Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay of Canada skate their short program in the pairs competition at the 2009 Homesense Skate Canada International in Kitchener, Ontario on November 20, 2009. (Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images) In a sport featuring collaborative maneuvers such as the lateral twist, the platter lift and the aptly named "death spiral," trust is a crucial element to success in pairs figure skating. Showcasing the romantic, the tragic and the melodramatic, pairs figure skating has long been a crowd favourite because it combines the technical demands and risks of singles figure skating with the teamwork and artistry of ice dance. The strength of the union is what separates the great from the good, according to Canada's Paul Martini, a former pairs world champion who says it's important for both skaters to give and absolutely believe in each other. With time, the two learn to jump, throw, and spin as shadows of each other. "You just sort of develop an extra sense of knowing exactly how they're going to respond, what they're going to do in any given situation," Martini says.
Jumps, lifts, chemistry and choreography
The catalogue of pairs lifts and jumps reads like a daredevil's manual. In addition, to the Axels and toe loops, the singles skaters perform, pairs engage in a set of jumps that require lifting and throwing, raising and holding, extending and spinning. In these throw-jumps, a skater may fling his partner upward and forwards, sometimes five metres away.
In their short program, pairs are required to perform any hand to hand lift, one twist lift, a throw jump, a solo jump, a death spiral, a step sequence, and a solo spin combination and pair spin combination with only one change of foot and at least one change of position.
In their free program, the skaters must produce a balanced routine that features lifts, jumps, spins and step-and-throw sequences. The couple selects their own music and choreographs an artistic and technically challenging program. The free program makes up the remaining 70 per cent of the final score. As with the singles programs, judges deduct marks for missed or poorly executed required elements. Specifically, skaters are watched for the speed with which a jump is entered and exited, air position, height and distance, smooth flow of spins, graceful lifts and step sequences.
At the 2002 Olympics, judging in figure skating came under fire after Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier were awarded the silver medal. There was a media uproar over the judging, after which French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne admitted she had been pressured into awarding first-place marks to Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.
The ISU suspended Le Gougne and awarded Salé and Pelletier gold in tandem with Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. At the 2006 Games, judges used a new, more rigorous judging system designed to prevent fraudulent results. For the program component score, judges assessed skating skills, transitions, linking footwork and movement, performance and execution, choreography and composition and interpretation on a scale of 1 to 10. Skaters may be rewarded for demonstrating innovation but they will be penalized for violating the rules or falling.
In terms of artistry, the skaters must forge what appears to be an emotional bond with each other, whether they're romantically involved with each other or not. The couple must skate in the same fashion, spinning and jumping together and giving the impression of oneness. "Once you've reached that point in your skating development where you have the technical foundation very solid, you've got all of the tricks so to speak, your only means now of moving yourself ahead of the pack once again is to establish some sort of chemistry out there," Martini says.
Most pairs communicate their union with a story. Choreography is an exercise in creativity. It begins with music that inspires the skaters and the audience. Endless experimentation, suggestions, and revisions follow. Here again, chemistry is crucial to the development of the program. "For every team, it's a little bit different, depending on how creative the individuals themselves are, how much input they have, the choreographer, the chemistry," Martini says. "It's probably more to do with that, the chemistry of the individuals involved, that brings the program or the material to life."
Getting there — mind, body and skate
To focus their energy and their nerves, figure skaters sometimes work with a sports psychologist. The 2002 Olympic champions Salé and Pelletier worked with a psychologist to help them deal with the overwhelming pressure.
"It's all about visualization and seeing yourself being the best you can be," Salé said before the 2002 Games.
Pairs figure skaters follow the same sort of workout as singles and ice dancers with an emphasis on building grace, endurance and strength. Time is spent in jazz and dance classes to build fluidity of movement. Salé and Pelletier used box plyometrics, medicine balls, and a stationary bike to maintain their form. (Plyometrics involves muscle stretching and contracting, such as in push-ups with hand-claps when the pectoral muscle is elongated by the downward force of the body, then immediately contracted as you push back up.)
The most crucial piece of equipment for the figure skater obviously is the skate. The selection of blade and boot is a bit of a dark science, with each individual having a personal set of preferences. While skates used to be made almost entirely of leather, boot manufacturers are now incorporating more synthetics to extend the durability and life cycle of the skate.
