The invention of the ice skate responded tothe same rationale as the invention of the ski,namely to make it easier to travel on a hostilesurface, specifically ice. The first ice skateswere probably invented around the same timeas the first skis, and in the same areas.However, their evolution and subsequent dif-fusion was quite different. Ice skates quicklylost their practical character and spreadthrough many countries as a form of sport.Then, in the second half of the 19th century,their use became structured, codified andgave rise to the creation of the various ice-based sports.

The birth of skating and its diffusion

The first ice skatesConfronted with the ice covered lakes, pondsand rivers for a good part of the year, manneeded to invent an appropriate means oflocomotion. Mainly used for hunting, the firstice skates were made out of animal bones(particularly the jaw bones and the tibias ofreindeer, elks and oxen) attached to the feetusing straps of animal skin. Very rudimentary,and quite precarious, it was necessary to usea pole to stay balanced. Archaeological digshave found some very primitive ice skates,particularly in the region of Bjoko in Sweden,with the oldest of them dating from 1000years BC1. These discoveries show that iceskates were used in the majority of the coun-tries around the Baltic Sea, in Scandinavia, inDenmark, in the Baltic republics, and in north-east Russia.Again, the question of the origins of the iceskate in this part of the world arises. Was it alocal invention, or was the use of the ice skateimported with migration from the Altai regionin particular? Indeed, ice skates were alsoused very early on in China (particularly inManchuria), in Siberia and even in NorthAmerica.With the advent of iron, metal blades wereused from the second century BC inScandinavia, even though the majority weremade from bones for a long time. TheScandinavian populations seem to have beenthe only ones (in Europe, in any case) to havecontinued using ice skates during the first mil-lennium A.D. They were also responsible for

the spread of ice skating to other countries inthe continent by means of the Viking expedi-tions.

Spread through Europe by the VikingsMany ice skates similar to those used by theScandinavians have been found in countriesinvaded by the Vikings, such as England,France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, andeven as far as the valley of the Danube. Thesewarriors naturally brought with them manyaspects of their own lifestyle, including the iceskate. The spread of ice skates therefore waseven greater when the Vikings settled in thecountries they had invaded, such as inIceland, in Normandy or in certain parts ofEngland. In Iceland, many sagas recount the use of theice skate from the beginning of colonisation asa means of transport, for hunting, and evensometimes in wars. One saga in particular tellshow a man escaped from his enemies by skat-ing away on ice skates. In Western Europe,the skate rapidly enjoyed a certain success,partly because of the development of sportinggames during the early part of the MiddleAges.

The development of games on ice

After the end of the invasions that had punc-tuated the latter part of the Middle Ages,Western Europe enjoyed a period of relativestability, marked among other things, by con-

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1 A pair of ice skates made of bone dating from 20,000 years ago were found at th mouth of the river Vie in the Vendée area of France.This prehistoric discovery would, however, appear to be an isolated case and the practice of ice skating does not appear to have beendevelopped.

Spread of ice skates through Europe by the Vikings

siderable economic development and thegrowing strength of cities. This developmentwas accompanied by the birth of many physi-cally demanding games, often quite violentand warrior-inspired. At the same time,leisure activities began to appear in this newEurope, particularly in France, and spreadwith great popular success to other countries,particularly to England (where, centuries later,these developments would occur in the justthe opposite manner). Moreover, it was during this same era that theFrench word "desport", a synonym for amuse-ment, was first used and was later taken up bythe English and is at the origin of the word"sport". Among these different activities, atype of field hockey was played in France(called "choule a la crosse") as well as inEngland ("cambuca", meaning a bishop’scross). During the winter, these sports wereadapted to ice through the use of ice skates.A monk named Fritz Stephen, chronicler inLond, England in 1174, noticed that youngskaters were confronting each other on thefrozen Thames. He also described in a textfrom 1190, that these games on ice werecommon practice in France. TheScandinavians were also keenly practising thistype of amusement around 1300, and fre-quently organised competitions between vil-lages. Around 1400, the game "crosse"became very popular in France, and was intro-duced into the Friesland region of theNetherlands, where it was subsequently trans-formed into another game, called "ken jae-gen".

