Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior), and at local, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates international figure skating judging and competitions. Figure skating is an official event in the Winter Olympic Games. In languages other than English and Russian, figure skating is usually referred to by a name that translates as "artistic skating".

Major international competitions are sanctioned by the ISU. These include the Winter Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Junior Championships, the European Championships, the Four Continents Championships, and the Grand Prix series (senior and junior).

The sport is also associated with show-business. Major competitions generally include exhibitions at the end in which the top-placing skaters perform non-competitive programs for the audience. Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice skating exhibitions or shows which run during the competitive season and the off-season.

Julia Viacheslavovna Lipnitskaia (Russian: Юлия Вячеславовна Липницкая;schol. Julia Vjačeslavovna Lipnickaja, also romanized as Yulia Lipnitskaya; born June 5, 1998 in Yekaterinburg) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2012 World Junior Champion, 2011–12 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, 2012 Russian senior silver medalist and the 2012 Russian junior champion. She holds the record for the combined total and free skate scores on the ladies junior level.

Lipnitskaia trained in Yekaterinburg until 2009 when she and her mother discussed her future, concluding they should either relocate for her skating career or leave the sport. Lipnitskaia moved with her mother to Moscow and joined Eteri Tutberidze's group in the spring of 2009. Her flexibility comes from her background in rhythmic gymnastics, which she practiced as a child. In the 2009–2010 season, she placed 5th on the junior level at the 2010 Russian Championships. She was 4th on the senior level the following season at the 2011 Russian Championships. She also competed at the national 2011 Russian Junior Championships but withdrew from the competition after the short program.

Yuzuru Hanyū (羽生 結弦, Hanyū Yuzuru^?) (born December 7, 1994 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan) is a Japanese figure skater. He is the 2012 World bronze medalist, the 2010 World Junior Champion, the 2011 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2009-10 Junior Grand Prix Final Champion and a two-time Japanese junior national champion.

Hanyu began skating at the age of four. He first competed nationally as a novice skater in the 2004-05 season; he skated at the 2004 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice B category, which is the lower of the two categories at the novice level, and won the gold medal in this competition. In the 2006-07 season, Hanyu competed at the 2006 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice A category and won the bronze medal. This placement earned him an invitation to compete at the 2006 Japan Junior Championships, where he placed 7th.

Hanyu competed at the 2007 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice A category and won the event. He was invited to compete in the 2007 Japan Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medal.

Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is a U.S. figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion.

Cohen was born in Westwood, California, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. Her full name is Alexandra Pauline Cohen. Her nickname "Sasha" is a Russian diminutive of "Alexandra". As a university student, she has used the name Alex, rather than Sasha.

Her mother, Galina (née Feldman), is a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine and a former ballet dancer.

Her father, Roger Cohen, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. Roger Cohen was formerly a law partner at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, and Of Counsel at Dorsey and Whitney. He is Founder and CEO of VerticalPoint Solutions, a company that simplifies and automates compliance for document intensive industries. VerticalPoint is based in Orange County, California.[1]

Sasha Cohen graduated from Futures High School in Mission Viejo, California in 2002. As of 2011, she was enrolled as an undergraduate student at Columbia University. Her sister, Natalia ("Natasha"), began college at Barnard College in August 2006.

Mao Asada (浅田 真央, Asada Mao^?, born September 25, 1990) is a Japanese figure skater.

She is the 2010 Winter Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2008 & 2010) World champion, a two-time (2008 & 2010) Four Continents champion, a two-time (2005–2006 & 2008–2009) Grand Prix Final champion, the 2005 World Junior champion, the 2004–2005 Junior Grand Prix Final champion and a five-time (2006–2009, 2011) Japanese national champion.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, she became the first woman to land three triple axel jumps in the same competition.

Mao Asada was born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. She was named after the Japanese actress Mao Daichi. She attended Nagoya International School until the middle of 1st grade. After transferring, she graduated from Takabari Elementary School and Takabaridai Junior High. She received her high school diploma from Chukyo High School on March 15, 2009. After that, she enrolled in Chukyo University.

Her sister Mai Asada (two years older) is also a figure skater and finished 6th at the 2006 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. She is now skating in shows.