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.