Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Figure skating

For the correct use of figure skating terms, see Manual of Style/Figure skating terminology.

The WikiProject Figure skating style guide applies to articles within the scope of WikiProject Figure skating. It is based on Wikipedia's general Manual of Style, while using the style guidelines presented by U.S. Figure Skating as orientation. This guide represents the consensus view of editors maintaining Wikipedia's articles about the sport of figure skating. However, if you notice any errors or disagree with certain recommendations, feel free to discuss them on this talk page.

Figure skating is a complex sport and performing art with a long history and list of technical terms, with a detailed terminology guide presented on a separate page. This general style guide gives an overview of the most common article types within the scope of WikiProject Figure Skating, including advices regarding the lead section, article structure, statistics tables, and the use of figure skating-specific templates.

Note that figure skating is a niche sport with rather limited coverage by mainstream media, often lacking in-depth information about encyclopedically notable events or accurate use of terminology. To have a broad selection of references for all types of articles, this page provides a list of reliable figure skating-specific sources.

Figure skating terminology and style guidelines
Figure skating is a complex sport and performing art with a long list of technical terms and competition rules. It is subject to continuous changes regarding performed elements, judging criteria, and scoring systems, which require a high degree of sensitivity and accuracy in wording. However, figure skating is also a sport that casual readers may only watch every four years at the Winter Olympics, not being familiar with its rules and terms.

This sub-page gives an overview of the most important terms and wikilinks to the respective articles. It lists the terms with their correct spelling, abbreviation, and formatting style as well as concise definitions and distinctions from each other, providing guidance in how to make figure skating articles accessible to the widest possible general audience.


 * Use technical terms sparingly, following MOS:TECHNICAL and MOS:JARGON.
 * Use the correct official terms, following the advices in this list of figure skating terms.
 * Link to the term's respective article or section at first mention if there is one, following MOS:LINKING.
 * Spell out technical terms, especially in the prose part of articles. Example: "triple Lutz-triple loop jump combination" instead of "3Lz+3Lo".
 * Be consistent and avoid ambiguous terms . Example: Do not use "Mohawk turn" in the first and "Cstep" in the second sentence.
 * Use more general terms if the context allows it. Example: "sit spin element" instead of "flying sit spin with change of foot".
 * Write in descriptive style . Example: "triple Axel jump entered by a counter turn" instead of "counter triple Axel".
 * Explain all parts of a difficult compound term like "rocker-counter-loop combination", using explanatory footnotes like NoteTag if needed.


 * Capitalize only the names of governing bodies, judging systems, competitions, ice shows, pattern dances, program titles, and elements or moves that are named after people, following the advices in this list of figure skating terms.
 * Italicize only titles of books and official documents, non-recurring ice shows, and certain types of program titles, following these advices.
 * American and British English are both accepted as long as one of the two is consistently applied in the article. Make sure to add either Use American English or Use British English at the top of the article to inform other editors about the used language variation.
 * Add no-break spaces, following MOS:NBSP and these advices for no-break spaces in figure skating terms.

Lead section and article structure
Figure skating articles generally follow the guidelines for article structure as per MOS:LEAD, WP:SUMMARY, and WP:SECTIONS.


 * Lead size: As per MOS:LEADLENGTH, the lead can be divided into two or three paragraphs, counting ca. 250 to 400words in readable prose size. In the case of vital or large-scope articles with multiple sub-pages, the lead can be extended to four paragraphs and about 600words, but it must be of reasonable length compared to the content and size of the full article. For reference: the lead section of the featured article about Michael Jackson counts 540words (as of April2024).
 * Referencing the lead: The lead section itself should only contain inline citations for information that are either likely to be challenged (like "X is considered one of the greatest skaters in history") or that do not appear in the rest of the article, which is generally discouraged. The recommendation is to mention every aspect from the lead in the article body as well, where it is sufficiently cited by reliable sources.
 * General structure of the article body: There is no universal recipe for the structure of figure skating articles. This page provides suggestions for the following common article types: skater biographies, competitions, technical elements, and ice shows. For articles that do not fit any of these categories, the following basic structure can be used as orientation:
 * 1) Terminology (if applicable): This section provides a concise definition and explanation of the topic, making it more accessible for casual readers.
 * 2) Background (if needed): This section puts the article's topic into a global context, making it more accessible for casual readers.
 * 3) History: This section is a chronological summary of all notable events related to the topic.
 * 4) Topic-specific sections
 * 5) Meaning or impact (if applicable): This section summarizes the topic's meaning for the sport of figure skating or beyond.
 * 6) Statistical lists
 * 7) Appendices and footers: See also – Notes and references – Further reading – External links.
 * Structure of list class articles: For figure skating lists like cumulative medal counts, highest scores statistics or skaters' career achievements, this structure may not be applicable and should be decided case-by-case in a reasonable manner.
 * Referencing the article body: Every information in the article body must be cited by reliable sources, ideally reliable secondary sources like history books, scientific journals, reputable magazines or newspaper articles. This goes especially for the prose part of the article. For a list of reliable figure skating-specific sources, see referencing.

