Figure skating is a sport with participants across the world. Originally based in North America and Europe, the sport has experienced a major expansion in the countries of East Asia. The international governing body of the sport is the International Skating Union (ISU). Only those nations which are members of the International Skating Union are allowed to compete in the figure skating events in the Olympic Games.
Africa (3) Country ISU member Governing body Official site Skaters Additional Yes Ice Skate Egypt https://iceskateegypt.com/ Yes Association of Moroccan Ice Sports Yes South African Figure Skating Association http://www.safsa.org.za/ Category
Americas (9)
Country ISU member Governing body Official site Skaters Additional Yes Federación Argentina de Patinaje Sobre Hielo http://www.faph.org/ Category Yes Brazilian Ice Sports Federation http://www.cbdg.org.br/ Category Yes Skate Canada http://www.skatecanada.ca/en/ Category Yes Chilean National Figure Skating Federation http://www.patinajesobrehielochile.com Yes Ecuadorian Skating Federation https://ecuatorianadepatinaje.com/ Yes Mexican Skating Federation Category Yes Peruvian Ice Skating Federation No Puerto Rico Skating Federation Category Yes U.S. Figure Skating http://www.usfigureskating.org/ Category
Asia (21) Country ISU member Governing body Official site Skaters Additional Yes Cambodia Ice Skating Federation Yes Chinese Figure Skating Association https://web.archive.org/web/20190507101347/http://chnfs.org/ Category – Macau Skating Union Yes Hong Kong Skating Union https://hksu.org/ Category Yes Ice Skating Association of India https://www.iceskatingindia.in/ Category Yes Federasi Ice Skating Indonesia https://fisid.org/ Category Yes Japan Skating Federation http://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/ Category Yes National Skating Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan https://skating.kz/ Category Yes Skating Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic Yes Ice Skating Association of Malaysia https://www.isam.org.my/ Category Yes Skating Union of Mongolia Yes Skating Association of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Category No Pakistan Skating Association Yes Philippine Skating Union https://www.philippineskating.org/ Category Yes Singapore Ice Skating Association https://www.sisa.org.sg/ Category Yes Korea Skating Union http://skating.or.kr/ Category Yes Chinese Taipei Skating Union https://ctsu.com.tw/ Category Yes Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thailand https://www.fsat.or.th/ Category Yes National Center of Turkmenistan for Winter Sport Yes United Arab Emirates Ice Sports Federation http://www.uaeisf.com/ Category Yes Winter Sports Association of Uzbekistan Category Yes Skating Federation of Vietnam
Europe (48) Some countries within Asia are listed here, as they may compete at the European Championships. Country ISU member Governing body Official site Skaters Additional Yes Andorran Federation of Ice Sports https://web.archive.org/web/20130118204407/http://www.faeg.org/ Category Yes Figure Skating Federation of Armenia Category Yes Österreichischer Eiskunstlauf Verband http://www.skateaustria.com/ Category Yes The Skating Federation of Azerbaijan Republic Category Yes Skating Union of Belarus Category Yes Federation Royale Belge de Patinage Artistique http://www.kbsf.be/ Category Yes Skating Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina http://www.ksbih.ba/ Category Yes Bulgarian Skating Federation Category Yes Croatia Skating Federation http://www.croskate.hr/ Category Yes Cyprus Ice Skating Federation Category Yes Czech Figure Skating Association http://www.czechskating.org/ Category Yes Danske Skøjte Union http://www.danskate.dk/ Category Yes Estonian Skating Union Category Yes Finnish Figure Skating Association http://www.stll.fi/ Category Yes French Federation of Ice Sports http://www.ffsg.org Category Yes Georgian Figure Skating Association Category Yes German Ice Skating Union http://www.eislauf-union.de/ Category No Gibraltar Skating Association Yes Hellenic Winter Sports Federation http://www.hisf.gr/ Category Yes Hungarian National Skating Federation http://www.moksz.hu/ Category Yes Icelandic Skating Association http://www.skautasamband.is/ Category Yes Ice Skating Association of Ireland http://isai.ie/ Category Yes Israel Ice Skating Federation https://web.archive.org/web/20070930122747/http://www.israel-isf.org/ Category Yes Italian Ice Sports Federation http://www.fisg.it/ Category Yes Latvian Skating Association http://www.skatelatvia.lv/ Category Yes Liechtensteinian Skating Association Category Yes Lithuanian Skating Federation Category Yes Luxembourgian Union of Skating Category Yes Figure Skating Federation of the Republic of Moldova Yes Federation Monegasque de Patinage Category No Skating Association Of Montenegro Category Yes Royal Dutch Skating Federation http://knsb.nl/ Category Yes Skating Federation of North Macedonia Yes Norwegian Skating Association http://www.skoyteforbundet.no/ Category Yes Polish Figure Skating Association http://www.pfsa.com.pl/ Category Yes Portuguese Winter Sports Federation http://www.fpp.pt/ Category Yes Romanian Skating Federation https://web.archive.org/web/20130325011935/http://www.frp.ro/ Category Yes Figure Skating Federation of Russia http://fsrussia.ru/ Category No Federazione San Marin Sport del Ghiaccio Yes Serbian Skating Association http://www.klizackisavezsrbije.rs/ Category Yes Slovak Figure Skating Association http://www.kraso.sk/ Category Yes Slovene Skating Union http://www.drsalna-zveza.si/ Category Yes Spanish Ice Sports Federation http://www.fedhielo.com/ Category Yes Svenska Konståkningsförbundet http://www.skatesweden.se Category Yes Schweizer Eislauf-Verband http://www.swissiceskating.ch/ Category Yes Turkish Ice Skating Federation http://www.buzpateni.org.tr/ Category Yes Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation http://www.ufsf.com.ua/ Category Yes British Ice Skating http://www.iceskating.org.uk Category – The Northern Ireland Ice Skating Federation – Skate Scotland – Welsh Ice Skating Association
Oceania (2) Country ISU member Governing body Official site Skaters Additional Yes Ice Skating Australia http://www.isa.org.au/ Category State associations: Yes New Zealand Ice Skating Association http://www.nzifsa.org.nz/ Category
History In Armenia Armenia hosts the ISU Junior Grand Prix, an international figure skating competition, organized by the Figure Skating Federation of Armenia. Medals may be awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
In Australia Brisbane hosted the World Junior Championships in 1988 and 1996. Stephanie Zhang (ladies' bronze, 2000) and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya / Harley Windsor (pairs gold in 2016) have won ISU Junior Grand Prix medals for Australia. Alexandrovskaya/Windsor also won Australia's first gold medal at an ISU Championship, at the 2017 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
Team Evolution from Brisbane were awarded a gold medal in synchronized skating at the 2020 Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy.
