Figure skating lifts are required elements in two disciplines of

figure skating 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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

pair skating 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 a ...

and

ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. There are five groups of lifts in pair skating, categorized in order of increasing level of difficulty. Judges look for the following when evaluating pair lifts: speed of entry and exit; control of the woman's free leg when she is exiting out of the lift, with the goal of keeping the leg high and sweeping; the position of the woman in the air; the man's footwork; quick and easy changes of position; and the maintenance of flow throughout the lift. Twist lifts are "the most thrilling and exciting component in pair skating". They can also be the most difficult movement to perform correctly. They require more strength and coordination than many other pair elements, and are usually the first or second element in a program. According to the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Net ...

(ISU), "the Woman must be caught in the air at the waist by the Man prior to landing and be assisted to a smooth landing on the ice on a backward outside edge on one foot" during a twist lift. A pair lift and twist lift is required in the short program of pair skating; a well-balanced free skating program in pair skating must include lifts. The ISU defines dance lifts as "a movement in which one of the partners is elevated with active and/or passive assistance of the other partner to any permitted height, sustained there and set down on the ice".S&P/ID 2021, p. 126 Dance lifts are delineated from pair lifts to ensure that ice dance and pair skating remain separate disciplines. After the judging system changed from the 6.0 system to the

ISU Judging System The ISU Judging System (or the International Judging System (IJS)), occasionally referred to as the Code of Points (COP) system, is the scoring system that has been used since 2004 to judge the figure skating disciplines of men's and ladies' sin ...

(IJS), dance lifts became more "athletic, dramatic and exciting". There are two types of dance lifts: short lifts, which should be done in under seven seconds; and combination lifts, which should be done in under 12 seconds. A well-balanced free dance program in ice dance must include dance lifts.

Pair skating

Pair lifts

There are five groups of pair lifts, determined by the hold at the moment the woman passes the man's shoulder.S&P/ID 2022, p. 113 For the 2022-2023 season, any Group Five lasso lift take-off is required in pair skating short programs for both juniors and seniors, and only the prescribed overhead lift is allowed. In the free skate, seniors can perform up to three lifts, but not all from the same group, and the man's lifting arm(s) must be fully extended; juniors can perform up to two lifts, also not all from the same group and with the man's lifting arm(s) also fully extended. If two Group Five lifts are executed, their take-off must be of a different nature; if their take-off is not different, they receive no points for the second executed lift.S&P/ID 2022, p. 119 Judges look for the following when evaluating pair lifts: speed of entry and exit; control of the woman's free leg when she is exiting out of the lift, with the goal of keeping the leg high and sweeping; the position of the woman in the air; the man's footwork; quick and easy changes of position; and the maintenance of flow throughout the lift. 2018 Skate Canada - Evelyn Walsh & Trennt Michaud - 17

2018 Skate Canada - Evelyn Walsh & Trennt Michaud - 17

Judges begin counting how many revolutions pair teams execute from the moment when the woman leaves the ice until when the man's arm (or arms) begin to bend after he has made a full extension and the woman begins to descend. If he is in a spread-eagle position or in another sideways position, the rotation count is determined by the position of his front foot at the moment the woman leaves the ice.Tech panel, p. 23 A complete pair skating lift must include full extension of the lifting arm or arms, if required for the type of lift being performed. Small lifts, or ones in which the man does not raise his hands higher than his shoulders, or lifts that include movements in which the man holds the woman by the legs, are also allowed. Small lifts can be either descending and ascending or rotational in character. A simple take-off includes, but is not limited to, a change of hand hold during ascent. A difficult take-off includes, but is not limited to, the following: a somersault take-off; a one-hand take-off, an Ina Bauer, a spread-eagle,

