Bundesarchiv Bild 183-A1118-0002-002, Gabriele Seyfert, Eva Grozajova, Heidi Steiner

Blue Swords (german: Pokal der Blauen Schwerter) is an international

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

competition organized by the

Deutsche Eislauf-Union The German Ice Skating Union (german: Deutsche Eislauf-Union, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals canno ...

. It is usually held in Chemnitz,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

. Champions of the event win the "Blue Swords Trophy".

History

Blue Swords began as a senior international competition in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, and was held annually between 1961 and 1998. In 1985, it became a junior-level event. Since 1997, it is chosen in some years by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, N ...

to be part of the

ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

circuit. These are the only years when the event is still held. The German name for the event is "Pokal der Blauen Schwerter", referring to the blue swords trademark of

Meissen porcelain Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work an ...

. The Blue Sword Trophy is made of that porcelain.

Senior medalists

Men

Ladies

Pair skating

Ice dancing

Junior medalists

Men

Ladies

Pairs

Ice dancing

References

External links

Eislauf Union (German Skating Union)
{{in lang, de Figure skating competitions Figure skating in East Germany