Tables and templates
Tables in figure skating articles and lists follow the general Wikipedia Manual of Style as per MOS:TABLE. That includes:


 * Explanatory legend: Bulleted list of spelled-out terms and annotations placed above the table. It is recommended to place the list in a smalldiv environment. For correct usage, see examples in the sections below.
 * Table caption: Caption that names the table data and sorting key. Every data table should have a caption as per MOS:HEADERS. Example: "Total number of medals in men's singles by nation".
 * Table size: As a general rule of thumb, tables should still look "reader-friendly" at 400pixel display width. Keep in mind that the majority of readers uses mobile view on narrow smartphone screens, with large tables being often distorted. If a table gets too bulky, consider a split into multiple tables, use appropriate abbreviations or reduce the font size to 85%. To make lists of skaters in pairs and ice dance more compact, use the template FS skater.
 * Abbreviations: To keep column headers narrow, you can use official abbreviations for figure skating terms, following this list, and add the spelled-out terms in the explanatory legend above the table. For the "References" column, use, which renders as Ref.
 * Accessibility: Make sure that the table is accessible with screenreaders and similar devices as per MOS:ACCESS and MOS:DTAB:
 * 1) Define row and column headers with intelligible titles, using the scope-parameters   and.
 * 2) Do  use multi-column headers in the middle of a table to group its content. Instead, add an additional column or split the table into multiple smaller ones.
 * 3) Use colors only for visual support, not to add information, and use them sparingly.
 * Sorting: This tool should be utilized whenever appropriate as per WP:SORT. This goes especially for cumulative medal counts and scoring results of competitions. In sortable columns, make sure to avoid multiple entries within one table cell. Here is an overview of the most common sorting keys in figure skating:


 * Sourcing: All data in a table must be sourced with exception of basic mathematical calculations and operations like the total number of medals, participations or age. For calculating a skater's exact age of the form "Yyears and Ddays", you can use this age-calculator. Global sources for the full table are generally preferred to sources for single rows or cells, proving the statistics' notability as a whole and avoiding original research. Global sources are placed as inline citations after the table caption. If there are multiple sources of the same type, they can be grouped as one bundled citation like this. Individual sources for single rows or cells are recommended to be added as inline citations in a separate "References" column.

Figure skater biographies
These articles must adhere to Wikipedia's policies about biographies (see MOS:BIO), with special sensitivity regarding living persons (see WP:BLP).

Examples: Tara Lipinski –  Yuzuru Hanyu ( career achievements) –  Nathan Chen

Biography lead and structure
The lead section is a concise summary of the article body, following the style guidelines of MOS:LEAD for biographies.


 * First sentence: It mentions the skater's full name in boldface, date of birth and death in parentheses, and the occupation as a figure skater. It must be clear from the wording if the skater is still active as a competitor or professional or has retired from skating altogether. If the skater is active as a professional, do  use the term "retired" at all and do not write "former competitive skater" without clarifying the status as an active professional.
 * Second sentence: It is recommended to mention the discipline(s) the skater has competed in (like men's singles), main partner(s) in pairs or ice dance, and the period of competing (from 20XX to 20YY).
 * First paragraph: It contains a compilation of the skater's most important medals and titles (with the years in parentheses), especially gold medals won at major international events (Olympics, World Championships, European or Four Continents Championships, and the Grand Prix Final) and national championships.
 * Other content: The lead can also include the number of scored world records in the ISU Judging System and other notable achievements and contributions in figure skating as well as essential information about public life and the most important awards and accolades if applicable.

