 20 in the pairs competition. In order to qualify for the Olympic Games you must belong to a Member nation of the International Skating Union. In the case of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, 80% of the entries allowed will be made up of the top placing teams and individuals from the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, this will include: 24 men/women, 19 dance couples, and 16 pairs. Any one country is only allowed a maximum of three entries into any one discipline. For those that do not qualify at the world championships there is one more International competition that will take place in the fall of 2009 where the remaining open spots will be filled: 6 men & women for the singles discipline, 5 dance couples, and 4 pairs. During the Vancouver Winter Olympics Canada will be entitled to one entry into each event as under the rules if they fail to qualify for the event. In order to compete at the Olympic level for your country a skater must be 15 years of age by July 1st of the previous year and is a citizen of their country.

During the Vancouver Olympic Games each of the four skating disciplines will be adjudicated by a panel of 12 separate International Skating Union judges. These judges will be using a computerized scoring system to measure the quality of each skate. Prior to the start of each event there is secret and random drawing to see which judges scores will count, only 9 of the 12 judges scores will be included in the skaters final score. In these events the judges score on two separate levels, one for the technical score and the other for the components score, the individual with or team with the highest totals of technical and component scores will win the event.

Here’s a breakdown of each discipline in the figure skating competition. The singles event consists of skaters competing in a short program (maximum time of 2 minutes and 50 seconds allowed) requiring certain steps, jumps, spins and combinations. There is then a free skating program which is longer than the short program (4 minutes 30 seconds for men and 4 minutes for women). The free skate is worth a total of two thirds of the competitor’s final score and must show a mixture of creativity, innovative moves and a lot of technical difficulty.

The pair’s event is very similar to the singles, with a mandatory short skate and free program. These events include one male and one female competing against other teams scoring points for lifts, throws and synchronized jumps and other spiral steps and movements. The scoring system is the same as in the singles competition.

Ice Dancing is more what you would expect it to be. The couple’s move along the ice to music, basing their performance on rhythm and precise steps. However, unlike the pairs competition the dancers do not incorporate overhead lifts and jumps. Ice Dancing is closer to ballroom dancing than pair’s figure skating as the couple remains in contact with each other throughout most of their program. The ice dancing is made up of three segments; a compulsory dance, an original dance and a free dance. All having to display the different components of each dance by incorporating certain steps and moves to the music.

The venue for the Figure Skating disciplines at the Vancouver Winter Olympics will be located in the Pacific Coliseum at Hastings Park. The venue capacity for spectators will be 14,239. Some major upgrades were to the older Coliseum were concluded in the fall of 2007.

Here is VANOC’s (Vancouver Olympic Committee’s) sustainable attributes report for this particular venue:

• Renovation of existing facilities, entirely contained within existing footprint
• No increase to the percentage of impervious land surface on the project site after renovations
• Equipment upgrades, including energy efficient fixtures, are expected to improve indoor air quality
• Arena seating upgraded — old seats auctioned off as sport fundraiser
  

Enjoy the Figure Skating during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC, Canada.