Echoes of Gold: The Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman Story

As the world's best take to the ice in Prague at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships, we look back at another defining moment in the city's skating history. In 1962, siblings Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman made history on this very stage, becoming the first Czech ice dance team to capture a World title - delighting a home crowd and etching their names into skating history.

Pavel Roman was born on January 25, 1943, in the Moravian city of Olomouc. His younger sister Eva Romanová was born on January 27, 1946. Their parents, Frantisek and Jarmila, worked as a sales representative and a costume designer.

As children, Pavel and Eva enjoyed biking, playing tennis, and swimming during the summer. In winter, they skated at the Olomouc rink with their half-brother Zdenek. In a 2019 interview with the "Blackpool Gazette", Eva recalled, "My brother wanted to play ice hockey but my father said you have to learn to figure skate first. There weren't many boys doing that, so they wanted to pair him up with other girls. But my father said, 'no, he has a sister,' so we ended up skating together."

When it quickly became clear that both Eva and Pavel had a natural talent for skating, their father became a regular presence at the rink and took a strong interest in their development. Although Frantisek had no background in skating, he studied skating literature, observed other coaches, and eventually took on the role of coach, training Eva and Pavel three days a week. Because the rink was primarily used for hockey, many of their practices took place early in the morning before school.

In 1952, Frantisek was transferred to Prague for work. He continued coaching his children for a few more years, but it soon became clear they needed more advanced instruction than he could provide. He approached coach Mila Novaková, who agreed to train Eva and Pavel at Stadion Praha.

The siblings initially competed as a pairs team, winning medals at the Czechoslovakian Championships in 1957 and 1958. During the 1959/1960 season, they competed in both pairs and ice dance. At that year’s national championships, they placed second in pairs and won the first Czechoslovakian ice dance title. At just thirteen, Eva became the youngest woman ever to win a national title in her country.

At the European Championships in Davos, Switzerland, they finished twelfth in pairs but seventh in ice dance. That result helped the talented young brother and sister decide where to focus their efforts. By the following season, they had committed entirely to ice dancing.

Right photo courtesy Národní muzeum

In 1960, Eva and Pavel again placed seventh at the European Championships, but the following year they moved up to fifth. The cancellation of the 1961 World Championships - scheduled to be held in their home city, due to the Sabena Crash that killed the entire U.S. figure skating team, delayed their World debut.

Alongside their skating careers, both pursued post-secondary education. Eva earned a degree in Decorative Arts from an art-industrial school while working as a window dresser at a department store. Pavel attended the industrial school Střední průmyslová škola na Proseku, where he studied machining and engineering. In their spare time, Eva enjoyed drawing, while Pavel took an interest in building sports cars. He would often ride Jawa motorcycles to "break them in" for new buyers.

Photo courtesy Národní muzeum

In 1962, Eva and Pavel showed remarkable improvement, finishing third at the European Championships in Geneva, Switzerland, behind France's Christiane and Jean Paul Guhel and Britain’s Linda Shearman and Michael Phillips. In the May 1962 issue of "Skating World", British skating historian Dennis L. Bird wrote that in Geneva they had the best free dance, but that their performance "looked like pair skating without the jumps."

"To me, they were amazing," recalled the late World Ice Dancing Champion Bernard Ford, in Steve Milton's book "Figure Skating's Greatest Stars". "It wasn't dance-y, like things had been. They skated to the music, but they attacked it. They had a lot of speed." Believe it or not - at the time, some actually criticized their speed, but their athletic style, which contrasted sharply with the British ice dancing style of the time, proved immensely popular when the World Championships finally took place in Prague from March 14 to 17, 1962, drawing enthusiastic crowds to the Sportovní hala.

Photo courtesy Národní muzeum

Eva and Pavel achieved the unthinkable, winning the title in their debut at the World Championships, in front of a home crowd. Writing in "Skating" in May 1962, Jane Vaughn Sullivan wrote, "Dressed in matching costumes of glowing coral which set off their blonde hair, they skated with fire and spirit to win the Dance title." That year, they became the first non-British team to win since 1952, when ice dancing was first officially included in the ISU World Championships record books.

As Lynn Copley-Graves observed in "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance on Ice", "the British were shut out of the medals altogether, shut out of what seemed like their birthright, for the only time in the first 12 years of World Dance." Following their victory, Eva and Pavel performed in exhibitions in Moscow and Kiev alongside Karol Divín and members of the U.S. team.

