British Figure Skating Championships
The British Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition organised by British Ice Skating to crown the national champions of Great Britain. The first official British Championships were held in 1903 in London. The competition – originally called the Swedish Challenge Cup – allowed for both men and women to compete, and consisted of compulsory figures and free skating; Madge Syers was the winner. Pair skating was added to the championships in 1921, a separate competition for women in 1927, and ice dance in 1937. They have been interrupted only three times since their inception.
Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior and junior levels, although not every discipline may be held every year due to a lack of participants. John Page currently holds the record for winning the most British Championship titles in men's singles. In addition, Page and his partner Ethel Muckelt hold the record in pair skating. Jenna McCorkell holds the record in women's singles, while Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson hold the record ice dance.
History
The championships were originally called the Swedish Challenge Cup and were inaugurated by the National Skating Association of Great Britain in 1903, but were not established as the British Championships until 1906. The Swedish Challenge Cup had been presented to Great Britain on behalf of the Stockholm General Skating Club by Viktor Balck, the then-president of the International Skating Union.In the beginning, the British Championships were explicitly for skating in the international style, versus the English style, which had once been the standard in Great Britain. The international style incorporated ballet and dance movements with ice skating and was championed by early British skaters like Edgar Syers and Henry Yglesias. The English style, on the other hand, was much more rigid and formal, and focussed on the tracing of elaborate special figures. The International Skating Union had adopted the international style as the standard for all international competitions in 1897.
The inaugural competition in 1903 was won by Madge Syers. Pair skating was added to the championships in 1921. Although women competed in the competition, figure skating was dominated by men at the time, so a separate category for women was established in 1927. Kathleen Shaw, the winner of the inaugural women's event, stated: "It is much fairer now that there is a championship for women as well as for men... It is possible that ice skating will become more popular now that women are allowed their own championship." Ice dance became a championship event in 1937, although the ice dance competitions were for many years held separately from the other events. From 1951 to 1987, the British Ice Dance Championships were held annually at the Nottingham Ice Stadium in Nottingham.
The British Championships were open to skaters from members of the British Commonwealth; skaters from Australia, Canada, and South Africa occasionally competed. They have been interrupted three times since their inception: between 1915 and 1920 due to World War I, between 1940 and 1945 due to World War II, and in 2021 due to the Impact of [the COVID-19 pandemic on sports#Figure skating|COVID-19 pandemic].