European Figure Skating Championships

The European Figure Skating Championships (also called "Europeans") is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European champion. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The event is sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and is the sport's oldest competition. The first European Championships was held in 1891 in Hamburg, Germany and featured one segment, compulsory figures, with seven competitors, all men from Germany and Austria. It has been, other than four periods, held continuously since 1891, and has been sanctioned by the ISU since 1893. Women were allowed to compete for the first time in 1930, which is also the first time pairs skating was added to the competition. Ice dance was added in 1954. Only eligible skaters from ISU member countries in Europe can compete, and skaters must have reached at least the age of 15 before July 1 preceding the competition. ISU member countries can submit 1-3 skaters to compete in the European Championships.
History.
Although they have not been held continuously, the European Championships is figure skating's oldest championship. The first European Championships were held in 1891 in Hamburg, Germany. It featured one segment, compulsory figures, with seven competitors, five from Germany and two from Austria. The event was sponsored by the Austrian and German skating federations, after they combined to become one federation. All the medalists were from Germany; Oskar Uhlig won the first gold medal, Anon Schmitson came in second place, and Franz Zilly was third. The second European Championships were held in Vienna in 1892. The event had ten competitors: one from Hungary, two from Germany, and seven from Austria. It included two segments, compulsory figures and free skating. It was also sponsored by the German/Austrian federation. Austrian Eduard Englemann won the gold medal, Hungarian Tibor von Földváry came in second place, and Georg Zachariades from Austria was third.
The next European Championships was held in 1893 in Berlin; it was the first time the event was under the jurisdiction of the International Skating Union (ISU), which was formed in the summer of 1892. The championships were sponsored by the Berlin Skating Club, and like the previous two years, was organized by the German/Austrian federation. There were eight competitors: three from Austria, two from Germany, and one each from Hungary, Sweden, and Norway. Englemann is listed as the gold medalist; Henning Grenander from Sweden came in second, and Zachariades came in third. Figure skating historian James Hines called the 1893 European Championships "clearly a success from a skating standpoint", but it also marked figure skating's "first major controversy", due to "different interpretations of the scoring rules, which could result in a tie depending upon one's interpretation of them". The Berlin Skating Club declared Grenander the winner, but the ISU declared Englemann the winner. The problem was never resolved, but in 1895, the ISU declared the 1893 results invalid. ISU historian Benjamin T. Wright said that the controversy "nearly led to the demise" of the newly-formed ISU.
The next two European Championships, 1894 and 1895, "experienced a marked decrease in participation, perhaps a result of the scoring debacle". In 1894, five skaters competed in Vienna. Engelmann won his third Europeans gold medal, Austrian Gustav Hügel came in second, and Földváry came in third. In 1895, which was held in Budapest, three skaters competed, with one withdrawal. Földváry won the gold medal, Hügel again came in second, and Gilbert Fuchs from Germany came in third. There were no European Championships for two years, which Hines speculated was because of the small number of contestants in 1894 and 1895, although the competition returned in 1898. Hines also reported that the European Championships were again interrupted in 1902 and 1903, "for lack of ice". By the beginning of World War I, 20 European Championships were held. There were three more interruptions of the European Championships: between 1915 and 1922 due to World War I, between 1940 and 1946 due to World War II, and in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure skating historian James Hines reported that "perhaps the most bizarre incident in the history of competitive figure skating occurred at the 1930 European Figure Skating Championships in Slovakia". The competition's referee was not certified by the ISU and the Yugoslavian judge "was a replacement who served falsely" under the name of a judge who was certified. The irregularities were discovered after the competition was over, so the ISU nullified the results and ordered the competition reskated. The winner of the original competition, Joseph Silva from Czechoslovakia, was not able to compete in the second competition. Karl Schäfer from Austria won the reskate and is listed as the gold medalist.
Only men competed at the European Championships until 1930, which is when women single skaters and pair skating were added. All members of the ISU, not just skaters from Europe, were allowed to compete at Europeans until 1948.