During the off-season, Eva and Pavel traveled overseas to train in Colorado Springs, where they also performed in the Broadmoor Ice Revue for two weeks. At the 1963 European Championships in Budapest, they won the free dance with first-place ordinals from eight of the nine judges. However, losses in the Foxtrot, Westminster Waltz, Kilian, and Argentine Tango to Britain’s Linda Shearman and Michael Phillips - who had finished fourth at the previous year’s World Championships - left them second overall in a result so close that it took more than an hour to tabulate the marks.

Video courtesy Frazer Ormondroyd

At the 1963 World Championships in Italy, the rivalry between the two teams was again intense. The Britons won the compulsory dances, while Eva and Pavel took the free dance. According to the "Reading Eagle" on March 3, 1963, "officials announced the Czech brother and sister team had won the ice dance title, but did not release point scores immediately. The Britons were so close that unofficial point totals gave them more points than the Czech defending champions, 322.7 to 321.6."

Ultimately, the defense of Eva and Pavel’s World title came down to the votes of the nine judges - and this time, it was enough.

Photo courtesy Národní muzeum

The following season, Eva and Pavel made the unusual decision to keep the same free dance they had used the year before. At the 1964 European Championships, history seemed ready to repeat itself when another British team, Janet Sawbridge and David Hickinbottom, led after the first two compulsory dances, the Foxtrot and European Waltz. In her book, Lynn Copley-Graves noted, "Romanová/Roman, in search of the elusive European title, caught up in the Kilian and held a narrow lead after the Tango. Their dazzling free dance had a sequence where Eva did a series of lightning spread eagles between turns on her toe picks. Aside from Lawrence Demmy's 5.4 and 5.5, their lowest marks were 5.7 for their first European title."

With the newly crowned European title under their belt, Eva and Pavel headed to Dortmund for the World Championships, where they faced an easier path to victory. Building a substantial lead in the compulsory dances, they earned first-place votes from six of the seven judges, scoring 249.2 points with eight ordinals, and comfortably defeated Canadians Paulette Doan and Kenneth Ormsby to win their third World title.

During the summer of 1965, Eva and Pavel trained at home in Czechoslovakia at the country’s first summer skating school. When they arrived at the Palace of Sports at Moscow’s Lenin Central Stadium for the 1965 European Championships, they made mistakes in the compulsory dances but nonetheless maintained their lead. They also debuted a new free dance, which was highly praised for its unison and speed, allowing them to hold off three British couples.

At nineteen and twenty-two, as three-time defending World Champions, Eva and Pavel headed to their fourth and final World Championships at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. As Lynn Copley-Graves noted, "no couple could hope to oust Pavel and Roman in the free dance... With amazing cohesion in their free leg movements, Eva and Pavel amassed a fourth consecutive World title. They did not skate in the exaggerated straight-back position of the British, with the result that came across as more fluid. Their innovative free dance energized the audience."

As swiftly as they had risen on the World stage, Eva and Pavel retired at the peak of their careers, leaving the World Championships undefeated.

Eva and Pavel received numerous offers to skate in shows and even signed with the Ice Capades, but Czechoslovakian officials voided the contract. In May 1965, they competed in the World Professional Championships in England, winning the Starlight Waltz, Blues, Quickstep, and their free dance to take the title over four British teams. They later joined the Holiday on Ice tour in Cologne, Germany.

Photo courtesy Joseph Butchko Collection, an acquisition of the Skate Guard Archive

To receive permission to tour with the show, they had to give the Czechoslovakian government ten percent of their earnings and agree to renew their visas each year.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

While on tour, both Eva and Pavel found love. Eva married British ice comedian Jackie Graham, who bred Arabian horses in Devon, England. Pavel met his wife Sonia Grand, a singer and Holiday on Ice skater who was the goddaughter of skating historian Nigel Brown, in Switzerland. They celebrated with two wedding ceremonies - one in Switzerland and another at Karlštejn Castle, southwest of Prague.

Eva and Pavel toured with Holiday on Ice until 1971, when Pavel and Sonia took jobs in Tennessee at the Kingdom of Camelot inn. Pavel served as recreation director and planned engineering projects, while Sonia entertained guests with her singing. Meanwhile, Eva continued to tour with Holiday on Ice alone in Johannesburg, South Africa, before moving to England.