spirals In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Tech panel, p. 22 There must be one full revolution after a change of hold is made for it to count towards a team's score, but the man can change holds from his left to right arms, or from his right to left arms, with at least one revolution in each hold.Teams earn fewer points if the woman's position and a change of hold is executed at the same time.Tech panel, p. 24 They earn more points if the execution of the woman's position and the change in hold are "significantly different from lift to lift". Teams can increase the difficulty of lifts in any group by using a one-hand hold.Tech panel, p. 20 There are three types of positions performed by the woman: upright, or when her upper body is vertical; the star, or when she faces sideways with her upper body parallel to the ice; and the platter, or when her position is flat and facing up or down with her upper body parallel to the ice. The lift ends when the man's arm or arms begins to bend after he completes a full extension and when the woman begins to descend.S&P/ID 2022, p. 114 If the woman changes position, from upright with her head upwards to upright with her head downwards, or from "Platter to Platter, Star to Star with half a rotation of the Woman in any direction", it is considered a change position. Pair teams earn more points if the variation of the woman's position in the air "significantly impacts the balance of the Woman in the lift or requires specific strength and/or flexibility", and "only if the variations are significantly different from lift to lift". Carry lifts are defined as "the simple carrying of a partner without rotation" and do not count as overhead lifts; instead, they are considered as transition elements. They occur when the man makes at least one continuous revolution, although only the first carry counts towards their score. Carry lifts do not count as features in the short program and count towards the score only the first time they are performed during the free skate. Only half a revolution made by the man is allowed on the carry lift's take-off and/or exit. There are no restrictions of holds in carry lifts, and the "carrying of one partner by the other on the back, shoulders or knees is allowed". A simple carry lift lasts at least three seconds. A difficult carry includes at least one of the following features, for at least three seconds: the man skates on one foot, he performs crossovers, or he holds his partner on one arm, and he performs spread eagles or similar moves. Pair skaters experience the most injuries of all figure skating disciplines. Off-ice training is crucial in making pair skaters more confident in their own skating and have more trust in their partners. Lifts are done on the floor before they are attempted on the ice, and the man's footwork is emphasized to ensure that his turns are accurate and safe for his partner. Their coaches also teach partners how to have firm wrist and finger grips, as well as how to communicate with each other non-verbally. File:2020 European Figure Skating Championships Sofiia Nesterova Artem Darensky 2020 01 22 3929.jpg, Sofiia Nesterova and Artem Darensky from Ukraine at the 2020 European Championships. File:V. James and Y. Bonheur at 2010 Olympics (1).jpg, French skaters

Vanessa James Vanessa James (born 27 September 1987) is a Canadian retired pair skater. Representing France with her former skating partner, Morgan Ciprès, she is the 2019 European Champion, the 2018 World bronze medallist, the 2017 European bronze meda ...

and Yannick Bonheur at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

File:Rena inoue.jpg, Americans

Rena Inoue is a Japanese-born American retired pair skater. With partner John Baldwin, she is the 2004 and 2006 U.S. National Champion. Inoue previously competed for Japan as both a single skater and pair skater. Inoue and Baldwin are the first skaters t ...

and John Baldwin Jr., 2004 Four Continents Championships File:2007 Skate America Pang-Qing-Tong Jian02.jpg, Chinese skaters

Pang Qing Pang Qing (; born December 24, 1979, in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With her husband Tong Jian, she is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, the 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion (2002 ...

and

Tong Jian Tong Jian (; born August 15, 1979 in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Pang Qing, he is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion (2002, 2004, 2008, ...

, 2007 Skate America File:Anabelle Langlois & Cody Hay Lift - 2006 Skate America.jpg, Canadians

Anabelle Langlois Anabelle Langlois (born July 21, 1981) is a Canadian pair skater. She is the 2008 Canadian Figure Skating Championships with Cody Hay and the 2002 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships silver medallist with Patrice Archetto. Career Lan ...

and

Cody Hay Cody Hay (born July 28, 1983) is a Canadian retired pair skater. With Anabelle Langlois, he is the 2008 Canadian national champion. He is now a coach with Langlois. Career Cody Hay teamed up with Annabelle Langlois in 2005. The pair finished ...

, 2006 Skate America File:FitzeRex 4.jpg, Germans

Eva-Maria Fitze Eva-Maria Fitze (born 10 May 1982 in Dachau) is a German figure skater who competed in both ladies' singles and pairs. As a singles skater, she was the youngest woman ever to win senior gold at the German Championships, taking the title at age ...

and

Rico Rex Rico Rex (born 5 October 1976 in Chemnitz) is a German former pair skater. With former partner Eva-Maria Fitze, he is the 2003 German national champion. Career Rico Rex started figure skating when he was four years old as the result of a ta ...

