Editing Figure skating spins (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Sonja Henie 1936.jpg|thumb|Sonja Henie, 1936]]
Figure skating spins, along with [[Figure skating jumps|jumps]], spirals, and spread eagles were originally individual [[compulsory figures]], sometimes special figures.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=100}} Unlike jumps, spins were a "graceful and appreciated"{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=103}} part of figure skating throughout the 19th century. [[Jean Garcin]], who wrote one of the first books about figure skating in the early 1800s, recognizes their beauty, especially when used as a way to conclude a figure artistically. Figure skater and historian [[Irving Brokaw]] categorizes spin variations not into positions as they are categorized today, but into different changes of the skating foot. He writes in the early 1900s about the importance of spins and insists that advanced skaters should be able to execute one or more spin varieties on either foot.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=103}} Spins were performed in the early days of [[pair skating]] by more skilled and experienced skaters, often as conclusions to their programs.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=82}} Figure skating historian James Hines states that even in modern skating, spins are placed at the end of programs to make them more exciting.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=103}}

Spins "advanced greatly"{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=103}} between [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. The spins performed by Norwegian skater [[Sonja Henie]], which can be viewed in her films made during the 1930s, often reached 40 or more revolutions and were "usually well-centered, fast, and as exciting to watch today as they were then".{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=103}} By the late 1930s, all three basic spin positions were used. Skaters were expected to spin in both directions at the time, but as spins became faster and more difficult, they were only expected to spin in one direction.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=103}} Skaters like American [[Ronald Robertson (figure skater)|Ronnie Robertson]] in the 1950s, Swiss [[Denise Biellmann]] in the 1980s, and Swiss [[Lucinda Ruh]] in the 1990s, had "an uncanny ability to perform spins", and were sometimes able to execute up to five revolutions per second in the upright position.{{Sfn|Cabell|Bateman|2018|p=23}} Canadian figure skater [[Olivia Oliver]] holds the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness World Record]] for the fastest spin, 342 rotations per minute, which she completed in [[Warsaw]] in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fastest Ice Skating Spin |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-spin-ice-skating |access-date=24 July 2022 |website=Guinness World Records Limited |location=London, England}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Jumps, Spins and Turns of Figure Skating |work=Olympic Channel Services |url=https://olympics.com/en/news/the-jumps-spins-and-turns-of-figure-skating |access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref> However, as researchers Lee Cabell and Erica Bateman stated in 2018, "Unfortunately, modern figure skaters often do not achieve these types of revolutions because the rules require skaters to perform spins in different body positions".{{Sfn|Cabell|Bateman|2018|p=23}}

World champion and commentator [[Scott Hamilton (figure skater)|Scott Hamilton]] reported that Robertson would spin so fast that he would break blood vessels in his hands.<ref name="clarey" /> Hamilton also stated that Robertson and Ruh were so good at executing spins that they "would find that part of the blade that had no friction with the ice, and they would spin at the same speed forever. It just seemed like it would never end, and they could change positions and then recrank the spin and make it happen again".<ref name="clarey" /> Ruh, however, suffered from chronic nausea and dizziness, and would regularly lose consciousness during practices or in hotel rooms. She was eventually diagnosed with miniconcussions that were probably linked to executing spins and the forces generated by them, especially during layback spins. Ruh also later stated that the rotational speeds she was able to maintain and the long hours practicing and performing them most likely contributed to the severity of her injuries.<ref name="clarey" />

Pair spins became part of competitive figure skating between the world wars;{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=5}} side-by-side spins, along with [[Death spiral (figure skating)|death spirals]], [[Figure skating lifts|lifts]], [[Pair skating#Solo jumps and throw jumps|throw jumps]], side-by-side jumps, and side-by-side footwork sequences, were a part of pair skating by the 1930s.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=126}} In [[ice dance]], there were limitations to dance spins, as well as for other moves associated with pair skating like jumps and [[Competition elements in ice dance#Dance lifts|lifts]], when ice dance became a competitive sport and throughout the 1950s. Spins were limited to a maximum of one-and-a-half revolutions when done by one partner and to two-and-a-half revolutions when they spun around each other. These limitations were put in place to ensure its distinction from pair skating.{{Sfn|Hines|2006|p=173}}