Pavel's half-brother Zdeněk published a book about Eva and Pavel's skating career. The book claimed that their father had been "a strict disciplinarian to the point of abuse." In an interview at the 1962 World Championships, Eva disputed these claims. "He was much older than me and he wrote about all the funny things. I had a different view. Father taught me to the best I could be and that comes in handy in life. Our parents made sure we didn't tell tales. If we did, my father would punish us both. At school they would say, 'How can you skate with your brother?' Most brothers and sisters beat each other up, but we were best buddies. We skated for fun, not ambition."

Off the ice, Pavel enjoyed carpentry and furniture making and, according to Bernard Ford, was "a man's man. He did all sports. He cross-country motorbiked, he raced cars. He was an all-around jock, which was certainly well outside the ice dance image." He was also an amateur mechanic with a need for speed. In a 2014 interview with Lidovky, Eva recalled, "Unfortunately, Pavel drove too fast. My mother had always said, 'Pavel, you make me me one million dollars.' And he had replied, 'No, if anything, I would kill myself.'"

Pavel’s words proved tragically prophetic just days after his twenty-ninth birthday, while he was driving guests to the Kingdom of Camelot. The February 3, 1972 edition of the "Rogersville Review" reported, "A one-car accident early Thursday morning on State Route 94, near the Kingdom of Camelot, snuffed out the life of former world figure skating champion, Pavel (Paul) [Roman], 29. [Roman], who had been serving as recreation director at the Kingdom of Camelot since last summer, was pronounced dead on arrival at Hawkins County Memorial Hospital. State Highway Trooper Russell Tipton, who investigated the accident, said [Roman] lost control of his car on a curve, left the road and went down an embankment, hitting several trees. The accident happened [within] the shadow of the Camelot Inn, near the athletic field. [Roman] was returning to the Inn when the accident happened."

Roman’s funeral was held at St. Henry's Catholic Church. Although he was originally to be buried at Highland Cemetery, he was ultimately interred in Olšanské hřbitovy Cemetery in Prague.

Life continued for Eva, but it was never easy. In a 2006 interview, she said, "Not a day [went by] that I did not remember him. For me, [he did] not age, he is still twenty-nine." She skated for a time with her husband, performing a comedy act with chimpanzees. She also tried teaching ice dancing in England, but when it proved unprofitable, she ran a retirement home for a decade before moving to the United States.

After teaching skating in Dallas for four years, she retired to a farm in Texas, caring for ducks and geese. In the 1990s, Eva and her husband sold the farm, bought a caravan, and traveled across America for five years before returning to Europe, spending time in England and Spain before settling at a farm in Lipnice, near Rokycany, in the Czech Republic in 2001. Now a widow, Eva lives in Lytham St. Annes, a seaside town near Blackpool, England.

Eva and Pavel Roman's story is one of extraordinary talent, dedication, and trailblazing achievement. As the first Czech team to win a World title in ice dancing, they achieved success internationally at a time when the sport was dominated almost entirely by British teams. From their early days skating together in Olomouc to becoming four-time World Champions, they brought speed and athleticism to ice dancing. While Pavel's life was tragically cut short, Eva continued to embrace life with determination, pursuing teaching, performing, and later farming and travel, all while keeping the memory of her brother and skating partner alive. Their legacy stands as a testament to their talent and the lasting impact they made on the world of ice dance.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Chaotic History of Menning

Nobunari Oda taking a tumble at the 2009 World Championships. Photo courtesy Silvie Touchette.

If you have spent any time engaging in online figure skating discussions over the past few years, you may have come across the term "Menning."

In today's figure skating pop culture, "Menning" refers to the tendency for men's events to produce chaotic and unpredictable results. It's the short program where no one seems to be able to stay on their feet. It's the free skate where there seem to be more Waxels than Axels. It's the skater who lands everything all season and then unravels at the biggest competition of the year. It’s the standings that look nothing like the expected podium after the short program. In short, when the men’s event refuses to behave logically, today's generation of fans shrugs and says: "That’s menning."

The lingo isn't meant as an insult so much as affectionate exasperation. Men's singles has long had a reputation for volatility. As they say, "ice is slippery", and with huge risk comes the greater potential for failure. While the discipline has produced extraordinary champions and historic programs, it has also produced a not insignificant number of dramatic defeats, surprise medallists, and head-scratching final standings.