, 2006 German Figure Skating Championships File:2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki Miu Suzaki Ryuichi Kihara 2018-11-03 16-06-10.jpg,

Miu Suzaki is a Japanese pair skater. With her former skating partner, Ryuichi Kihara, she is a two-time Asian Open Trophy medalist and the 2017 Japan national Champion. They have competed at the Four Continents Championships and on the Grand Prix series. ...

and

Ryuichi Kihara is a Japanese pair skater 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 impres ...

from Japan at 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki.

Twist lifts

Skate Canada Skate Canada ( Canadian French: ''Patinage Canada'', lit. "Skating Canada") is the national governing body for figure skating in Canada, recognized by the International Skating Union and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It organizes the annual ...

calls twist lifts "sometimes the most thrilling and exciting component in pair skating". They can also be most difficult movement to perform correctly. Twist lifts require more strength and coordination than many other pair elements, and are usually the first or second element in a program. According to the ISU, the "Woman must be caught in the air at the waist by the Man prior to landing and be assisted to a smooth landing on the ice on a backward outside edge on one foot" during a twist lift. Pair teams begin a twist lift after "barreling down the ice backward"; the man then places both hands on his partner's waist, and she places both hands on his wrists.Rulebook, p. 217 She begins the takeoff by jamming her toe pick into the ice, which launches her into the air. He attempts to get underneath the momentum of her jump, boosting her beyond where she would be able to reach on her own, without his assistance. In their short programs, both senior and junior pair teams can perform two or three rotations in the air, but the woman can only perform either a flip or

Lutz Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician *Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse * Alois Lutz, Austrian figure ...

during her take-off. In the free skate, there are no limits on the amount of revolutions pair teams can perform, and the woman's take-off can include the Lutz, flip,

toe loop The toe loop jump is the simplest jump in the sport of figure skating. It was invented in the 1920s by American professional figure skater Bruce Mapes. The toe loop is accomplished with a forward approach on the inside edge of the blade; the ska ...

, or Axel. (The toe loop and Axel are less common.) The woman completes the twist at the top of the twist lift by pulling her arms close to her body, crossing her legs together, and rotating freely in the air, high above her partner's head. During her rotations, he turns half a turn to catch her at the waist as she lands on the ice on the backward outside edge of one foot. Judges look for the following when evaluating twist lifts: the speed at entry and exit; whether or not the woman performs a split position while on her way to the top of the twist lift; her height once she gets there; clean rotations; a clean catch by the man (accomplished by placing both hands at the woman's waist and without any part of her upper body touching him); and a one-foot exit executed by both partners. Pair teams can earn more points if the woman executes a split position (each leg is at least 45° from her body axis and her legs are straight or almost straight) before rotating. They also earn more points when the man's arms are sideways and straight or almost straight after he releases the woman. They lose points for not having enough rotations, one-half a rotation or more.Tech Panel, p. 26 According to former pair skater Archie Tse, stronger teams emphasize the delay between the man throwing the woman up in the air and reaching up to catch her by putting his hands down by his sides while she is in flight. The first quadruple twist lift performed in international competition was by Russian pair team

Marina Cherkasova Marina Evgenievna Cherkasova (russian: Марина Евгеньевна Черкасова; born 17 November 1964) is a Russian retired pair skater. With Sergei Shakhrai, she won the 1979 European title at the age of 14. At 15, she was the 1 ...

and

Sergei Shakhrai Sergei Semyonovich Shakhrai (russian: Серге́й Семёнович Шахрай; born 28 June 1958) is a Russian retired pair skater. With partner Marina Cherkasova, he is the 1980 Olympic silver medalist, 1980 World champion, and 1979 ...

at the European Championship in 1977.

