Compulsory figures have not been a part of any international or most national competitions since 1990. The U.S. was one of the last skating federations to keep figures as a part of skills tests for the lower levels. The last time figures were contested at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships was in 1999. The U.S. created a separate track for figures instead of eliminating them as most other countries did, and finally voted to eliminate them in 1997. Canada also ended proficiency tests in figures in 1997. According to Loosemore, the U.S.' decision to replace the remaining figure proficiency test requirements for competition eligibility in the mid-1990s with moves in the field to test skating proficiency "killed figures as a separate competition discipline". Sports writer Randy Harvey of the "Los Angeles Times" predicted that the free skate would become the focus in international competitions. Hines, quoting Italian coach Carlo Fassi, predicted in 2006 that the elimination of figures would result in younger girls dominating the sport, a statement Hines called "prophetic".