A timely A-to-Z compendium documenting a sport that is burgeoning in popularity, The Encyclopedia of Figure Skating contains: fascinating biographies of champion skaters from around the world, such as Jackson Haines, "the father of modern figure skating," Sonja Henie, Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Christopher Dean, Jayne Torvill, Surya Bonaly, Brian Boitano, Chen Lu, Michelle Kwan, and Tara Lipinski, among many others; histories of the major branches of competition; descriptions of figure skating forms, such as school figures, the axel, the flying camel, the death spin, the lutz, the loop jump, and many more; information about referees; scoring systems; the distinction between amateur and professional standings; how judges are selected; how music and musicality are integral to the sort; the evolution of skating costumes; appendices listing U.S., World, and Olympic medalists from the first recorded results of these competitions to the present; as well as a useful index; and more.