In today's blog, I'll look at a few historical examples that helped cement the idea of "Menning" in skating culture. Then, because anecdotes are fun but data is better, I have compiled a chart tracking instances of "menning" since the introduction of the International Judging System (IJS). I've focused on the IJS era because it allows for more consistent technical comparisons and clearer statistical patterns. As for the 6.0 era? That would require rewatching approximately a million programs - and as a wise woman named Sweet Brown once said, "Ain't nobody got time for that." 

Let's look back at the history of how the men have, well... menned.

Jack Ferguson Page. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

In 1927, the World Figure Skating Championships were held in Davos, Switzerland. The entire competition was skated in a blinding blizzard. Eight men competed, and Manchester-born British skater Jack Ferguson Page was the only one of them who didn't fall in the compulsory figures and free skating. All of the other competitors fell at least once in the figures and once or twice in the free skating. The weather clearly played a factor, but interestingly enough, Page finished fourth in both phases of the competition and fourth overall. In the days before the "one judge per country" rule, a trio of Austrian skaters swept the podium, thanks to a bloc of three Austrian judges. The British judge reported the matter to the UK's National Skating Association and kicked up a fuss with the press. The media attention surrounding this incident, coupled with a similar one in that year's World Championships for women in Oslo, helped change the ISU's rules, but it didn't stop men from menning.

Newspaper clipping about the men's competition at the 1963 World Championships, courtesy "Buffalo Evening News" 

At the 1963 World Figure Skating Championships, the men's free skate devolved into a midnight survival test that perfectly exemplified "men menning." Skated in temperatures plunging to minus twenty Celsius, with the final group beginning shortly before midnight on splinter-hard, brittle ice, the event saw contender after contender falter. Spectators watched in disbelief as skater after skater struggled on jumps they could do every day in practice. The leader after the compulsory figures, Manfred Schnelldorfer of West Germany, "fell so badly backwards that he lost a lot of time to get up again," recalled his mother. "In those seconds, he wondered whether to give up. He did not want it anymore and had to leave some difficulties out. He jumped only simple jumps, no more doubles and dragged to the end. It was cruel." Czechoslovakia's Karol Divín, second in figures, skated cautiously. Donald McPherson and Alain Calmat both fell on triple loop attempts, but moved up to finish first and second overall. Backstage, no one could confidently predict the podium after a competition defined less by brilliance than by widespread falls, fatigue, and freezing temperatures.

Medallists at the 1982 World Figure Skating Championships. Photo courtesy "Canadian Skater" magazine.

Two decades later, at the 1982 World Championships in Copenhagen, skater after skater seemingly tumbled on cue during the short program. Half of the top ten skaters after the figures (Jean-Christophe Simond, David Santee, Igor Bobrin, Brian Pockar and Fumio Igarashi) fell on the required combination, which had to include a double flip that year. The standings were all over the place. Brian Orser, twelfth in figures, was third in the short program. David Santee, third in figures, was sixteenth in the short program. The unpredictable skating led to some unpredictable results. Fortuitously for Canada, when the marks were tabulated, Brian Pockar became the first Canadian man to win a medal at the World Championships since Toller Cranston in 1976, despite finishing outside of the top three in all three phases of the competition. 

Results from the 1982 World Figure Skating Champions, courtesy "A Complete History of the World Figure Skating Championships"

Before we quantify menning in the IJS era, it's worth acknowledging a fundamental truth: technical progress in men's figure skating has never moved in a straight line. Yes, technical difficulty has constantly increased over time, but breakthroughs have rarely produced instant revolutions or inspired a "monkey see, monkey do" mentality of other skaters rushing out to put history-making jumps in their programs right away. 

When Donald Jackson landed the first triple Lutz at the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships, it did not trigger a stampede of triple Lutz attempts the following season. Skaters included the jumps they needed to in order to succeed under the judging system of their era - no more, no less. In fact, the next World Champion to include a triple Lutz in his winning program was Jan Hoffmann more than a decade later, at the 1974 World Figure Skating Championships. The same pattern appeared with Vern Taylor's historic triple Axel at the 1978 World Championships - it was not the culmination of years of failed attempts by the entire field, but an outlier moment that did not instantly redefine "the gold standard." 

