Editing Figure skating (section)

===After World War II===
Skating competitions were again interrupted for several years by [[World War&nbsp;II]]. After the war, with many European rinks in ruins, skaters from the United States and Canada began to dominate international competitions and to introduce technical innovations to the sport. [[Dick Button]], 1948 and 1952 Olympic Champion, was the first skater to perform the double Axel and triple loop jumps, as well as the flying camel spin.

The World Figure Skating Championships did not include [[ice dance]] until [[1952 World Figure Skating Championships|1952]].<ref name=ISUHistory/> In its early years, ice dance was dominated by British skaters, and until 1960 the world title was won every year by a British couple, beginning with [[Jean Westwood (figure skater)|Jean Westwood]] and [[Lawrence Demmy]].{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=102}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-G0313-0017-001, Ludmilla Beloussowa, Oleg Protopopow.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Russian pair skaters [[Ludmila Belousova]] and [[Oleg Protopopov]] in 1968]]

On February 15, 1961, the entire U.S. figure skating team and their coaches were killed in the crash of [[Sabena Flight 548]] in [[Brussels|Brussels, Belgium]] en route to the World Championships in [[Prague]]. This tragedy sent the U.S. skating program into a period of rebuilding.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union rose to become a dominant force in the sport, especially in the disciplines of pair skating and ice dance. Soviet and Russian domination in pair skating began in the 1950s and continued throughout the rest of the 1900s. Only five non-Soviet or Russian teams won the Olympics and World Championships from 1965 to 2010.{{sfnp|Hines|2011|p=191}} When [[Shen Xue]] and [[Zhao Hongbo]] of China won the gold medal at the 2010 games, this was the first time since 1960 that a Russian, Soviet, or Unified Team (CIS) flagged team did not win the gold medal.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | url = http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-olympics-figures16-2010feb16,0,5798394.story | title = Fourth time is their charm | first = Philip | last = Hersh | date = 16 February 2010 | access-date = 16 February 2010 | archive-date = February 1, 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240201215302/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-16-la-sp-olympics-mens-figures-adv-2010feb16-story.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35400871/ns/sports-olympic_sports/ |title=Shen-Zhao set record in pairs short program|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304020251/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35400871/ns/sports-olympic_sports/|date=February 14, 2010|archive-date=March 4, 2010|url-status=dead|publisher=[[NBC Sports]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cleveland.com/olympics/index.ssf/2010/02/shen_zhao_capture_pairs_skatin.html|title=Shen, Zhao capture pairs skating gold as China takes silver, too; Russians shut out from podium|date=February 16, 2010|agency=Associated Press|website=[[cleveland.com]]|access-date=March 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015201216/http://www.cleveland.com/olympics/index.ssf/2010/02/shen_zhao_capture_pairs_skatin.html|archive-date=October 15, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/news/newsid=444839.html|title=Russian skating slump hits home hard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226040725/https://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/news/newsid=444839.html|date=February 24, 2010|archive-date=February 26, 2010|url-status=dead|publisher=[[NBC Olympic broadcasts]]}}</ref> The [[1967 World Figure Skating Championships|1967 World Championships]] was the last event held on an outdoor rink.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archive/results_euros/2011%20Euro%20Preview.htm |title=2011 European Championships Preview |first=Alexandra |last=Stevenson |year=2011 |work=IceSkatingIntnl.com |access-date=March 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921114844/http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archive/results_euros/2011%20Euro%20Preview.htm |archive-date=September 21, 2011 }}</ref>