The development of skating in HollandThe development of skating in Holland waslargely due to the very particular geographicconditions of the country. It’s very flattopography and its numerous streams andrivers which very often froze over in winterwere conducive to the practice of skating.Furthermore, the economic growth in Europefavoured the exchange of merchandise. Iceskates were an excellent means of transport inwinter, particularly for bringing food suppliesto constantly growing cities. The market inAmsterdam was supplied in this manner formany centuries. Parallel to its traditional use, ice skates werealso appreciated for their leisure aspect. Withgeneral use of blades fabricated from ironbeginning in the 12th century, (the blade was

mounted on a wooden base, which wasattached to the shoe with a leather strap),skating became much easier. Both men andwomen spent more and more time skating.The oldest document recounting skatingscenes is a wood carving published in 1498 byJohannes Brugmann. It shows the fatal fall ofLydwine Brugmann in 1395, the woman whowas later to become the patron saint ofskaters in the Netherlands.

From the 15th century, speed races wereorganised, and quickly met with great popularsuccess. The racing technique (called thefamous Dutch pendulum) and the type ofevents performed have remained practicallyunchanged since then. Edges to the bladeswere first introduced in the 16th century, mak-ing it possible to perform the first figure for-mations. More than a simple leisure activity,skating in Holland during the Middle Agesbecame a true cultural phenomenon that stillexists today.

The birth of curlingIn the other countries of Europe, the practiceof ice sports became infrequent at the dawn ofthe Renaissance. Their violent nature was theharbinger of their decline, although a smalllevel of practice did continue. A painting byPorbus from 1608 shows Parisians playing aform of ice hockey on the frozen Seine. As forspeed skating, it was known only in a fewregions close to the Netherlands. A much lesshazardous game was developed in Scotland,namely curling. Its origins are a subject ofsome controversy because two countries claimto be the homeland of this sport. First,

Ice based sports: common origins, contrasting diffusion

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Carving showing Lydwine Brugmann, the patronsaint of skaters in the Netherlands (taken fromthe work by Brugmann, Vita Lydwina, 1498)

Scotland, where a curling rock with theinscription Stirling 1511 was found. Secondly,Holland lays claim to curling, evoking an ice-based game played in the 15th century called"Kulling", supposedly brought to Scotland byFlemish traders. They also cite in their supportthe painting by Pieter Brueghel from 1560,which shows a game very similar to curling.However, whatever the origins of the sport, itwas in Scotland that its practice became struc-tured and organised. The first club was creat-ed in 1668 in Kinross, the round rocks with theiron handle first appeared around 1700, andthe first rules were established in Perth in1716. Curling has developed very little sincethen, and remains very similar today.

Skating outside of EuropeNaturally, Europe was not the only continentat this time where sports on ice were commonpractice. In China, people enjoying skating onthe ice of the Imperial Gardens were docu-mented during the Song dynasty (960 to1279). Similarly, regiments of soldiers wear-ing ice skates played a vital role in a battle in1600 which launched the reign of the Qingdynasty. To commemorate this victory, a largescale ceremony was organised every year inPeking, bringing together more than 1,600skaters. However, just as it had done for ski-ing, the demise of the Empire at the end of the19th century seems to have been responsiblefor the disappearance of the sport.

In North America, skating only became knownafter the arrival of the Europeans, notablyFrench explorers in Canada. Father Sagardrecounts in his 1632 book entitled "Longvoyage in Huron country" how he encountered

Indians from Ontario and Quebec who wereplaying on the ice, pushing a wooden ball withthe aid of a stick, or "crosse". However, even though the practice did existelsewhere, the main developments andchanges which gave rise to the different sportstook place in Europe.

