ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating
Encyclopedia
The ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating is a figure skating team competition
Figure skating competition
-International:* International competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union. These competitions are held using ISU rules; skaters are entered by their respective national skating federations....

 sanctioned by the International Skating Union
International Skating Union
The International Skating Union is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands in 1892, making it one of the oldest international...

. The World Team Trophy was held for the first time in Tokyo, Japan from April 16 to 19, 2009. Traditionally, the competitive skating season had concluded with the World Figure Skating Championships
World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

. The new event was announced at a news conference during the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships
2008 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 World Figure Skating Championships was the World Figure Skating Championships of the 2007–2008 figure skating season. The World Championships are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. The event was open to figure skaters...

, in the hope of encouraging countries to develop top figure skaters in all disciplines.

Competition and participants

Selected skaters from the six countries with the best results during the season compete in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles
Single skating
Single skating is a discipline of figure skating, wherein a single person skates alone. Men's singles and ladies' singles are both Olympic disciplines and are both governed by the International Skating Union. The other Olympic figure skating events are pair skating and ice dancing...

, pair skating
Pair skating
Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...

, and ice dancing
Ice dancing
Ice dancing is a form of figure skating which draws from the world of ballroom dancing. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976....

 in a team format. The participating countries in the inaugural event were (in descending order of finish) the USA, Canada, Japan, France, Russia and China. The Japan Skating Federation paid the global prize money for the ISU World Team Trophy in 2009. Total prize money in 2009 was 1,000,000 USD, the highest ever in an ISU event

Criticism and reactions

There were reports that some of the participating skaters did not wish to take part in the event. Canadian ice dancer Scott Moir
Scott Moir
Scott Moir is a Canadian ice dancer. He ice dances with Tessa Virtue. Moir and Virtue are the 2010 Olympic champions, the 2010 World Champions, the 2008 Four Continents Champions, the 2006 World Junior Champions and the 2008–2010 Canadian national champions.They were the first ice dance team to...

 was quoted as saying that although the event was fun, skaters had been pressured to attend.

U.S. ice dancer Tanith Belbin
Tanith Belbin
Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin is a Canadian-American ice dancer. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Benjamin Agosto in 1998. With Agosto, Belbin is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, four-time World medalist,...

 told an interviewer that she and partner Benjamin Agosto
Benjamin Agosto
Benjamin Alexandro Agosto is an American ice dancer. With partner Tanith Belbin, Agosto is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2004–2006 Four Continents champion, and 2004–2008 U.S. champion....

 had not been aware of the event until after the 2009 World Championships
2009 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships for the 2008–2009 season. Commonly called "Worlds", they are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

. Evan Lysacek
Evan Lysacek
Evan Frank Lysacek is an American figure skater. He is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2009 World champion, the 2005 & 2007 Four Continents champion, the 2007 & 2008 U.S. national champion, and the 2009/2010 Grand Prix Final champion....

, who had won the World Championship
2009 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 World Figure Skating Championships were the World Figure Skating Championships for the 2008–2009 season. Commonly called "Worlds", they are an annual figure skating competition in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

 shortly before the World Team Trophy, was quoted in the same article as saying he was excited and looking forward to competing in Japan as part of the American team, referring to the event as "icing on the cake".

Team standings

Year Location Gold Silver Bronze
2009
2009 ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating
The 2009 ISU World Team Trophy was the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating of the 2008/2009 season. Skaters competed in the categories of men's singles, ladies singles, pairs, and ice dancing as part of teams representing their countries...

 
Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

2010 Not held
2011 Event cancelled after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...

2012
2012 ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating
The 2011 World Team Trophy was scheduled to be held on April 14-17, 2011 in Yokohama, Japan. Following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, it was postponed and will be held in April 2012 in Japan.-External links:*...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK