Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating as compared with independent Single Skating". The ISU also states that a pairs team consists of "one Woman and one Man". Pair skating, along with men's and women's single skating, has been an Olympic discipline since figure skating, the oldest Winter Olympic sport, was introduced at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The ISU World Figure Skating Championships introduced pair skating in 1908.
German pair skaters Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger, 1908 Olympics
German pair team Madge Syers and Edgar Syers at the 1908 Olympics
Liudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov (the "Protopopovs"), in 1968
Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov, in 1972
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; the four individual disciplines are also combined into a team event, which was first included in the Winter Olympics in 2014. The non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating, Theater on Ice, and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs, which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.
Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (2019)
"Central Park, Winter: the Skating Pond", 1862 lithograph
Close-up of a figure skating blade, showing the toe picks, the hollow (groove) on the bottom of the blade, and screw attachment
Blade sharpening