The important role of the EnglishThe Stuarts, Royal Family of Scotland, exiledin the Netherlands during Cromwell’s dictator-ship, discovered ice skating in Holland, andintroduced it in their own country when theyreturned in 1660. Its success quickly grew andthe control and organisational capacities ofthe British soon assured the development ofthe sport. The first club was created inEdinburgh in 1742 and the first competitionwas held at Fens in 1763 over a distance of24km. A skating treaty was elaborated in1772 by Robert Jones, an artillery lieutenantwho also founded a school in the same year.Within the space of one century, the Englishhad monopolised the sport (even though thetechnique remained Dutch), and laid down thebeginnings of its institutionalisation. The dis-tinction between speed skating and artisticskating had not yet come about, but the aris-tocratic ideas of the English saw the develop-ment of a leisure based form of skating thatwas less and less athletic. This was the type ofskating that spread across Europe, particular-ly in the European courts (Marie Antoinettepractised this form of skating from 1776). The Dutch, of course, remained very muchattached to the practice of speed skating, andorganised many competitions. In general,women were allowed to participate as well asmen. A 30km race open only to women waseven organised in Leeuwarden in 1805. Withthe large number of entrants in the race(nearly 130 women), the race was held over 2days, before more than 12,000 enthusiasticspectators. Nonetheless, measures wereimposed to ensure that the competitorsremained in a "decent" state of apparel!

Sports on ice become more structured

Curling began to spread and its practicebecame institutionalised in the 18th century, bywhich time there were already 42 clubs inScotland. In 1760, Scottish regiments intro-duced the game in Canada, with clubs beingcreated in Montreal in 1807 and Quebec in1821. Curling also spread into England in

Ice based sports: common origins, contrasting diffusion

3

Chinese archers (painting by Fu Long dating from theQing dynasty, 17th century)

1820 and to the United States in 1832, whereScottish farmers started a club in Detroit. Thiswidespread diffusion of the sport encouragedthe creation of the "Grand Caledonian CurlingClub" in Edinburgh in 1838, which, with thepatronage of Queen Victoria, became the"Royal Caledonian Curling Club" (RCCC) somefive years later. This association was a sort ofinternational curling federation, guarantors ofthe rules of the sport, which brought togetherall the different clubs. There were anincreasing number of affiliated clubs, withmany new clubs coming from other countries,such as New Zealand in 1848, Sweden in 1852and Russia in 1873. It can thus be seen thatcurling was one of the first sports to be struc-tured, and to spread across several conti-nents, even if its practice abroad wasmonopolised mainly by Scottish immigrants. Skating also became more structured duringthe course of the century, notably with thebreak between the artistic and speed disci-plines. At the outset, the Dutch technique wasmainly used, with many competitions takingplace in England, the Netherlands, the UnitedStates, Canada, and later, in Norway.Scandinavia began to rediscover skating, eventhough it had been the founder country of thesport. The practice of skating spread quickly,and in 1863, a big competition was organisedon the fjord of Oslo before thousands of spec-tators. In Canada, skating also became verypopular, and many open air skating rinks wereconstructed in the major cities, although theinitial speed skating form soon had to giveway, under the English influence, to a morerecreational activity. In fact, the beginnings ofdivision in the 18th century between speedskating and artistic skating became moreaccentuated in England, leading to the cre-ation of two independent disciplines. The firstartistic skating club was founded in London in1830. The English school, based on the pre-cise execution of precise figures and move-ments went on to have considerable influenceon the development of the discipline.

Innovation in artistic skatingOne invention would beat at the origin of thedefinitive consecration of artistic skating as aseparate discipline. In 1850, an Americannamed E.W. Bushnell from Philadelphia, devel-oped the first skates with a steel blade, whichmade it much easier to perform movementsand figures on the ice. Ten years later, JacksonHaines, a ballet instructor in Chicago, began

to teach skating. He had the idea of nailing thesteel blades to his boots in order to improvehis mobility, thus creating the first all-in-oneboot (the same system used today). Moreimportantly, however, he also introduced theuse of ballet steps into the skating routines, averitable revolution in skating by the introduc-tion of many new free figures. Faced with thelack of interest in his own country which wasstruggling under the war of Secession, hedecided to travel to Europe to present his newtechnique. He held exhibitions in Stockholm,and then in Vienna in 1863, where his per-formance was received in triumph. In 1867,the Vienna club was founded, based on thisnew technique, marking the start of thefamous Vienna school. The growing renown ofHaines began to irritate the English, who werevery attached to the supremacy of theirmethod. In the end, both techniques weremaintained in the elaboration of figure skatingcompetitions, with the English method beingtransposed into the compulsory figure pro-gram and Haines’ technique reflected in thefree-skate program. At the end of the 19th century, the appearanceof winter sports resorts, and the constructionof the first artificial ice rinks greatly encour-aged the practice of ice skating.