Even in the modern era, Ilia Malinin's quadruple Axel stands as an example of how one skater's extraordinary ability isn't necessarily the setting of a new "goal post" that every skater needs to achieve to win. That said, as the standard of technical difficulty accelerates faster than consistency can keep up, the result is often volatility. 

In order to take a look at how the men have menned over the last twenty plus years, I had to come up with some way of quantifying "menning". The Skate Guard Blog Menning Index™ measures how chaotic and risk-heavy major competitions were by focusing primarily on quad attempts. It calculates how many quads are attempted versus how many are landed to determine a "chaos rate", then factors in total falls per segment as an amplifier of that risk, and finally adds a small adjustment for placement volatility. Quad efficiency drives 70% of the score since it is the main engine of modern men's technical risk, falls account for 25% because they indicate unpredictability, and result swings contribute 5% as confirmation of competitive turbulence, producing a 0–100 scale where lower numbers indicate a competition that was mostly smooth sailing and higher numbers suggest a competition that was unpredictable at best. By no means is this system foolproof - skaters could have landed every quad and missed every triple Axel, as an example. However, it does give a decent indication of which events went particularly awry.

I divided the scores into 3 categories:

🚗 Start The Car! - 0-35% - A competition with a high reward vs. risk ratio on quads and/or a lower percentage of falls

😐 Chaotic Neutral - 35-50% - A competition with a medium reward .vs. risk ratio on quads and/or a lower percentage of falls

🧴 Tequila and Holy Water Needed (shout out to The Runthrough Podcast!) - Break out the strong stuff and call a priest. If you're rewatching this competition, brace yourself for some serious menning!