Dance lifts

The ISU defines dance lifts as "a movement in which one of the partners is elevated with active and/or passive assistance of the other partner to any permitted height, sustained there and set down on the ice".S&P/ID 2022, p. 130 Dance lifts are delineated from pair lifts to ensure that ice dance and pair skating remain separate disciplines. After the judging system changed from the 6.0 system to the

(IJS), dance lifts became more "athletic, dramatic and exciting". American ice dancer Charlie White states that lifts have become "increasingly difficult", requiring teams to, like pair skaters, work with acrobats to develop their lifts. They have also become more acrobatic, despite the fact that they do not get as high as pair skating lifts because ice dance lifts cannot be supported over the man's shoulder. Dance lifts have also become more dangerous, resulting in more falls and injuries. There are two types of dance lifts: short lifts, which should be done in under seven seconds; and combination lifts, which should be done in under 12 seconds. There are four types of short lifts: the stationary lift, the straight-line lift, the Curve lift, and the Rotational lift. There are three types of combination lifts: two Rotational lifts in different directions, two Curve lifts performed in a serpentine pattern, and different two types of short lifts performed together.Rulebook, p. 249 Since dance lifts cannot be as high as pair lifts, a common dance lift is the standing lift, which occurs when the woman stands on her male partner. Injuries and falls occur, especially during training, but they tend to be minor because skating blades are thick, 0.15 inches to 0.25 inches in width, so the woman's weight, which should be balanced in the center of her blade, is distributed over a larger area of her partner's body. Ice dance teams practice lifts off the ice at first, and then women use blade guards and men wear foam guards under their clothing when they move to working on lifts on the ice. Eventually, the man's body adapts; he develops tolerance and calluses on his thighs and other body parts. Since ice dance lifts are shorter than pair lifts, the actual time the woman stands on the man tends to be about three seconds. Standing lifts are also easier than the more complex, acrobatic ice dance lifts. File:2007-GPF-Dance-Virtue-Moir024.jpg, Canadians

Tessa Virtue Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With ice dance partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017) ...

and

Scott Moir Scott Patrick Moir OLY ( ; born September 2, 1987) is a Canadian retired ice dancer and coach. With ice dance partner Tessa Virtue, he is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (2010, ...

perform a curve lift at the 2007 Grand Prix Final File:2010 Canadian Championships Dance - Kharis Ralph - Asher Hill - 2024a.jpg, Canadians

Kharis Ralph Kharis Ralph (born April 22, 1992) is a Canadian former Ice dancing, ice dancer. With Asher Hill, she is the 2008 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, 2008 Canadian national junior champion and 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist. Personal ...

and

Asher Hill Asher Hill (born March 19, 1991) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With previous partner Kharis Ralph, he is the 2008 Canadian national junior champion and 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist. He teamed up with Nicole Orford in 2015. He has ...

, 2010 Canadian Championships File:2009 Cup of China ice-dance Huang-Zheng02.jpg, Chinese ice dancers Huang Xintong and

Zheng Xun Zheng Xun (; born August 21, 1987) is a Chinese former competitive ice dancer. With partner Huang Xintong, he is the 2011 Asian Winter Games champion and a five-time Chinese national champion (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2014). Their best res ...

perform a curve lift at the 2009 Cup of China File:2010 Olympics Figure Skating Dance - Tanith BELBIN - Benjamin AGOSTO - 2673A.jpg, Americans

Tanith Belbin Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin (born July 11, 1984) is a Canadian-American ice dancer and Olympic program host for NBC Sports. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Be ...

and

Benjamin Agosto Benjamin Alexandro "Ben" Agosto (born January 15, 1982) is an American ice dancer. With partner Tanith Belbin, Agosto is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2004–2006 Four Continents champion, and 2004–2008 ...

File:2018 EC Gabriella Papadakis Guillaume Cizeron 2018-01-20 16-54-41 (2).jpg, French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and

Guillaume Cizeron Guillaume Cizeron (born 12 November 1994) is a French ice dancer. With his partner, Gabriella Papadakis, he is the 2022 Olympic champion, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a five-time World champion (2015–2016, 2018–2019, 2022), a five-time ...

performing a curve lift at the 2018 European Championships

Footnotes

References

Works cited

* Hines, James R. (2006). ''Figure Skating: A History''. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. .
"The 2022-23 Official U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook"
(Rulebook) Colorado Springs, Colorado: U.S Figure Skating. July 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022. *
"Special Regulations & Technical Rules Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance 2022".
International Skating Union. 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022 (S&P/ID 2022)
"Technical Panel Handbook: Pair Skating 2022–2023
(PDF). (Tech Panel) International Skating Union. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022. {{Figure skating Lifts Pair skating Ice dance