Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics from 6 nations competed. Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics Four figure skating events were contested at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, but they were held in October 1908, six months after most of the other Olympic events. The figure skating competition took place at the Prince's Skating Club, in the district of Knightsbridge. It was the first time that a winter sport had ever been included in the Olympic Games, sixteen years before the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix. The number of competitors was very low, with two events having only three entrants, guaranteeing a medal for
Summer Olympic Games the time. Numbers declined for the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, due in part to the lengthy transatlantic boat trip required of the European competitors, and the integration with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair, which again spread the event out over an extended period. In contrast with Paris 1900, the word "Olympic" was used for practically every contest, including those exclusively for school boys or for Irish-Americans. A series of smaller games were held in Athens in 1906. The IOC does not currently recognise these games as being official Olympic Games, although many historians do. The