Year	Event	Quads Tried  (SP)	Quads with 0/+ GOE (SP)	Quads Tried  (FS)	Quads with 0/+ GOE (FS)	Falls (SP)	Falls (FS)	# of SP Top 3 Who Didn't Medal	# of FS Top 3 Who Didn't Medal	Score	Menning Level
2005	Euros	5	2	7	5	9	7	1	0	43.8	Chaotic Neutral
2005	4CC	5	3	8	2	10	17	1	0	66.8	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2005	Worlds	10	3	12	9	14	16	1	1	59.3	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2006	Euros	5	2	8	3	14	20	0	0	68.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2006	4CC	4	2	1	1	8	13	0	1	46.8	Chaotic Neutral
2006	Olympics	6	3	14	5	8	18	1	1	66.2	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2006	Worlds	7	5	13	9	5	8	2	0	34.3	Start The Car!
2007	Euros	4	0	7	3	10	20	1	0	77.2	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2007	4CC	2	0	4	2	7	13	1	1	65.8	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2007	Worlds	4	1	11	4	14	13	1	0	70.4	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2008	Euros	4	1	9	2	12	19	0	1	80.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2008	4CC	3	2	6	3	6	14	0	0	47.8	Chaotic Neutral
2008	Worlds	5	3	12	5	12	12	1	1	59.6	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2009	Euros	3	3	6	3	9	5	1	1	37.5	Chaotic Neutral
2009	4CC	1	0	5	2	13	16	0	1	72.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2009	Worlds	4	1	8	6	12	8	0	0	45.8	Chaotic Neutral
2010	Euros	5	3	10	4	9	5	1	0	50.3	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2010	4CC	1	1	5	2	17	12	2	1	62.9	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2010	Olympics	4	1	11	3	4	13	0	1	66.8	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2010	Worlds	6	3	13	7	15	14	0	1	58.6	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2011	Euros	4	2	9	7	9	9	2	0	39	Chaotic Neutral
2011	4CC	2	0	7	1	5	11	0	1	76.8	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2011	Worlds	8	3	15	10	9	14	2	0	52.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2012	Euros	7	3	10	5	7	12	1	0	54.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2012	4CC	7	1	9	3	16	23	1	1	80	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2012	Worlds	11	5	22	10	11	10	1	0	56.9	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2013	Euros	9	5	11	9	9	6	1	0	34.8	Start The Car!
2013	4CC	10	5	16	9	4	13	1	1	49	Chaotic Neutral
2013	Worlds	13	7	23	10	7	13	1	1	56.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2014	Euros	12	4	18	7	12	13	1	0	66.4	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2014	4CC	7	2	11	3	8	8	1	0	65.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2014	Olympics	17	6	23	11	10	13	1	0	60.7	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2014	Worlds	17	8	19	11	11	6	0	0	47.2	Chaotic Neutral
2015	Euros	8	4	13	4	12	15	1	0	67.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2015	4CC	9	4	15	6	8	11	1	1	59.2	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2015	Worlds	17	3	21	10	8	15	0	0	65.2	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2016	Euros	10	5	16	9	15	9	1	2	56.1	Tequila and Holy Water
2016	4CC	13	4	20	11	13	20	1	0	64.4	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2016	Worlds	20	8	29	13	14	11	1	0	62.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2017	Euros	14	8	20	8	9	14	1	0	57.5	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2017	4CC	15	8	33	17	7	22	0	0	57.7	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2017	Worlds	27	17	47	30	10	14	1	0	46.8	Chaotic Neutral
2018	Euros	16	3	23	9	17	15	1	0	74.7	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2018	4CC	14	5	30	13	6	15	1	0	60.1	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2018	Olympics	27	16	45	28	12	18	0	1	53.5	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2018	Worlds	27	11	44	15	13	17	1	1	71.9	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2019	Euros	17	13	25	9	14	19	1	0	59.6	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2019	4CC	13	8	23	11	5	12	1	1	49.7	Chaotic Neutral
2019	Worlds	30	16	44	24	13	12	1	0	54.3	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2020	Euros	17	5	26	14	8	11	1	1	57.4	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2020	4CC	14	12	23	14	6	16	1	0	40.4	Chaotic Neutral
2020	Worlds	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Menning Occurred In Self-Isolation
2021	Euros	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Menning Occurred In Self-Isolation
2021	4CC	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Menning Occurred In Self-Isolation
2021	Worlds	19	15	44	27	13	14	0	1	47.1	Chaotic Neutral
2022	Euros	20	10	26	16	9	15	2	0	52.9	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2022	4CC	13	7	23	11	9	13	0	0	53.3	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2022	Olympics	32	21	49	33	5	13	0	1	39.6	Chaotic Neutral
2022	Worlds	22	17	44	23	5	16	1	1	47.6	Chaotic Neutral
2023	Euros	16	8	19	6	6	14	1	0	59.9	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2023	4CC	15	7	25	14	8	17	1	0	55.3	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2023	Worlds	30	13	47	24	11	9	0	0	53	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2024	Euros	14	5	23	14	11	13	1	0	55.3	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2024	4CC	17	12	29	17	10	15	0	0	46.7	Chaotic Neutral
2024	Worlds	30	16	45	32	8	11	1	0	42.3	Chaotic Neutral
2025	Euros	18	9	29	13	9	15	2	0	59.7	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2025	4CC	17	4	28	15	13	12	1	0	62.5	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2025	Worlds	28	13	47	27	14	11	0	1	54.8	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2026	Euros	18	8	29	14	7	16	2	0	58.9	Tequila and Holy Water Needed
2026	4CC	21	17	27	20	5	10	1	1	31	Start The Car!
2026	Olympics	34	21	59	31	5	14	3	1	51.7	Tequila and Holy Water Needed

A couple of interesting takeaways here:

• While the men's free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina stood out for its utter chaos, the success rate for quadruple jumps was actually quite high. 21 of the 34 quads attempted in the short program received a GOE of 0.00 or higher, and 31 of the 59 quads attempted in the free skate received the same. There were fewer falls in both the short program and free skate than there were at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
• We should definitely get nervous whenever a skating competition is being held at the Taipei Arena. All four times the Four Continents Championships were held in Taipei, serious menning occurred.
• In terms of a low risk vs. reward ratio on quadruple jumps and a high number of falls, the most chaotic men's event at a senior ISU Championship or Olympics since the introduction of IJS was the 2012 Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs. This event also had the most falls in the free skate of any of the competitions studied. The least chaotic, by the same metrics, were this year's Four Continents Championships in Beijing.

And so the story of menning in figure skating continues to unfold. By the time the dust settles at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, perhaps the judges, skaters, and statisticians will all agree on one thing: the ice is still slippery, jumps are still extremely hard, and pressure is absolutely a thing. Until then, we'll keep crossing our fingers that everyone stays upright.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Bluesky, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering one of eight fascinating books highlighting the history of figure skating: https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.