Frozen in Time. Nikki Nichols
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with the blades attached to a wooden plate, which was then strapped to boots. Neither design allowed for much maneuverability or balance.
A revolutionary American changed that. Jackson Haines created a prototype of what we now recognize as modern skates—with the blades actually screwed into the boots. The toe pick (the teeth of the blade) came courtesy of English ironworker Henry Boswell in 1883.
Haines’s legacy goes far beyond equipment. He is credited with merging artistry and skating. Up to that point, figures were the only skill performed on the ice. Haines was trained in ballet and saw great potential to merge dance and skating.
Before the creation of the United States Figure Skating Association, Haines won the Championships of America is 1863 and 1864. He wore what at the time was considered a “fancy” costume, and even performed the first-ever “sit spin,” a spin performed by hovering as near to the ice as possible with one leg extended in front of the body.
Haines’s flamboyance was not well received in war-ravaged America. Considered an oddity of sorts, he sailed to Europe, where he delighted audiences. He was particularly popular in Austria, where the Strauss family of composers wrote waltzes for him. Thomas Edison’s phonograph wasn’t invented until 1877, so Haines hired musicians to play at the side of the rink. It is believed Haines is the first to have skated to music.
Legend suggests Haines died in Finland in 1875 after catching pneumonia on a sled trip from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Stockholm, Sweden. Scholars, however, insist he died a much less glamorous death—caused by tuberculosis.
The first World Figure Skating Championships were held more than twenty years after Haines’s death, in 1896. The event was held in St. Petersburg, Russia. Only men competed that year, although there was no rule precluding women from coming.
In 1902, a woman named Florence Madeleine Cave Syers (popularly known as “Madge”), of Great Britain, entered the World Championships in Sweden. She won the silver medal, nearly upsetting the home country’s champion, Ulrich Salchow (inventor of the Salchow jump). After this event, the International Skating Union officially banned women from competition.
A change of heart ensued, and in 1906, ladies were invited to compete in the International Skating Union (ISU) Championships. Ladies were expected to keep their ankles covered, as was customary in that era. Madge Syers easily won the title in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, pairs skating became the newest discipline. Ladies, men, and pairs competed in the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London. (There was not yet a Winter Olympics, so skaters were invited to the Summer Games.) Madge Syers became the first ladies Olympic gold medalist in figure skating. She also won a bronze in pairs with her husband/coach Edgar Syers. Ulrich Salchow won the gold for the men. Anna Hubler and Heinrich Berger of Germany won the first-ever Olympic pairs title.
There was no figure skating in the 1912 summer Olympics, because the host city, Stockholm, did not have an indoor ice facility. In 1916, there were no Olympics at all because of World War I, but skating was featured in an early movie. German skater Charlotte Oelschlagel, who won the adoration of the American public despite fierce anti-German sentiments, starred in the first movie featuring skating. In this 1916 serial movie, The Frozen Warning, Charlotte helped police find some no-good foreign agents by tracing the word “spies” into the ice, and pointing at the offenders. Charlotte was a sensational success, and starred in the first long-running ice show on American soil.
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