In Austria In 1897, Gustav Hügel became the first Austrian to win a World title in figure skating. In 1922, Herma Szabo won Austria's first World ladies' title. She would go on to win the next four World Championships.
Willy Böckl won four consecutive World titles (1925–28). In the 1930s, Karl Schäfer (1930–36) and Felix Kaspar (1937–38) produced a nine-year streak of World men's titles for Austria. Following World War II, Austrian competitors were initially barred from international events. They returned to the World Championships in 1948.
In the 1960s, Austria experienced a resurgence led by Emmerich Danzer, a three-time World champion (1966–68), and Wolfgang Schwarz, the 1968 Olympic champion.
Vienna (1907, 1913, 1923, 1925, 1937, 1955, 1967, 1979) is the only city within the modern borders of Austria to host the World Championships.
In Azerbaijan In 1990, an ice rink opened at Baku's Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex but within a few years it was unable to maintain the ice surface due to a poor-quality cooling system. A 2019 report stated that Azerbaijan still had no functioning ice rink. As a result, the country is represented by foreign skaters. Ekaterina Ryabova and Vladimir Litvintsev — both skaters born and based in Russia — have finished in the top ten at the European Championships for Azerbaijan.
In Belarus Minsk hosted the World Junior Championships in 2012.
In Belgium Antwerp hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, where figure skating made its second Olympic appearance.
In 1947, Micheline Lannoy / Pierre Baugniet became the first Belgians to win the World title in pair skating.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and three World Junior Championships (1983, 1986, 1989).
In Bulgaria Ice dancers Albena Denkova / Maxim Staviski were the first skaters to win a World title for Bulgaria, winning gold in 2006 and 2007.
Sofia has hosted the European Championships (1991, 1996) and World Junior Championships (2001, 2008, 2009, 2014).
In Canada
The first ISU Championships held in Canada were the 1932 World Championships in Montreal.
In 1947, Barbara Ann Scott became the first Canadian woman to win a World figure skating title. She successfully defended her title the following year. Frances Dafoe / Norris Bowden won Canada's first World pair skating title, in 1954, and repeated the following year. Barbara Wagner / Robert Paul won four consecutive World pairs' titles for Canada, from 1957 to 1960.
In 1957, Geraldine Fenton / William McLachlan became the first Canadian ice dancers to finish on the World podium, taking the silver medal. In 1962, Donald Jackson became the first Canadian to win the World men's title.
Donald McPherson (1963), Petra Burka (1965), and Karen Magnussen (1973) also won World titles for Canada. Kurt Browning became a four-time World champion (1989–91, 1993).
In 2003, Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz won Canada's first World ice dancing title. Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir would be the first Canadian ice dancers to win the Olympics, in 2010.
Montreal (1932), Vancouver (1960, 2001), Calgary (1972, 2006), Ottawa (1978, 1984), Halifax, Nova Scotia (1990), Edmonton (1996), and London, Ontario (2013) have hosted the World Championships. Halifax (1999), Hamilton, Ontario (2004), and Vancouver (2009) have hosted Four Continents. London, Ontario (1981), Kitchener, Ontario (1987, 2005), Hull, Quebec (1992), and Saint John, New Brunswick (1998) have hosted Junior Worlds. Calgary (1988) and Vancouver (2010) have also organized the Winter Olympics.
In China In 1995, Chen Lu became the first Chinese woman to win a World title. In 2002, Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo became the first pair from China to become World champions and the first pair to win an Olympic medal. In 2010, they became China's first Olympic champions in any figure skating category.
Shanghai was the first city in China to host the World Championships, in 2015. Beijing will organize the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Chinese skaters most commonly train in Beijing or Harbin.
In Chinese Taipei The city of Taipei hosted the Four Continents Championships in 2011, 2014, and 2016. It will host the World Junior Championships in 2017.
In Croatia Croatian skaters represented Yugoslavia until the end of the 1990–91 season. Sanda Dubravčić was the first Croatian woman to stand on an ISU Championship podium, winning silver at the 1981 European Championships. In 1992, Tomislav Čižmešija and Željka Čižmešija became the first skaters to represent Croatia at the Olympics and World Championships.
Zagreb hosted the European Championships in 1974, 1979, 2008, and 2013.
In the Czech Republic