Figure skating
The birth of figure skating as a sport is associated with the moment when skates began to be made of iron, not bone. According to research, this first happened in Holland, in the XII—XIV century. Initially, figure skating was a competition for the skill of drawing various shapes on the ice, while maintaining a beautiful pose.
Figure skating was recognized as a sport at the First Skating Congress in 1871.
In 1882, the first official figure skating competitions in Europe were held in Vienna. However, initially, it was a kind of backstage competition,” since only a few athletes took part in them.
In 1891, the first European Championship in men’s single skating was held in Hamburg (the German figure skater Oskar Ulig won). 4 years later, in 1896, the first World Figure Skating Championship was held in St. Petersburg (the winner was Gilbert Fuchs, German Empire).
The first figure skating competitions were held only among men’s singles, female figure skaters got the opportunity to participate in the world championships only 10 years later. However, in 1901, under public pressure, the ISU, as an exception, allowed an English woman to participate in men’s competitions.
Officially, the first Women’s Singles World Championship was held at the end of January 1906 in Davos (Switzerland). The obligatory figures for women and men were similar, but the free skating of women immediately attracted attention with its high artistry, plasticity and musicality of movements.
Before the war, jumping was considered “aerobatics”, not available to everyone. Even world-class figure skaters made do with two or three jumps per program. In 1948, Dick Button made a revolution by introducing an arbitrary program full of jumps, including a double axel. Since then, jumping has been firmly established in the arsenal of figure skaters.
Sports ice dancing originated in the late 1940s in the UK, and then became widespread around the world. In 1952, sports dancing was included in the program of the World and European championships.
The history of the development of figure skating in Belarus begins in the 60s of the 20th century. In 1961, at the invitation of the sports leadership from Russia (Tula, Tombov), a group of figure skaters in the number of 8 athletes and their coach Kochepasov L.K. Arrived. The group of Russian figure skaters not only actively worked with novice athletes of our republic, but also defended honor in the All-Union arena (Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR, many match meetings with friendly The Baltic States). With great enthusiasm, they developed and promoted figure skating in Minsk.
The first ice base for figure skaters in winter was the site at the RDFK. After a while, figure skating training groups were opened at the Spartak Sports School.
Paid groups of novice skaters have begun to open in Minsk: in the park named after him. Gorky Park, Chelyuskintsev Park and stroytrest No. 5. Figure skating in Minsk began to be defined in specializations. There were such types as pair skating and sports ice dancing (single skating is natural). In this regard, new societies were opened that cultivate this sport. The first leading figure skating school since 1967 was the Spartak Society.
With the opening of the Sports Palace, paid groups opened with him, and soon the Dynamo Sports School, where 6 coaches worked, and especially pair skating and ice dancing developed.
In 1974, another figure skating school was opened – DSO Zenit, where about 10 coaches and teachers worked. Until 1975, the number of coaching staff related to figure skating was more than 20 people. And finally, in 1975, in the park named after Gorky opened a training rink for hockey and figure skating. The DSO Spartak school began to be based on this rink.
The heyday of figure skating in Minsk came at the end of the 80s. Two large figure skating schools, Spartak and Zenit, began to operate, in addition, paid groups worked in winter at the Tractor stadium, the Thermoplast plant and the park. Gorky and some places of Chelyuskintsev Park. It was during this period that the work became systematic and systematic. Coaching and training work was set up and well organized. And it gave its results. All types of figure skating are actively progressing: singles, doubles and ice dancing. Belarusian figure skaters competed with figure skaters from Moscow and Leningrad at the same level.
Such figure skaters as N. Skrabnevskaya (USSR champion, student of V.N. Kudryavtseva), Evgeny Koltun, Elena Gud (bronze medalists of the World Junior Championships), Natalia Mishkutenok (multiple European champion and Olympic champion) grew out of the training groups. Some athletes were part of the national youth team.
With the opening of the Ice Palace of Sports on Prytytsky Street in 1999, the Youth School of Figure Skating once again begins its work, in which 164 students with 11 coaches and teachers began to study. Since 2000, the geography of figure skating in Belarus has been expanding – children’s paid figure skating training groups have been opened in the Indoor Skating Rink of the park. Gorky Park, as well as on the basis of the training rink of the Sports Palace on Pobediteley Avenue. New ice palaces are being built in Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Novopolotsk, Grodno and since 2013 a new indoor skating rink has been commissioned along Karolinski Passage for the specialized children’s and youth school of the Olympic Reserve in figure skating of the Minsk City Executive Committee.
Currently, the following are working in the Republic of Belarus:
Minsk:
Figure skating School;
GTSOR in ice disciplines (figure skating department);
RCOP for winter sports (figure skating department).
Figure Skating Departments:
2 figure skating departments in the Brest region,
1 in Vitebsk,
1 – in Gomel,
1 – in Pruzhany,
1 – in Baranovichi.
Minsk city branch of the NGO “Belarusian Figure Skating Federation”
Phone: 334-00-71
Address: V.Khoruzhey str., 13/61
Chairman: Irina E. Potapenko
Specialized educational and sports institutions that develop figure skating in Minsk
State Institution “GTSOR for ice disciplines”
Director : Novakovich Alexander Nikolaevich
Address: 220020 Minsk, Pobediteley Avenue ,111 MKSK “Minsk Arena”, SS “Skating Stadium”
Phone: 1.Director – 8 (017) 2090734
2.Deputy Director – 8 (017) 2790495
3.Instructors – methodologists in sports – 8 (017) 2090621
Fax: 8 (017) 2790497
The institution “Sports School for figure skating”
Director: Furmanov Sergey Alexandrovich;
Phone: 396 62 73
The address of the institution: 220116, Minsk, ave. Karolinski, 5;
220116, Minsk, ave. Karolinsky, 1
Tel./fax 396-62-80
Website – www.ledlife.by