Ladies Figure Skating Facts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beatrix Schuba

Beatrix Schuba was an Austrian skater who won the Olympic gold medal in 1972. She also won World Championship titles in 1971 & 1972. However, her World Championship titles would not come without a great deal of controversy. During this era of skating, judges placed a great deal of importance on how well skaters performed during the compulsory figures competition. Considered by many to be the greatest skater of all-time in this discipline, Schuba won the compulsory figures at the 1971 World Championships, giving her a huge lead going into the long program.

It was during the long program that the controversy began. Schuba would not have a very good skate while American skater Janet Lynn, who was in 5th place after compulsories, gave the performance of the night, but only finished in 4th place. During the medal ceremony, the spectators in the audience booed Schuba and would not be satisfied until Janet Lynn was brought out from backstage to take a curtain call bow. AFter the Olympics, the ISU instituted a new short program for the 1972-1973 season.

This program would require skaters to complete designated jumps, spins & footwork in order to prevent a similar result from happening in the future.

Answer: Nathalie Krieg

Nathalie Krieg was the Swiss National Champion in 1993 & 1994 and also competed at the 1994 Olympic Games. It was at these Olympics that she was thrust into the international spotlight during the Short Program. Her performance came right before that of controversial American skater, Tonya Harding. Even with a fall on her Double Axel jump, Nathalie delivered one of the most memorable performances of the games, combining her exceptional spins with vibrant choreography.

She did, however, lack technical difficulty in her jumps and finished in 16th place overall.

Answer: Laetitia Hubert

Laetitia Hubert was the 1992 World Junior Champion. She also was the surprise skater of the 1992 Olympic Games, placing 5th in the short program and giving her a shot at a medal. She had a disastrous performance during the long program, however, falling 4 times and placing 15th, putting her in 12th place overall.

Her win at Trophee Lalique in 1997 over Tara Lipinski had many people speculating that she could possibly be a contender for the bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics. She skated another highly disappointing competition and finished in 20th place in Nagano.

Answer: Tatyana Malinina

Tatyana Malinina was a skater who represented Uzbekistan. In her career, she won 10 consecutive National Championships from 1993 to 2002. She also competed at the World Championships 9 times(1994-2002). She competed once in the Olympics, placing 8th in Nagano(1998).

She would have the season of her life in 1998-1999, defeating Maria Butyrskaya at the Grand Prix Final in an upset victory. She also narrowly missed standing on the podium at the World Championships, finishing in 4th place. This would be her only finish in the Top 10 at the World Championships. (Note: Prior to 1998, the ISU Grand Prix was called the Champions Series. Michelle Kwan was the winner of the first Champions Series.)

Answer: A single country swept the gold medals

At the 1999 World Championships, Russia would win every gold medal. It is the 1st and only time(so far) that one country has swept the medals at the World Championships. The Polish pairs team(Zagorska & Siudek) won the bronze medal in pairs, but the first medal won by any Polish skater came from Grzegorz(or Gregor) Filipowski at the 1989 World Championships where he won the bronze medal.

The pairs result was also a very controversial decision. Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze won the gold medal despite having a mistake on their Throw Triple Salchow, while Shen & Zhao won silver with a technically flawless program that was criticized for lack of artistry. All the other gold medalists had flawless performances. Maria Butyrskaya would finish ahead of Michelle Kwan, the only skater in the competition who failed to defend her title.

Answer: Elena Liashenko

Elena Liashenko of Ukraine was well known in skating for her longevity. She competed at 4 Olympic Games(1994, 1998, 2002, & 2006) and 9 World Championships(1994-1996, 1998-2005). During the 2003-2004 Grand Prix season, she won gold medals at the Cup of China & Cup of Russia events.

She finished 2nd at the NHK Trophy behind Fumie Suguri. She would end up finishing in 4th place at the Grand Prix Final, being Fumie Suguri(1st), Sasha Cohen(2nd), & Shizuka Arakawa(3rd).