Article structureFor details on the content of each section, click on "show" (prose sections highlighted in grey, list sections in purple).

Biography tables and templates
Use the following figure skating templates: Infobox figure skater and Figure skating infobox medals. Note: For skaters with other notable occupations like singer or politician, the "Infobox figure skater" can be embedded into the more general Infobox person, using the module parameter.
 * Place the infobox above the lead section in the article's plain text (Wiki markup code).
 * Mandatory parameters: country, discipline, and partner (for pairs and ice dance).
 * Profile picture : Use the image parameter to add a profile picture of the skater from the Wikimedia Commons library. Make sure to add an alternative text for screenreaders with alt and an image caption with caption.
 * Coach and club : Only add the current coach and skating club for skaters who are still active at competitive level. Former coaches and clubs should be mentioned in the "competitive skating career" section in the prose part of the article, supported by reliable secondary sources.
 * Retirement : Do  fill out the retired parameter as long as the skater is still active as a professional! Use years_competitive and years_professional to mark the periods of skating at competitive and professional level as shown in the example on the right.
 * Highest ISU world standing : Use an ordinal number in the two-letter suffix form, with the period added in parentheses.
 * For the full list of available parameters and detailed instructions, visit the template documentation.
 * Medal record: Use the medalrecord parameter to embed the template Figure skating infobox medals in combination with the module FS medal. For detailed instructions, including skaters who changed countries or disciplines, visit the template documentation.

Use the following figure skating template: Figure skating world records. Example
 * For competition names, follow these advices. For scores, use numbers with two decimal places like 93.10.
 * For junior records, add (J) after the segment like "Short program (J)".
 * Use the ref parameter to add global sources for the full table, usually the official ISU progression of highest scores tables like this bundled source. Only add individual citations in the notes column.
 * J – Junior record score

Use the following precast table:

Example: List of career achievements by Yuzuru Hanyu § Firsts and other records
 * For competition names, follow these advices.
 * Support each first or record with a reliable secondary source, adding one or more inline citations to the "References" column.
 * Only place a full stop after the achievement description if it is a full sentence.

Use the following figure skating templates: Figure skating program list and FS program. Example
 * For program titles, follow these advices.
 * The following information, if known and sourced, should be added to the list: program title (as submitted by the skater to the ISU), composers and/or performers, all tracks used in the music cut, and the choreographers of the program.
 * Use the refx parameter to add sources for each season, usually the skater's ISU profile page. Example: Charlene Guignard.
 * For past seasons, search the history of the skater's ISU profile page at the Wayback Machine. For exhibition programs, use reliable secondary sources like newspaper articles or the official page of the show (some have the planned programs listed), and place the reference directly as an inline citation after the program title.
 * Program details mentioned at first occurrence
 * Olympic seasons highlighted in blue
 * Programs performed at the Winter Olympics highlighted in bold

Use the following figure skating templates: Figure skating competitive highlights and FS placements. Example
 * For competition names, follow these advices. For placements, use ordinals in the two-letter suffix form like 1st or 22nd.
 * Use the ref parameter to add global sources for the full table, usually the skater's ISU competition results page. Example: Gabriella Papadakis.
 * Do  add inline citations inside table cells! It messes up the coloring and other technical features of the template.
 * It is recommended to split the competitive highlights into placements at senior and lower competition levels. This keeps the tables at reasonable size, both in horizontal and vertical direction, and reduces the number empty cells to a minimum.
 * GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
 * C – Cancelled event, WD – Withdrawal, TBD – Placement to be decided
 * Medals at team events are awarded for the team result only. The individual placement at the ISU World Team Trophy is listed in parentheses.
 * The 2015 Autumn Classic International was not part of the ISU Challenger Series that season.