The development of winter tourismAt the beginning of the 19th century, the Alpswere progressively becoming more open andaccessible to tourists (mainly English), butonly during the summer period. Winter wasstill considered as a particularly hostile time,especially in the mountains. Many resorts inthe Alps, particularly in Switzerland andAustria, were popular summer tourist destina-tions. However, winter tourism only began todevelop in the second half of the century,

Ice based sports: common origins, contrasting diffusion

4

Artistic skating in Saint-Moritz in 1928 (A. Joly etP. Brunet)(Crédit photo - IOC Museum Olympic Collections)

especially in the Swiss resort of Saint Moritz,thanks to the initiative of a local hotel ownerin 1864. At the end of the 19th century, more and moretourists, mainly wealthy city residents, fre-quented winter resorts. In order to attract amaximum of sportsmen, a wide variety ofsporting activities were offered. In SaintMoritz, a curling competition was organised in1880, as well as an artistic skating competi-tion arranged by the Viennese in 1882.Gradually, winter resorts began to installskating rinks (15 rinks in Saint Moritz at thestart of the 20th century) to reply to thedemands of the clientele. Ice based sports,especially artistic skating, were extremelypopular. However, although widely practised, itwas more recreational than athletic, with par-ticular attention paid to the manner in whichone dressed. The ice rinks of the major resortsat the time were more like fashion shows thansports centers.

The first artificial skating rinks and the devel-opment of skating in citiesArtistic skating, already quite fashionable inFrance under the reign of the second empire,was practised on the frozen lakes of the Boisde Boulogne (the Skaters’ Circle was founded

in Paris in 1865). But this urban activity wasalways subject to the caprice nature of theweather which would determine the length oftime there would be ice. Many of the majorwestern cities were confronted with this sameproblem. The skating rinks were covered inorder to minimise the effects of the weather(Quebec in 1858, Montreal in 1859). The realsolution came in 1876 with the construction ofthe first artificial ice rink in London, quicklyimitated by many others, such as the IcePalace in Paris in 1889. The advent of artifi-cially controlled ice resulted in an increase inthe number of places the sport could be prac-tised, even in places that would previouslyhave been unsuitable, (such as Nice, BuenosAires, Adelaide, Melbourne, or even Sydney, inthe early 20th century). It also made it possi-ble to anchor the sports in the city, and per-petuate their practice, and cities therebybecame able to organise major competitionssuch as world championships. The combina-tion of competitive and recreational practicecould now be developed in new conditions.

Creation of the International Skating Union(ISU)Artistic skating was undoubtedly very fashion-able, but in terms of sport, speed skating

Ice based sports: common origins, contrasting diffusion

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Amsterdam

practice of ice-based sportspractice of curling

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Paris

London BerlinBruxelles

LyonVienne

Budapest

Turin

Sarajevo

Saint-Petersbourg

Manchester

Varsovie

Prague

Hambourg

Davos

Stockholm(Oslo)Christiana

HamarTrondheim

HelsinkiGroningue

Münich

New YorkBoston

QuébecMontréalOttawa

TorontoNice

Glasgow

Copenhague

Buenos Aires

AdelaïdeMelbourne

Sydney

Amsterdam

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Ice sports at the start of the 20th century

