Demise and revival of compulsory figures: History and Key Facts

The demise and revival of compulsory figures occurred, respectively, in 1990, when the International Skating Union (ISU) removed compulsory figures from international single skating competitions, and beginning in 2015, when the first competition focusing entirely on figures took place. Compulsory figures, which is defined as the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles", dominated figure skating for the first 50 years of the sport, although they progressively declined in importance. Skaters would train for hours to learn and execute them well, and competing and judging figures would often take up to eight hours during competitions.

Judging scandals and the broadcasts of figure skating on television have been cited as the reason for the decline of figures. The U.S. was the last country to include figures in its competitions until 1999. The elimination of figures resulted in an increase of focus on the free skating segment and in the domination of younger girls in the sport. Most skaters stopped training with figures, although many coaches continued to teach figures and skaters continued to practice them because figures taught basic skating skills and gave skaters an advantage in developing alignment, core strength, body control, and discipline.

A revival of compulsory figures began in 2015, when the first World Figure Championship (renamed to the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships in 2017) occurred in Lake Placid, New York. By 2023, nine championships had taken place. Judging was done blind, after the skaters left the ice, and without the judges knowing which competitor completed which figure. The championships were postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although workshops and seminars were conducted online. Karen Courtland Kelly, 1994 Olympian and figures expert, who founded the World Figure Sport Society (WFSS) and organized its figures championships, was credited with revitalizing figures. By 2020, the championship and the revitalization of figures were supported by many skaters, including U.S. Olympian Debi Thomas, who competed at the 2023 Championships.

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