Use the following figure skating template: Figure skating personal bests. Example
 * For competition names, follow these advices. For scores, use numbers with two decimal places like 208.10.
 * Use the ref parameter to add global sources for the full table, usually the skater's ISU personal bests page. Example: Sui Wenjing.
 * Avoid adding inline citations in single table cells.
 * TSS – Total segment score highlighted in bold
 * TES – Technical element score
 * PCS – Program component score

Use the following figure skating template: Figure skating detailed results. Example
 * For competition names, follow these advices. For scores, use numbers with two decimal places like 208.10.
 * Only list detailed results from the season onward, when the skater has officially moved up to junior level, having competed in at least one ISU-sanctioned junior or senior competition. Seasons with results at domestic junior competitions only should not be listed here.
 * Use the ref parameter to add global sources for the full table, usually the skater's results page on Skating Scores. Example: Yuzuru Hanyu.
 * Do  add inline citations inside table cells! It messes up the coloring and other technical features of the template.
 * Use the sourcex parameter to link the ISU result page for each listed competition in the "Details" column. Example: 2017 World Championships.
 * Historical records scores achieved in the +3/-3GOE System highlighted in bold and italic
 * Small medals for the short program (SP) and free skating (FS) segment are only awarded at ISU Championships.
 * Medals at team events are awarded for the team result only. The individual placement at the ISU World Team Trophy is listed in parentheses.

Add the following templates if applicable:
 * 1) Wiki sister projects: Commons or Sister project links.
 * 2) External links: ISU figure skater, Olympics.com, and Olympedia.
 * 3) Succession boxes: For world record and historical record holders.
 * 4) Navboxes: See general navboxes and champions navboxes.
 * 5) Stub templates: For articles with  stub assessment class, see stub templates.

Figure skating competitions
For the correct use of competition-related terms, see Figure skating terminology § Competitions and disciplines.

Competition lead and structure
The lead section is a concise summary of the article body, following the style guidelines of MOS:LEAD. The guidelines presented in this section use the structure of the featured article about the 2018 World Snooker Championship as orientation.


 * First sentence: It mentions the competition's official name in boldface, the type of competition like "international figure skating competition", the date or period of hosting, and the venue and location . The official name must not contain any internal links (see MOS:BOLDLINK).
 * First paragraph: It is recommended to mention the organizer, the edition of the competition like "43rdedition of the annual World Figure Skating Championships", and the events that were contested like "men's singles" or "team event". If the competition served as an important qualifying event, that should be mentioned here as well.
 * Other content: The lead can include the number of participating skaters and nations, the gold medalists in each discipline, notable records and firsts, disqualifications or controversies, and information about sponsors, broadcast, and viewership if notable and supported by reliable sources.

Article structureFor details on the content of each section, click on "show" (prose sections highlighted in grey, list sections in purple).

Competition tables and templates
Use the following figure skating template: Infobox figure skating competition.
 * Place the infobox above the lead section in the article's plain text (Wiki markup code).

Use the following figure skating template: Figure skating world records.
 * For competition names, follow these advices. For scores, use numbers with two decimal places like 93.10.
 * For junior records, add (J) after the segment like "Short program (J)".
 * Use the ref parameter to add global sources for the full table, usually the official ISU progression of highest scores tables like this bundled source. Only add individual citations in the notes column.

Use the following precast table:


 * For competition names, follow these advices.
 * Support each first or record with a reliable secondary source, adding one or more inline citations to the "References" column.
 * Only place a full stop after the achievement description if it is a full sentence.

Add the following templates if applicable:
 * 1) Wiki sister projects: Commons or Sister project links.
 * 2) Navboxes: See competition navboxes.
 * 3) Stub templates: For articles with  stub assessment class, use figure-skating-stub.

Element lead and structure
The lead section is a concise summary of the article body, following the style guidelines of MOS:LEAD.


 * First sentence: It mentions the element's or move's official name in boldface, the official abbreviation in parentheses, and the parent element or skating move if it exists. Otherwise, use "figure skating element" or "figure skating move" instead.
 * First paragraph: It gives a concise definition for the element or skating move, names its inventor and first adaption in figure skating, and mentions the disciplines where the element is required or commonly performed.
 * Other content: The lead can include information about the most notable innovations and records and most popular variations.

Article structure(prose sections highlighted in grey, list sections in purple)

Appendices and footers (See also – Notes and references – Further reading – External links)

Ice show lead and structure
The lead section is a concise summary of the article body, following the style guidelines of MOS:LEAD.


