Figure skating at the XXI Olympic Winter Games begins with the pairs' short program on Feb. 14 and concludes on Feb. 25 with the ladies' free skate. Once the competitive sessions are over, the top skaters will return to perform in an exhibition gala on Feb. 27.

The Olympic field consists of 30 men, 30 ladies, 20 pairs, and 24 ice dance teams. Skaters qualify country spots primarily based on ranking at the 2009 World Championships in Los Angeles (March 24-29). As an example, take the American women. The top two skaters, Rachael Flatt and Alissa Czisny, needed to finish combined 13th or better in L.A. (e.g., 4th and 9th) to qualify three spots for the U.S. in Vancouver. Since they didn't (Flatt was 5th and Czisny was 11th), but finished better than a combined 28th, the American ladies secured two spots as did the pairs. Buoyed by Evan Lysacek's world title and Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto's silver, the Americans earned the right to send three men and three dance teams to Vancouver. More on the Los Angeles Worlds...

Figure skating events will be held at the Pacific Coliseum at Hastings Park. Home for 25 years to the Vancouver Canucks, Pacific Coliseum now hosts a variety of concerts and sporting events. The facility, which underwent a $20 million renovation in preparation for the Games, holds about 14,000 people - more than twice the capacity of the Olympic venue in Torino. As at the 2006 Games, short track speed skating races will take place on the same ice. The Four Continents Championships, which attract the top skaters from North America and Asia, serve as figure skating's test event in early February.

Inside this sport: Competition format | Judging |  Equipment

Expect knowledgeable, enthusiastic Olympic audiences in skating-crazed Canada, a country that even features the sport on its currency. Figure skaters appear alongside hockey players on the back of the five-dollar bill, accompanied by the following text: The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places - the school, the church and the skating rink - but our life was on the skating rink. The most successful nation at the 2008 World Championships, Canada should enter a home Olympics with medal contenders in every discipline.

The recent success of Canadian skaters can be attributed, at least in part, to their adeptness with the requirements of the current judging system. The cumulative points system, which was developed in response to the Salt Lake judging scandal and made its Olympic debut in Torino, remains in place for the Vancouver Games. Some minor adjustments have been made, but the format is essentially the same as it was four years ago. The perfect 6.0 is becoming an increasingly far-off memory. Instead, based on current trends, look for winning scores of about 250 total points for men and in the range of 190 to 200 points for ladies, pairs and ice dance. 

Torino recap
Russia won three of the four Olympic gold medals awarded in 2006, led by Yevgeny Plushenko. The mop-haired Siberia native, who won silver in Salt Lake, entered the Torino Games as the overwhelming favorite and became the fifth straight man from Russia (and the former Soviet Union) to win gold. Tatyana Totmiyanina and Maxim Marinin recovered from a frightening 2004 fall to extend their country's pair streak to 12 straight titles, although Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao had the most memorable free skate in Torino. The Chinese couple rebounded from a brutal fall on a throw jump to win silver. Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov claimed the dance crown, while Salt Lake silver medalist Irina Slutskaya took bronze in the one event Russia did not win. Late bloomer Shizuka Arakawa of Japan was the surprise ladies' gold medalist ahead of American Sasha Cohen, who led after a stunning short program but couldn't overcome early mistakes in her free skate. Also winning silver were Tanith Belbin, who received her U.S. citizenship on the eve of the Games, and partner Ben Agosto. Belbin and Agosto became the first American ice dancers to win an Olympic medal in 30 years. The U.S. just missed the men's podium, finishing fourth (Evan Lysacek) and fifth (Johnny Weir). Weir was second in the short program, but struggled to a sixth-place showing in the free skate, while Lysacek had a nearly opposite experience: A lackluster short program left him in 10th place, but he climbed back to fourth overall with the third-best free skate.

Vancouver outlook
With only one of the Torino gold medalists (Russia's Yevgeny Plushenko) expected to defend their 2006 titles, the next generation of skaters is eager to exhibit their abilities. The most inspiring of the group are two teenagers from Asia - two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan and South Korea's Kim Yu-Na, the reigning world champion - whose rivalry dates back several years to when they traded junior world titles. Though Torino silver medalist American Sasha Cohen has announced her return to competition, the U.S. ladies are in a time of transition. The men have multiple medal contenders, led by 2009 world champion Evan Lysacek and national champion and Grand Prix Final winner Jeremy Abbott. Weir remains a threat, and keep an eye on 18-year-old Brandon Mroz, who upset both former U.S. champs to win silver at Nationals. Ice dancers Belbin and Agosto remain a medal threat, finishing second at the 2009 Worlds. Their former training mates, world bronze medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, could win Canada's first Olympic ice dance gold. China has a chance to place two teams on the pairs' podium, as it did in Torino, but stylish Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy are the two-time and reigning world champions. Another pair to watch is Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, the young Canadians whose playful programs are reminiscent of the last skaters from their country to win Olympic gold: Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.