North American Figure Skating Championships

The North American Figure Skating Championships were a biennial figure skating competition, and although they were sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), they were actually a joint venture of the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the United States Figure Skating Association. The first North American Championships were held in 1923 in Ottawa, Canada, and featured men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and four skating. The championships were held every other year, with Canada and the United States alternating as hosts, as only skaters from those countries were eligible to compete. The championships were interrupted only once, in 1943, due to World War II. Ice dance was added as an event in 1947, while four skating was retired after 1949. The last edition was held in Peterborough, Canada, in 1971, after which point, Canada discontinued their involvement in order to launch their own international competition, the Skate Canada International.

Montgomery Wilson of Canada holds the record for winning the most North American Championship titles in men's singles (with six), his sister Constance Wilson-Samuel holds the record in women's singles (with four), and the two hold the record in pair skating (with three). Four teams are tied for winning the most titles in ice dance (with two each): Carmel Bodel and Edward Bodel of the United States, Lorna Dyer and John Carrell of the United States, Lois Waring and Walter Bainbridge of the United States, and Geraldine Fenton and William McLachlan of Canada. McLachlan also won a third ice dance title with a previous partner.

In 1914, the International Skating Union of America – a joint venture of the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the United States Figure Skating Association – hosted their first championship event in New Haven, Connecticut. The second championship event was held in 1918 in New York City, and was attended by skaters from England and the United States, but not from Canada. The last two competitions, held in 1920 and 1921, were attended only by skaters from the United States.^[1]

Beginning in 1923, the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the U.S. Figure Skating Association joined together to launch the North American Championships: a soft relaunch of these earlier competitions. At this time, medal contenders at the World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympics came from either Europe or North America. Though the North American Championships were sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), they were jointly organized and run by the Canadian and U.S. skating federations, and they allowed Canadian and American skaters the opportunity to compete at a comparable event to the European Figure Skating Championships. The championships were held every other year, with Canada and the United States alternating as hosts, and only skaters from those countries were eligible to compete.^[2]

The 1943 North American Championships were cancelled due to World War II, while the 1945 competition, held concurrently with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in New York City, featured only the women's event.^[3] Ice dance was added as an event in 1947,^[4] while four skating was last held in 1949.^[5]

On February 15, 1961, most of the U.S. national team, many of whom had just finished competing at the North American Championships in Philadelphia,^[6] departed from New York City aboard Sabena Flight 548 bound for the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. The airplane crashed while on approach to Brussels Airport in Belgium.^[7] All sixty-one passengers and eleven crew members aboard the flight were killed, including the eighteen members of the U.S. national team as well as fourteen family members, coaches, and skating officials who were accompanying them. Among those killed were the recently crowned North American women's champion Laurence Owen, men's silver medalist Bradley Lord, men's bronze medalist Gregory Kelley, pairs silver medalists Maribel Owen and Dudley Richards, and ice dance silver medalists Dona Lee Carrier and Roger Campbell. Nine-time U.S. champion and coach Maribel Vinson-Owen, mother of both Laurence and Maribel, was on the flight as well. Out of respect, the World Championships were cancelled the next day.^[8]

At a planning meeting held in 1972 and attended by representatives from both the Canadian Figure Skating Association and the U.S. Figure Skating Association, the Canadian delegation announced their plans to withdraw from the North American Championships. With one of the two participating nations out, this effectively marked the end of the championships. The U.S. delegation was unaware at the time that the Canadian Figure Skating Association was already planning to launch their own international skating competition, Skate Canada, which debuted the next year.^[9] The U.S. Figure Skating Association eventually launched their own international event as well: Skate America.^[10]

By the mid-1970s, skaters from Asia were successfully competing at major international events. The last North American Championships had been held in 1971, so skaters from Europe had the advantage of an ISU championship event that was not accessible to skaters outside of Europe. In order to provide equal opportunities for all skaters, the ISU established the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in 1999; the name referred to the four continents outside of Europe where competitive figure skating took place: Africa, Asia, Australia (Oceania), and North America.^[11]

• Canadian National Skating Championships
• U.S. Figure Skating Championships
• Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

• Hines, James R. (2006). Figure Skating: A History. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07286-4.
• Hines, James R. (2015). Figure Skating in the Formative Years. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-03906-5.