Synchronized Skating is a team sport in which the skaters perform the steps, lifts, pirouettes and slides as a part of their competition program as simultaneously as possible. The permitted team size varies depending on the competition category between 12 to 24 skaters, but at the highest level of the sport, in the senior level there must be 16 skaters on ice.
The Junior and Senior World Championships will be held on two days, with two separately scored performances: Short Program and Free Skating.
Like other sports, also Synchronized Skating functions in different categories. There is no gender-specific competition series or gender quota.
In Finland, the categories competing in the Nationals (SM teams) are SM novice, SM junior and SM senior. Teams outside these series compete in the national series, which are rookies, minors, national novices, national juniors, national seniors, masters and adults.
In Synchronized Skating, the team has traditionally been seen as a unit, rather than a group of individuals. Since one of the criteria for judging competitions is uniformity, identical outfits, make-up and hairstyles are used to emphasise this. Some teams have historically even dyed their hair or skates the same colour for the duration of their performance to emphasise their unity.
The history of the sport in Finland
Jane Erkko brought Synchronized Skating from the United States to Finland in the 1980s. Today, Finland is the most successful country in the Synchronized Skating world championships, with a total of 29 medals, nine of which are gold. Finland’s World Championship medals have been won by Marigold IceUnity (14), Helsinki Rockettes (12) and Helsingfors Skridskoklubb’s Team Unique (3).
Finland is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading countries in the sport. Finnish expertise is highly valued and, in general, Finns are often among the top performers in international competitions.