Product Description

Exploring and defining over one hundred years of figure skating history, the Encyclopedia of Figure Skating portrays the beauty, tradition, and discipline of the sport. Biographical entries, anecdotes, and quotations reveal the colorful personalities of the sport's major and minor figures, including Scott Hamilton, Tenley Albright, Jackson Haines, Yevgny Platov, Nancy Kerrigan, and many other favorites from yesterday and today.

Illuminating, easy-to-read entries decipher technical jargon, difficult concepts, and terms while tracing the development of the sport. The Encyclopedia of Figure Skating also interprets the rules that govern competitions and defines all jumps, spins, pair lifts, dance sequences, school figures, and commonly used terms.

Biographical entries include: All U.S. medalists All Olympic medalists All Gold Medalists in World Championships as well as Silver or Bronze Medalists who achieved medal status in two or more years A listing of Canadian and European medalists Notable coaches Notable Ice Show performers

Terms and Definitions include: All named jumps and spins, including the axel, the camel, and the death spiral Generic terms of importance, including edges, footwork, and free leg extensions Specific dances required in the technical phase of competition for Ice Dances School figure patterns (rocker, counter) Rules and administration, such as judge selection, judging criteria, skating club membership, and financial costs

The Encyclopedia of Figure Skating will help everyone, from the casual observer to the serious fan, gain a better understanding of, and appreciation for, this enormously popular sport.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4832728 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 264 pages

From Library Journal
The lively entries in this encyclopedia reflect Malone's longtime interest in figure skating. Though the technical material is well executed, the biographies form the book's core. Malone profiles all World and Olympic medalist skaters, starting in 1896, and all U.S. medalists starting with the first U.S. Figure Skating championships in 1914. He is particularly good at using personal anecdotes to bring alive the skating personalities who have dominated the last half of the 20th century. While some of the major stars have been profiled in general sports encyclopedias, this is the only recent work to cover the less well known talents. Essential where there is a strong interest in winter sports and a desirable addition to any sports collection.?Terry Jo Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Figure skating has the perfect mix of artistry, athleticism, and sheer terror to make it a very popular sport. Its visibility has grown enormously over the past few years, making this encyclopedia a timely new source. The author, an avid skating fan, explains the sport and those involved in it.

The alphabetical entries range in length from a few sentences to two pages. They cover all aspects of the sport: rules (amateur status, scoring systems); techniques (school figures, axel jump); competitions (ice dancing, pairs competition); organizations (International Skating Union, United States Figure Skating Association); and skaters, from early stars like Ulrich Salchow and Madge Syers, winners of the first Olympic gold medals for singles, to Ilya Kulik and Tara Lipinski. Information is current through the 1997 World Championships. Photographs of some of the skaters accompany the text. Pairs skaters have joint entries with a see reference to the partner with the entry (Dean, Christopher, see Torvill, Jayne). Three appendixes list all the winners of the United States and World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games. There are a few mistakes. Tonya Harding's ex-husband is called Brian Gilooley in the Harding entry and in the index, although his correct name, Jeff, is used in the entry on Nancy Kerrigan.

Any source that explains the arcane details of edges, mandatory deductions, judge selection, and how the Zamboni works is a welcome addition to sports reference collections. The Encyclopedia of Figure Skating is the first source devoted exclusively to this sport. Diagrams of the various jumps and spins would have added to its usefulness, but it is still a fine source that belongs in public libraries. School libraries may also want to consider it.

Review
I have been involved in figure skating for more than 50 years, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's how much there is to learn about this sport. The Encyclopedia of Figure Skating sheds light on skating's past and present: the history, the rules, the moves, and the people in it...This is a must for every fan -- Dick Button

Customer Reviews

An Error-Filled Encylcopedia
If you are looking for accurate facts, DONT buy this book. Many errors in the skater bios. For instance, it states that Mishketuniek & Dmitriev won the 1994 Worlds when in fact they did not even compete. Many remembrances of skating events are completely off the mark as well. Hold out for someone else to get it right. This man did not.

Factual Errors mar otherwise fun book.
Who wrote this book? Do they know about checking facts before submitting them? The misinformation is unfortunate, but overall is a fairly decent book if you are interested in an overview of the sport.

Nice idea, but the errors are numerous!
I hate to criticize this book because its heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, as the first review stated, there are a lot (and I mean A LOT) of factual errors in this book that cannot be overlooked. The most glaring, as the first review pointed out, is the "death" of a well-known ice dancer who, in fact, is still very much alive. Here's hoping the errors are corrected before the second printing. I'm sure the aforementioned "deceased" skater and his family would appreciate it.