 * First sentence: It mentions the ice show's official name in boldface, the type of show (like "annual touring ensemble ice show"), the producer and organizer, and the country where it is held. In the case of non-recurring shows, the date or period of hosting and the venues and locations should be mentioned.
 * First paragraph: It is recommended to mention the show format (like "skating exhibitions"), cast size and number of performances, duration of a single show, and the number of shows and legs per edition.
 * Other content: The lead can include information about notable features of the show, ticket sales and view numbers, broadcast, and sponsors if supported by reliable sources. Since ice shows are very individual in their production, format, grossings, and criticial reception, it is up to the discretion of the editor to compile the most notable information in an appropriate way.

Article structure(prose sections highlighted in grey, list sections in purple)
 * Section guidelines will be added here

Appendices and footers (See also – Notes and references – Further reading – External links)

Reliable figure skating-specific sources
For the interest of broadness and comprehensiveness of figure skating articles, there are occasions when it is necessary to follow Wikipedia's Ignore all rules policy. This goes especially for articles about figure skating elements, judging systems, and discipline-specific rules and regulations, which require a high degree of accuracy in terminology and attention to detail that secondary sources may not provide. In such cases, it is often unavoidable to resort to self-published official documents by the International Skating Union (ISU) or other organizations that oversee the sport. Some of the best reporting on figure skating is done in-house by the ISU and national federations like U.S. Figure Skating and Skate Canada.

International Skating Union and national federations


 * ISU Communications: Publications and announcements of changes in figure skating rules and regulations; published by the International Skating Union in Lausanne, Switzerland.
 * ISU Special Regulations & Technical Rules: Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance, published by the ISU in September 2022.
 * ISU Technical Panel Handbooks, last updated by the ISU in July 2023 for singles and pairs, and August 2023 for ice dance.
 * ISU Scale of Values, last updated by the ISU in 2022 for singles and pairs, and in 2023 for ice dance.
 * ISU Figure Skater Biographies: Profiles, competition results, and personal bests; published by the ISU.
 * ISU Figure Skating Results: Detailed results pages for international competitions; published by the ISU.
 * ISU Figure Skating Statistics: Highest scores, personal bests and season's bests, published by the ISU.
 * Skate Canada Info Centre: Glossary of figure skating terms; published by Skate Canada in Ottawa, Canada.
 * U.S. Figure Skating: Rules and regulations, terminology and style guidelines, results and more; published by in Colorado Springs, United States.

Figure skating websites


 * Golden Skate: News, events, and results; published in Cary, United States.
 * Olympics: Figure Skating: News, history, and statistics; published by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.
 * Skate Guard: Figure skating history before the IJS era (until 2003); published by Ryan Stevens in Halifax, Canada.Note: Skate Guard was featured on the official website of U.S. Figure Skating in 2021.
 * Skating Scores: Scoring statistics for skaters and competitions in the ISU Judging System (since 2023); published in the United States.Note: Skating Scores was cited by The Washington Post in 2022.
 * U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone: News, events, results, and skater biographies; published by U.S. Figure Skating in Colorado Springs, United States.

Figure skating magazines


 * Figure Skate Life (フィギュアスケートLife), published multiple months per year by Fusosha in Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese).
 * International Figure Skating (IFS), published every two months until 2023 by Susan D. Russell$†$ in Denville Township, United States.
 * Kiss & Cry, published multiple months per year by Tokyo News in Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese).
 * Pirouette, published ten months per year by Stefan Schulze in Creglingen, Germany (in German).
 * Skating Magazine, published eight months per year by Troy Schwindt, U.S. Figure Skating, in Colorado Springs, United States.
 * World Figure Skating (ワールド·フィギュアスケート, WFS), published multiple months per year by Shinshokan in Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese).
 * Other irregular or discontinued Japanese figure skating magazines: Figure Skate Days · Figure Skating Cultural Book · Figure Skating Magazine · Quadruple Axel

Books about figure skating history and techniques



Archiving sources
The International Skating Union often overwrites existing versions of a website or PDF document instead of creating a new page. Common expamples are figure skater biographies and various statistics pages. To make sure that the cited information does not get lost, archive a screenshot of the page at the Wayback Machine or archive.today.

To search the archive history of a specific web page for existing screenshots, enter the URL-address in the search bar of the Wayback Machine.This example shows all screenshots of Javier Fernández' ISU biography page that were archived in 2017.

As per WP:PLRT, make sure to add the parameters archive-date and archive-url to the citation templates of all online sources used in an article. When all online sources have been successfully archived, add the template Archived reflist at the top of the article's talk page: