Compulsory figures were an integral part of figure skating. Tedious, but integral. In 1988, the International Skating Union voted to eliminate them.
The 1990 World Figure Skating Championships were the last with figures. Worldwide, skaters were promised they’d never freeze through another patch session.
Depending on where you lived.
In Canada, figures were eliminated at senior, junior, and novice ranks. Other skaters were under the judges’ eyes until the 1996/1997 season, when testing ended for levels and proficiency. Figures were replaced with Skills – three-turns, c-steps, s-step, twizzles, and so forth.
Figures were those circular patterns on the ice, resembling either infinity shapes or a snowmen. Skaters spent hours honing them, meticulously looping, changing directions and feet around the circles.
Often figures decided the outcome of competition before a figure skater’s performed their free skate because of the component’s immense weight.
Until 1968, figures accounted for 60 per cent of the overall score, then decreasing to 50 per cent. However, there was one problem. Before 1973, there wasn’t a long program. Figures and free skate were 50/50, pressuring a skaters to be an all around skater.
Case in point in the early 70s, a great deal of excitement brewed around American champion Janet Lynn. She was groomed to be the next Peggy Fleming, however, Austria’s Beatrix Schuba was a powerhouse in compulsory figures. Schuba tended to lag in the free skate – Lynn’s strength.
At the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, that was the case in the women’s competition. The ice for the compulsories was dyed a lovely ocean blue so the skaters’ etching would stand out. Not an issue for Schuba, one could imagine. But a nightmare for Lynn.
Schuba won the figures, and Lynn placed fourth place entering the free skate. Although Lynn won the free skate and Schuba placed seventh, Trixi’s strong compulsory marks were enough to win the gold medal. Lynn won the bronze. Canada’s Karen Magnussen won the silver medal.
Then there’s the “flip in the ordinals,” which is when … well … I never understand them.
Figures were dropped to 40, 30 then 20 per cent at the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where they were skated for the final time.
Defending world champion, Midori Ito, was poised to dominate women’s skating after the elimination of figures with her powerful combinations, a triple Axel, and tremendous spins. In Halifax, Ito was on her final figure, when her blade slid off the etching.
After two figures, Ito placed 10th compulsories. To no one’s surprise, she won the short and long programs – and it was enough for the silver medal. However, post-1990, she never stood on top a world or Olympic podium.
There are different sides about whether eliminating the figure was a smart move. They were tedious and time consuming. Time better spent on free skating. Spins and jumps. However, figures taught discipline and edges. One could say skaters aren’t original anymore, it’s just jumps and spins.
I’ll admit, I enjoy watching videos on YouTube when doubles and delayed Axels were in vogue, and footwork sequences don’t seem contrived.
But I have to ask, would you give a standing ovation for a figure eight?
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