Major international competitions are sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). These include the Winter Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, the European Figure Skating Championships, the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

In Frysia, the Netherlands, the Elfstedentocht is a 200 km long race on natural ice around the province, which was held for the first time in 1909 and has by 2008 been held only 15 times because the ice along the entire course has to be thick enough for large groups to skate on. It is expected to become an even rarer event in the future, due to climate change.

Originally, skates were merely sharpened flattened of bone strapped to the bottom of the foot. Skaters did not actually skate on the ice, but rather glided on top of it. True skating emerged when a steel blade with sharpened edges was used. Skates now cut into the ice instead of gliding on top of it.

Adding edges to ice skates was invented by the Dutch in the 13th or 14th century. These ice skates were made of steel, with sharpened edges on the bottom to aid movement. The construction of modern ice skates has stayed largely the same.

 
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