Russian Figure Skating Championships
The Russian Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition organized by the Figure Skating Federation of Russia to crown the national champions of Russia. The first Russian Championships were held in 1897 in Saint Petersburg, open only to men and featuring both figure skating and speed skating. A separate competition for women debuted in 1911. The last championships prior to the Russian Revolution took place in 1915. The championships of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic took place in 1920 before the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. During the period of Soviet control, Russian skaters competed in the Soviet Figure Skating Championships. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, separate Russian Championships resumed, and have been held without interruption since.
Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at the senior and junior levels. Evgeni Plushenko holds the record for winning the most Russian Championship titles in men's singles, while Maria Butyrskaya holds the record in women's singles. Two teams are tied for winning the most titles in pair skating : Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov, and Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. Maxim Trankov also won four titles in pair skating, but not with the same partner. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev hold the record in ice dance.
History
Figure skating was first introduced in Russia by Peter the Great when he brought ice skates from Western Europe. The first ice rink in Russia was opened in 1865 in the Yusupov Gardens in Saint Petersburg, and Saint Petersburg hosted the first figure skating competition in Russia in 1878. The first official Russian Championships were held in 1897; Aleksandr Panshin became the first official Russian national champion. No men's competitions were held between 1914 and 1915 due to World War I and no competitions were held at all between 1916 and 1919 due to the Russian Revolution. The Revolution was followed by a period of Soviet control in Russia, and in 1922, the establishment of the Soviet Union. Russian skaters competed at the Soviet Figure Skating Championships between 1922 and 1992. The last installment of the Soviet Championships were held in Kyiv, in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, in December 1991.After the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the Russian Federation emerged as an independent nation. The first championships of the newly independent Russia took place in Chelyabinsk in 1993. Alexei Urmanov won the men's event, Maria Butyrskaya won the women's event, Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov won the pairs event, and Anjelika Krylova and Vladimir Fedorov won the ice dance event. Selection criteria for competing in the Russian Championships are vague. Skaters compete in a series of events known as the Russian Grand Prix in order to advance to the Russian Championships. The competitions' results were among the criteria used to determine Russia's teams sent to the European Figure Skating Championships, although Russian athletes have been banned from all international competitions since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.