Unique Competition on Black Ice Blends Skating with Fine and Decorative Art

Event Will Include Brushes to Blades of Steel Pop-up Museum Free to Public

The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (Olympic Authority) announces that the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships will return October 9 through 13, 2024, for the second consecutive year to the Olympic Center in Lake Placid. The event will include a Brushes to Blades of Steel pop-up museum. All skating competitions and art exhibits are open to the public with complimentary admission.

This international skating event blends the sport of figures and fancy skating with fine art, including performance, decorative, and recording arts, to offer a unique combination of a world-class skating competition and cultural celebration with a festival atmosphere. The not-for-profit World Figure Sport Society (WFSS) was founded in 2015 at the same time the first-ever World Figure Championship on black ice was held at the historic Olympic Center in Lake Placid. WFSS’s Skating Hall of Fame was also launched that same year, with Dick Button, who famously trained in Lake Placid under coach Gustave Lussi, among many skating legends attending the induction ceremony. Last October, WFSS brought the World Championship event back to Lake Placid to establish the Olympic Village as the event’s home.

“We are genuinely proud to host such a remarkable event,” says Chadd Cassidy, General Manager of the Olympic Center. “These five days offer both a competition and an exhibition that blends skating with artistry, making this something for everyone. It also takes place on black ice, which is an aspect of the event that makes it both unique and historic.”

Olympic skater and WFSS President Karen Courtland Kelly says, “Lake Placid is the home of miracles and also a fitting home to World Figure Sport’s headquarters and our worldwide cultural, art, sport, and goodwill movement. With World Figure Sport, all ages and abilities, including those with any type of disability, can learn to combine the art of skating with art and strive to become a virtuoso and champion.”

Kelly defines the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships as both a fine art festival and a skating competition in one. “This is an event unlike any other because it elevates and unites skating and art in unprecedented ways,” she says. “It’s the only place one can see competitors blend modern skating techniques with the historic art of fancy figures as they etch patterns on the black ice with their skate blades, just as an artist would do with a pencil or brush.”

In addition to the competition on black ice, the event also includes these features:

    • WFSS’s Brushes to Blades of Steel pop-up museum – open 9:00 am to 8:45 pm and free to the public throughout the five day event in Lake Placid. It will then relocate to be on display for two months in the Saranac Lake Library.
    • Competitor practice sessions and filming of competitors and their work on black ice.
    • Skating experiences on black ice with lessons and workshops for all ages and levels.
    • The Fine Art on Ice World Finals competition on Saturday starting at 2 pm with Fancy Skating Finals from 7 to 9 pm.
    • Art of Skating tours for non-skaters with event officials and champions. These personal tours are available on-site from 9 am to 8:45 pm for $20.
    • Art of Skating experiences on black ice for skaters. Arranged on-site. Coaching fees apply.
    • Inclusive skating sessions for all ages and levels and anyone with any type of disability, including wheelchairs.
    • World Junior Figure and Fancy Skating Championships (through age 21) runs all day Sunday until 6 pm.
    • The event finale is the Crystal Skating Ball and award ceremonies on Sunday from 6 to 9 pm.

Skating legends from the past and performing artists from the present all come together at these Championships for an experience that fuses the historic and contemporary, paving the way for present-day audiences the world over to enjoy figures and fancy skating.

Says Kelly, “The event is a unifying force that brings skaters and artists together in a celebration of culture, art, and sport. The World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships strives to raise awareness and understanding of the art of skating while also supporting the development of skating artists of all ages and all levels.”

Admission to the competition and all other components of the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships is free-of-charge with the exception of the Art of Skating Tours with officials and champions that are arranged onsite as well as private skating lessons and the workshops on black ice. More event information is available at the Lake Placid Olympic Center website.

A full detailed schedule is available here on the WFFSC website. All spectators and attendees are asked to register in advance at this link. Donations are accepted at the door and online at the World Figure Sport website to support the work of the not-for-profit WFSS, including this annual event and skating scholarships.

Media Contact: Morgan Ryan, [email protected]