remained the king of disciplines. InScandinavia or Holland, it was not just thewealthy, idle elite who practised this sport, butrather a considerable proportion of the popu-lation. Many races were organised, andattracted large numbers of participants. Inthis context, the major skating nations tried toset up agreements to institutionalise thesport. There were many problems, startingwith how to determine the distance of a raceand the length of the track. In general, theNorwegians raced over a distance of 1500lengths (950m), while the Americans racedover 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32km), and theDutch sprinted less than 200m. One of thefirst international meetings was organised atthe initiative of the National SkatingAssociation of Great Britain (NSA) atLeeuwarden, Holland in 1885. The rules werestandardised for the event, the mile (1609m)was adopted as the race distance, and theoval (2 straights and 2 bends) was given pref-erence over the horseshoe shaped track.However, the various parties involved failed toreach any agreement about the creation of aninternational federation. The first speed skat-ing world championships were held in 1889 inAmsterdam in the Netherlands, bringingtogether athletes from 4 countries : GreatBritain, United States, Russia, and of courseHolland. In 1892, the International SkatingUnion (ISU) was founded in Scheveningen inthe Netherlands, but it recognised only metricdistances (500m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m).In 1896, the first artistic skating world cham-pionships were held in St. Petersburg inRussia.However, all these competitions were closed towomen competitors. Some members of theISU had a very misogynist behaviour in theearly years. Consequently, a certain Mrs.Syers, the wife of an influential member of theNSA, decided to take part in the artistic skat-ing world championships in London in 1902.She took advantage of a loophole in the rulesand regulations of the ISU. In fact, while thefirst texts from 1897 had mentioned that theworld championships would have only malesingle’s competitions, the texts for the 1901championships included no such regulationabout the sex of the competitors. Therefore,her participation was condoned with the helpfrom her husband’s influence on the NSAwhich was organising the event. Mrs. Syerswent on to participate in the singles competi-tion, and was placed second, ahead of many

male competitors, favorably impressing theobservers with the quality of her skating.However, even after Mrs. Syers’ second place,the ISU Congress of 1903 proposed excludingwomen from the singles competitions.Nonetheless, in the end, under pressure fromthe NSA, in 1905 the Congress decided to setup a specific individual competition forwomen. The first official women’s cham-pionships thus took place in 1906. But it wascalled the ISU Championships, and only themen were entitled to the title of world cham-pion. This discriminatory nomenclature wasfinally abolished in 1923. Similarly, it was onlyat the Congress of 1907 that the couples’event was introduced into the ISUChampionships, and as for the women’sevents, the title of world champion was onlyofficially accorded to the couples’ events from1923.

Although women were integrated into artisticskating relatively fast, the same cannot besaid for speed skating. Considered as very(too?) athletic for women, and furthermore,dominated by the Scandinavians who were lit-tle inclined toward female participation, speedskating remained reserved exclusively formale competitors for a long time. Finally, theISU congress of 1935 accepted the idea of

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Magde Syers and her husband at the Olympics inLondon in 1908(Crédit photo - IOC Museum Olympic Collections)

organised women’s competitions at the worldchampionships (the idea having first been pre-sented in 1929). The first women’s worldchampionships took place in 1936 inStockholm with 15 women participating fromthe 7 different countries, including Japan,Canada and the USA.

Ice hockey in CanadaThe origins of ice hockey are very diverse, butit is the only ice-based sport that has neverreally caught on in Europe. Ice hockey is amore or less distant relative to the varioussports traditionally played on ice in Americaand Europe since the Middle Ages (bandy,shinney, hurling, lacrosse....). The first icehockey match took place in 1875 between thestudents of Mc Gill University in Montreal. Therules of the sport were laid down in a codefour years later. This new sport quickly spreadthroughout the country, taking advantage ofthe desire of the English-speaking bourgeoisieto develop a typically Canadian national sportand to reinforce their national identity. At theend of the 19th century, ice hockey hadbecome the national sport in Canada. The firsttournament was organised in 1883 inMontreal, and the first League in Kingston twoyears later. Out of fear of losing the organisa-tion of the sport, the clubs in Montrealfounded in 1886 the Amateur HockeyAssociation of Canada (AHAC), which repre-sented a sort of national federation. However,the very spectacular nature of ice hockey ledto great rivalry and many associations werecreated in order to control the sport that wasbecoming more and more professional.At the end of the 19th century, ice hockey wasintroduced into the United States where itrapidly took hold in the cities of the northeast.It also spread to Europe more or less at thesame time, first to Paris in 1894 where theHockey Club of Paris was created, then toLondon in 1897, with the founding of thePrince’s Ice Hockey Club. These two clubswere to play a major role in spreading thesport throughout the rest of Europe by meansof exhibition matches. Ice hockey found itselfin competition with the English game bandy,which had developed in the early 19th centuryand spread through Europe in the 1880.However, the more spectacular nature of icehockey when compared to bandy (a game of11 against 11 on a football field) would assurethat hockey got the upper hand. Bandy con-

tinued to be practised, especially inScandinavia, in Switzerland, and some coun-tries in Eastern Europe.The International Ice Hockey Federation(IIHF) was founded in 1908, without thepresence of the Americans, who were moreconcerned with setting up professionalleagues in their own country. The UnitedStates and Canada were not affiliated to theIIHF until 1920.

Ice sports: towards mutual independ-ence?

The individual history of each different ice-based sport has led to noticeable distinctionsbetween countries. The organisation of a largeinternational competition is an excellentmeans of showing whether or not the sport ispopular. A large competition emphasizes theparticularities of each country. Thus, forexample, curling (first world championships in1968) is mainly shared between two coun-tries, Canada and Great Britain (Scotland).Both being the founders of the sport, they arealso the two largest federations in terms oflicensed players (respectively 1,000,000 and60,000). However, very few other countriesare involved, which would tend to show thatthe practice of this sport is rather limited.The organisation of the ice hockey worldchampionships (first held in 1930) involves alarge number of countries, but its diffusionwas helped along by the increase in the num-ber of regions. Many large cities, especiallyafter World War II, were well represented. Icehockey is just the type of spectacular urbanshow that attracts a large audience and is thuseasily suitable for large cities. Europe is over-

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organising country

ice hockey

curling

RDARFAURSTCH

Number of events organised

33131

source : IIHF, WCF

Organising the world championships: contrastbetween a lesser known sport, curling, and theworld renowned ice-hockey

represented in participation, contrary to NorthAmerica, where Canada for example has neverorganised a men’s competition (only held oncein the United States). The all powerful profes-sional NHL league seems to be perfectly suit-able for them.

Artistic skating is marked by the monopoly of"western" countries, with poor representationfrom Eastern European countries. The eventsare mainly organised in large cities, but also inprestigious winter sports resorts. This disci-pline remains on the borderline between asports event and an artistic show, therebyattracting the attention of a wider public com-pared to the other sports. This justifies theparticular economic interest of this discipline.

The cultural and historic aspects seem to bevery important in the organisation of speedskating events. Scandinavia, particularlyNorway, and the Netherlands are well ahead ofthe other countries. The specific nature of theinfrastructures required is also a limitingfactor.Short track speed skating has existed for along time. In fact, it can simply be comparedto speed skaters training in an ordinary icerink that is limited by the necessary infra-structure (racing oval). The first world cham-pionships were held in 1976. Compared toordinary speed skating, Great Britain and thecountries from the Far East are markedlypresent.

Ice skating quickly moved from its utilitarianorigins to a recreational practice. The greatenthusiasm for games on ice in the Middles

Ages in Western Europe and the strongpresence of the Netherlands contributed to theperpetuation of these sports. Skating subse-quently became less of a leisure and more ofa sports activity, particularly under the Anglo-Saxon influence. Even though many ice-basedsports have the same origins, theirdevelopment remained individual to eachsport. Greater possibilities to develop thesesports do exist, although the high cost of thenecessary infrastructures is a limiting factor.More than just a question of financial means,cultural stigmas remain a large impediment togreater development.

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figure skatingorganising country

RFATCH

Number of events organised

source : ISU

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organising countryshort track

speed skating

number ofevents organised

URS

1 22 54

source : IIHF, ISU

Figure skating world championships: the “show”aspect favoured by western countries

Short track and speed skating world champi-onships: a warm welcome in countries wherethese sports are popular, except United States

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source : IIHF, ISU, WCF

one affiliationtwo affiliationsthree affiliations

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3,2001,500270≤ à 5

Number of artificial rinks

presence of artificial rinkspresence of natural skating rinks

source : IIHF, ISU, national federations

none

poorly developed

average development

well developed

extremely well developed

Sources : IOC, international and national federations of skating, ice hockey and curling, ...

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Number of artificial ovals

only artificial ovalsnatural skating ovals

source : ISU and national federations

29141

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eliteinternational high levelinternational levelparticipation in selected competitionsno athletes in event

Localisation of skating rinks: expensive but possible at all latitudes

The speed skating oval: very specific sports facilityfound mainly in the northern hemisphere

Affiliations to ice sports federations: potential not yet filled

The level of competition between countries in ice-based sports, many absent, few nation complete and nations

with areas of high specialisation

Levels of development of ice-based sports