Figure skating was first contested as an Olympic sport at the 1908 Summer Olympics, in London,
Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström—who competed in four consecutive Olympics, from the 1920 Summer Games to the 1932 Winter Games—is the overall medal leader in the sport, having collected four medals.[4] He is the only man to have won three consecutive singles gold medals, and one of five sportspeople to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.[5] Grafström followed the footsteps of countryman Ulrich Salchow, the first Olympic champion and creator of the jump bearing his name, who later became president of the International Skating Union (ISU).[6] Eight figure skaters have won three medals: Sonja Henie (Norway) and Irina Rodnina (Soviet Union), winners of three consecutive titles in the ladies' singles (1928–1936) and pairs (1972–1980) events, respectively; Pierre Brunet and wife Andrée Brunet (France), 1928–1932 pairs champions; ice dancers Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko (Soviet Union and Unified Team); Artur Dmitriev (Unified Team and Russia); and Beatrix Loughran (United States), medalist in both singles and pairs.[7]
Besides Grafström and Henie, only Karl Schäfer (Austria), Dick Button (United States), and Katarina Witt (East Germany) successfully defended their singles titles. Rodnina's two-time partner Alexander Zaitsev, Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov (Soviet Union), in the pairs, and Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov (Russia), in ice dance, also retained their gold medals. Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov are also two-time Olympic champions: they won the pairs competition in 1988 for the Soviet Union, and repeated the victory at the Lillehammer Games, as professional skaters representing Russia.[8]
The
Men
Special figures
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 London details |  Nikolai PaninRussia (RUS) |  Arthur CummingGreat Britain (GBR) | Geoffrey Hall-Say Great Britain (GBR) |
 Great Britain's Madge Syers (left) won the first Olympic ladies' singles event and, with her husband Edgar Syers (right), placed third in the 1908 pairs event.  Norwegian Sonja Henie holds the record of three consecutive victories in the ladies' individual event (1928–1936).  East Germany's Katarina Witt captured the gold medal in the 1988 ladies' singles event, becoming the second female figure skater to win back-to-back Olympic titles. |
 Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov's victory in 1964 began a streak of Russian dominance in the pairs event yet to be broken.  Soviet Union's Irina Rodnina won a record three successive gold medals (1972–1980). In her first victory, she paired with Alexei Ulanov (pictured).  Canadian pair Jamie Salé and David Pelletier were given a joint gold medal in 2002, as a result of investigations on a judging scandal. [ 10 ]  2006 Olympic champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia  Ice dancers Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko won a bronze medal in 1984, improved to a silver in 1988, and capped their Olympic appearances with a gold in 1992. |
Sonja Henie and Karl Schäfer (pictured in 1932 in Lake Placid) are two of the sixteen multiple Olympic gold medalists in figure skating. Athletes who won at least two gold medals or three total medals are listed below. [ 7 ]
Athlete  | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grafström, Gillis Gillis Grafström |  Sweden (SWE) | 1920–1932 [a] | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Rodnina, Irina Irina Rodnina |  Soviet Union (URS) | 1972–1980 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Henie, Sonja Sonja Henie |  Norway (NOR) | 1928–1936 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Dmitriev, Artur Artur Dmitriev |  Unified Team (EUN) Russia (RUS) | 1992–1998 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Brunet, Pierre Pierre Brunet |  France (FRA) | 1924–1932 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Brunet, Andrée Andrée Brunet | France (FRA) | 1924–1932 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Ponomarenko, Sergei Sergei Ponomarenko | Unified Team (EUN) Russia (RUS) | 1984–1992 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Klimova, Marina Marina Klimova | Unified Team (EUN) Russia (RUS) | 1984–1992 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Loughran, Beatrix Beatrix Loughran |  United States (USA) | 1924–1932 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Schäfer, Karl Karl Schäfer |  Austria (AUT) | 1928–1936 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Belousova, Ludmila Ludmila Belousova | Soviet Union (URS) | 1964–1968 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Platov, Evgeny Evgeny Platov | Russia (RUS) | 1994–1998 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Button, Dick Dick Button | United States (USA) | 1948–1952 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gordeeva, Ekaterina Ekaterina Gordeeva | Soviet Union (URS) Russia (RUS) | 1988, 1994 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Zaitsev, Alexander Alexander Zaitsev | Soviet Union (URS) | 1976–1980 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Grinkov, Sergei Sergei Grinkov | Soviet Union (URS) Russia (RUS) | 1988, 1994 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Protopopov, Oleg Oleg Protopopov | Soviet Union (URS) | 1964–1968 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Grishuk, Oksana Oksana Grishuk | Russia (RUS) | 1994–1998 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Witt, Katarina Katarina Witt |  East Germany (GDR) | 1984–1988 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
20年来花样滑冰的那些冠军美人们：
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://photo5.yupoo.com/20070916/023314_1866726163.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tianya.cn/publicforum/content/funinfo/1/1011861.shtml&usg=__HjYwKQuTUwKFCN1AYqZCBHaKLAk=&h=500&w=428&sz=95&hl=en&start=9&sig2=HIci-UWOLfJWzbSwO-2W8g&um=1&tbnid=EJWZBOrSt1XVFM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGordeeva%2B%2526%2BGrinkov%25E6%25BB%2591%25E5%2586%25B0%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1&ei=p1M7S6vOEo3q-Qb25-iuCg
