People had been ice skating in 
Holland since the middle ages, but it
took an American ballet teacher in 
the 1860s to add the twists, spirals
and glides that form the major 
moves of figure skating.  Figure 
skating first appeared at the 
Summer Olympics in 1908, one of 
the few sports that women 
competed in along with men.  
Skates have been modified through
 the years to maximize speed, 
maneuverability and precision.  The
 most noticeable feature of the 
figure skate is the toe pick, which 
allows skaters to make the sudden 
stops and jumps required in 
competition.

In the early days of the sport, 
Britain dominated along with 
Sweden.  But at the very first 
Winter Olympics, an 11 year old 
Norwegian girl who finished last 
would make the biggest impression
 on the sport.  Sonja Henie would 
win the next three Olympic Gold 
Medals, as well as nearly 1500 
other trophies, cups and medals, 
and then went on to a very 
successful movie career in 
Hollywood. 

Since the Soviets entered Olympic 
competition they have dominated 
pairs skating and ice dancing, but 
several countries have produced 
spectacular singles skaters, 
including Great Britain and the U.S. 

The U.S. has had five women Gold 
Medalists, beginning with Tenley 
Albright in 1956, through Kristy 
Yamaguchi in 1992.  But the only 
woman, other than Henie, to win 
back-to-back Gold was East 
German Katarina Witt, who owned 
the ice in 1984 and 1988.  
American men have been equally 
successful on the ice, bringing 
home the Gold six times.  Dick 
Button won in 1948 and 1952 and 
most recently, Scott Hamilton and 
Brian Boitano won in 1984 and 
1988. 

The total domination of the Soviets 
in ice dancing since its inception as
 an Olympic event in 1976 was 
broken only once, by the perfect 
performance of Britain's Torvill & 
Dean, dancing to Ravel's Bolero in 
Sarajevo in 1984.  The Soviets 
have also had a lock on the pairs 
competition, winning every Gold 
since 1964.  A star was born at the
1994 Olympics when 16 year old 
Oksana Baiul edged out the U.S.'s 
Nancy Kerrigan for the Gold in 
Lillehammer. 

The compulsory figures portion of 
the Olympic program, where the 
skaters had to etch figure 8s, loops
 and triple-lobed figures on the ice, 
was dropped from competition in 
1992, allowing the skaters to 
concentrate more on their leaps 
and jumps, showcasing their 
creative abilities rather than their 
technical ones.