Answer: Cynthia Phaneuf

Cynthia Phaneuf surprised everyone by becoming the youngest woman to win the Canadian National title in 2004. The Canadian Federation would make a controversial decision following the National Championships. Even though Cynthia Phaneuf was age-eligible to compete at the Senior World Championships, the Canadian Federation believed that it would be best to send her to the Junior World Championships because she had had virtually no international experience.

This would send Joannie Rochette and Jennifer Robinson to the 2004 World Championships in her stead. Cynthia would make another surprising move in her 1st senior international event, the 2004 Four Continents Championships. Even though she was placed 7th after the Short Program, she delivered a flawless Free Skate, winning that portion of the competition and placing 2nd overall.

Answer: Fumie Suguri

At these Japanese Nationals, Fumie Suguri would win the National title. Mao Asada would finish in 2nd place, with Shizuka Arakawa placing 3rd. Mao Asada, not being age-aligible to compete at either the Olympics or World Championships, would have to forfeit her spot to another skater.

The controversy came when Japan chose to send Miki Ando, who finished in 6th at the Nationals, over Yukari Nakano, the 5th place finisher, and Yoshie Onda, the 4th place finisher. Japan had announced that they would select the team based on how the skaters performed throughout the season and not just use the results from Nationals. Yoshie Onda had failed to qualify for the World Championships since 2003 and did not perform well under the new ISU judging system. Yukari Nakano, while inconsistent prior to the 2005-06 season, skated very well during the Grand Prix series, winning the NHK trophy ahead of Suguri & Ando, and winning the bronze medal at the Grand Prix final. Even with her finish ahead of Ando at Nationals, she was still not selected for the Olympic team. Ando would skate poorly in both her Short & Long Programs, finishing in 16th place. Fumie Suguri would skate clean and finish in 4th, while Arakawa stunned the world by beating pre-Olympic favorites, Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya, for the gold medal.

Answer: Each competition was won by a different skater

For the first time in the Grand Prix series, each Grand Prix event was won by a different skater. Prior to the 2006-07 season, each series had a skater that won at least two competitions. The 2006-07 series showed the parody that can exist under the new ISU judging system. First, Miki Ando won Skate America; Second, Joannie Rochette won Skate Canada, after vaulting from 7th to 1st in Long Program; Third, Julia Sebestyen won Cup Of China, her only Grand Prix gold medal so far; Fourth, Yu-Na Kim won Trophee Lalique; Fifth, Sarah Meier won Cup of Russia; and Sixth, Mao Asada won the NHK Trophy.

At the Grand Prix Final, Yu-Na Kim would win gold while Mao Asada, the defending champion, would place 2nd. Sarah Meier won the bronze. It would be the 3rd time that two Asian skaters would be on the podium.

The first time was in 2003, when Fumie Suguri and Shizuka Arakawa placed 1st and 3rd in the Final. The 2nd time was the year before, when Mao Asada won and Yukari Nakano placed 1st and 3rd. Kimmie Meissner, the reigning World Champion failed to qualify for the final.

However, she was not the first World Champion to not compete in the Final. Michelle Kwan would not compete in 1998 or in 2003 at the Grand Prix Final.

Answer: Midori Ito

Midori Ito won her 1st and only World title in 1989. After the 1988 Olympic Games, all the ladies medalists had retired from eligible competition, leaving a wide-open field to crown the next Queen Of The Ice. One of the favorites going into the 1989 World Championships was American skater, Jill Trenary. Jill was coached by the legendary Carlo Fassi and was known for her jumps as well as her artistry. Midori would leave all doubts to rest with a flawless Long Program, which included the 1st Triple Axel jump performed by a woman at Worlds and a Triple-Triple combination.

She would go on to recieve 5 6.0's for technical merit. Yuka Sato would win her world title in 1994 in a very controversial 5-4 split over Surya Bonaly of France. Bonaly was so upset over not winning that she removed her silver medal from her neck during the medal ceremony, just seconds before the Japanese national anthem was played. Given that the World Championships were held in Chiba, Japan, this act was followed by a smattering of boos.