Figure skating

Figure skating is the oldest sport at the Olympic Winter Games, but made its Olympic debut at the summer edition of the Games at London 1908 and again in Antwerp in 1920. Since 1972, there have been events in men’s and women’s singles and a pairs competition. Ice dance was added in 1976. There have been events in men's singles, women’s singles, and pairs skating at every edition of the Olympic Winter Games. Ice dance was added in 1976, with a team competition introduced at Sochi 2014.

Figure skating is divided into five disciplines: men's and women's singles, pairs and ice dance, and the team competition.

There are two events in the men's, women's, and pairs competitions: a short program with mandatory technical elements, and a free program with mandatory technical elements but more freedom in the execution.

Both programs are set to music chosen by the skaters themselves.

Athletes in the pairs competition must perform a few technical movements together, such as jumps and parallel spins, trying to be as synchronized as possible. The difference between the pair and dance disciplines is that the latter does not include technical elements such as jumps or overhead lifts.

In ice dance competitions, skaters perform both a rhythm dance and a free dance. The music genre for the short program is chosen each year by the International Skating Union (ISU).

The scores for each event are decided by a panel of two technical specialists and a technical controller, which determines the level of execution of the technical element performed by the skater. The quality of execution and other artistic elements, such as interpretation, are decided by a panel of nine judges.

The sum of the scores determines the winner at the end of the two rounds.

The team competition consists of a qualifying phase and a final phase, divided into the traditional skating programs: the short program and the free skate.

During the qualifying phase, a male athlete, dance team, pair, and female athlete present their short programs to earn the highest score for their team. This event takes place before the Opening Ceremony and involves the top 10 nations in the world based on the seasonal ranking.