1986 World Figure Skating Championships

The 1986 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Geneva, Switzerland from March 18 to 23. At the event, sanctioned by the International Skating Union, medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.

The ISU Representative was Josef Dědič (Czechoslovakia), and the ISU Technical Delegate was Elemér Terták (Hungary).

Soviet judge Natalia Danilenko was suspended for ignoring a new rule requiring mandatory deductions of 0.1 for falls; she gave Alexandr Fadeev a score of 5.9 after he fell twice, instead of a maximum of 5.8.

Medal tables

Medalists

Medals by country

Results

Men

Referee:

Sonia Bianchettei  Italy

Assistant Referee:

Walburga Grimm  East Germany

Judges:

Tatiana Danilenko  Soviet Union

Maria Zuchowicz  Poland

Claire Ferguson  United States

Jean Matthews  Canada

Björn Elwin  Sweden

Junko Hiramatsu  Japan

Radovan Lipovšćak  Yugoslavia

Christiane Mörth  Austria

Miranda Marchi  Italy

Substitute judge:

Josette Betsch  France

Figure skating

Figure skating is a sport and activity in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908. The four Olympic disciplines are men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs (short and long) which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.

The blade has a groove on the bottom creating two distinct edges — inside and outside. In figure skating, the skater should glide on one edge of the blade and not on both at the same time, which is referred to as a flat edge. During a spin, skaters use the "sweet spot" of the blade, which is the roundest portion of the blade, just behind the pick and near the middle of the blade. Skates used in single and pair skating have a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks on the front of the blade. Toe picks are mainly used in the take-off for jumps. Ice dancing blades are an inch shorter in the rear and have smaller toe picks.

World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships ("Worlds") is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Generally held in March, the World Championships are considered the most prestigious of the ISU Championships, which also include the European Championships, the Four Continents Championships, and the World Junior Championships. With the exception of the Olympic title, a world title is considered to be the highest competitive achievement in figure skating.

The corresponding competition for junior-level skaters is the World Junior Championships. The corresponding competition for senior-level synchronized skating is the World Synchronized Skating Championships and for junior level the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships.

History

The Internationale Eislauf-Vereingung (International Skating Union) formed in 1892 to govern international competition in speed and figure skating. The first Championship, known as the Championship of the Internationale Eislauf-Vereingung, was held in Saint Petersburg in 1896. The event had four competitors and was won by Gilbert Fuchs.

Free skating

The free skating competition of figure skating, sometimes called the "free skate" or "long program", is usually the second of two phases in major figure skating competitions in single skating and pair skating. It is the longer of the two programs, the other one being the short program. The time allowed for free skating is 4 minutes for senior ladies and 4 minutes and 30 seconds for senior men and pairs, plus or minus 10 seconds. Programs for juniors are 30 seconds shorter.

Originally, figure skating competitions consisted of compulsory figures and free skating only, and free skating was "free" in the sense that it was completely free from requirements; skaters could perform whatever combination of elements best suited their individual skills. However, the International Skating Union adopted requirements for a "well-balanced program" in pair skating in 1982, and in single skating in 1984, to counter the trend at that time for skaters to pack their programs with purely athletic elements such as jumps at the expense of spins and other movements demonstrating mastery of skating technique. For example, for many years the well-balanced program guidelines for singles required a minimum of 4 spins, and pairs were allowed to do 3 to 5 lifts.

Debi Thomas

Debra Janine Thomas (born March 25, 1967) is an American figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion, two-time U.S. national champion and 1988 Olympic bronze medalist. Her rivalry with East Germany's Katarina Witt at the 1988 Calgary Olympics was known as the Battle of the Carmens.

Personal life

Thomas was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. She grew up in San Jose, California, where she started skating at age 5. Thomas competed in her first figure skating competition at age 9, finishing 1st place. From then on, she was hooked on competitive skating. She attributes most of her success to her mother who sacrificed to drive her over 100 miles a day between home, school, and the ice rink. Debi wanted to be a doctor from age 5 and was a practicing orthopedic surgeon who specialized in hip and knee replacement. She has one son named Christopher Jules "Luc" Bequette (b. 1997). She and fiance Jamie Looney now live with his two sons, Ethan and Austin in Southwest Virginia. Thomas was featured in the November 7, 2015, episode of the television series, Iyanla: Fix My Life, on the Oprah Winfrey Network. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.