The World Professional Figure Skating Championships, often referred to as Landover, was an elite made-for-TV
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 ...
competition. It was created by
Dick Button
Richard Totten Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating analyst. He is a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive World champion (1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to ha ...
, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, through his production company Candid Productions. It usually took place in December. For most of its existence, it was an unsanctioned professional event, meaning that skaters who participated lost their eligibility to compete in the
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...
and other "
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
" skating events controlled by 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 ...
.
History
The first professional championship was held in 1973 in Tokyo, Japan (aired in 1974 on ABC Sports) . Skaters competed in three disciplines:
men's singles,
ladies' singles, and
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 ...
. However the competition was not held again until 1980, when it moved to
Landover, Maryland
Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998.
Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...
. It was held again from 1980 to 1982 as a two-team competition. In 1983 individual competition once again resumed alongside continued team competition. 1983 also marked the first year in which
ice dancing
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 ...
was contested. Team competition was discontinued in 1986. The last professional championship was held in 2000.
The professional championships were held in Landover, Maryland, every year until 1997, when it moved to the
MCI Center
Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. It has been largely considered to be a commercial success a ...
in Washington, D.C. Beginning in 1990, the championship started taking the name of its sponsor. Thus the 1990 competition was called the "
NutraSweet
The NutraSweet Company is an American nutrient company that produces and markets NutraSweet Neotame, their trademarked brand name for the high-intensity sweetener neotame.
In 2021, NutraSweet was placed 43rd by FoodTalks' list of Top 50 Global S ...
World Professional Championships". Other sponsors included Durasoft Colors,
Equal,
Metabolife
Metabolife International, Inc. was a multi-level marketing company based in San Diego, California which manufactured dietary supplements. Metabolife's best-selling product, an ephedra supplement called ''Metabolife 356'', once generated hundreds o ...
, and
Hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' can al ...
.
In 1998, the competition was sanctioned by 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) as an "international open" or pro-am event. Because the ISU restricts the use of the title "Championships" to refer to ISU Championship events, that year the event was formally known simply as the "Equal Sweetener World Pro".
The technical content of performances was generally lower than in ISU events. Dick Button said: "In the amateur world, they count your triple jumps, and if you don't do enough they forget about your other skating. We do not make our competitors prove their merit. We let them present creative programs with as many or as few triple jumps as they wish."
[
In 1999, Button's Candid Productions was acquired by SFX, which was in turn acquired by ]Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
a year later. At the same time, public interest in professional skating competitions was declining, more elite skaters were choosing to retain their competition eligibility by participating only in sanctioned events, and networks were shifting towards a time-buy model which made skating events less lucrative for producers. All of these factors contributed to the competition's demise after the 2000 event.
In 2001, a successor pro competition produced by IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image.
img or IMG may also refer to:
* IMG (company), global sports and media business headquartered in New York City but with its main offices in Cleveland, originally known as the "International Management Group ...
under the name "Hallmark Skater's Championship" was held on the usual December date at the MCI Center
Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. It has been largely considered to be a commercial success a ...
. In 2002 the IMG-produced event was held again under that name, this time in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, as a sanctioned pro-am competition. This competition also ceased to be held.
In 2009 Skyeyes International Ltd purchased the rights of the World Professional Figure Skating Championships and transforms them into an international trademark with the goal to unify criteria between both events held prior.
Simultaneously the International Professional Skating Union (IPSU) under the same umbrella is being developed.
In 2016 the French company Agence Combes purchased the rights of the World Professional Figure Skating Championships.
Professional champions
Jaca competition
An unrelated professional skating competition known by the same name in English was held for many years in Jaca
Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ...
, Spain. Its official name in Spanish was Campeonatos del Mundo de Patinaje Artístico Professional sobre Hielo. The forerunner of this event was an open professional championship for show skaters dating back to at least the 1930s that was held in England, initially under the auspices of the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain
British Ice Skating (formerly the National Ice Skating Association) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of ice skating within the United Kingdom. Formed in 1879, it is responsible for overseeing all disciplines of ice skating: ...
, and later organized by the Imperial Professional Skaters Association. The event moved to Jaca with the sponsorship of the International Professional Skaters Union. During the 1980s it was a prestigious event with wide television coverage in Europe. Past winners of this event include Denise Biellmann
Denise Biellmann (born 11 December 1962) is a Swiss professional figure skater. She was the European and World Champion in 1981 and won the Swiss Championships three times.
Career
Amateur career
Born in Zurich, Biellmann won her first in ...
, Robert Wagenhoffer, Gary Beacom
Gary Beacom (born February 23, 1960) is a Canadian figure skater, choreographer and author. He is the 1983 and 1984 Canadian silver medalist and finished 11th at the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Career
Beacom began skating at the age of six. In 1983 ...
, Scott Williams, Pierre Panayi and Lorna Brown.
References
External links
Information at goldenskate.com
Jaca results at goldenskate.com
* Robert S. Ogilvie, ''Competitive Figure Skating: A Parent's Guide''. {{ISBN, 0-06-015375-X.
* Skating Turns Pr
Figure skating competitions