Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is organized by the United States Figure Skating Association. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The first Skate America (officially called Norton Skate) was held in 1979 in Lake Placid, New York, and was the test event for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. It was incorporated into the Grand Prix Series in 1995, the year of the series' inception.
On September 27, 2001, the Heinz Frozen Foods Company, an affiliate of the H. J. Heinz Company, agreed to become an official sponsor of the USFSA. This gave them the right to rename the competition to Smart Ones Skate America, using their brand name of frozen foods.
Famous quotes containing the words skate and/or america:
“Wait, Kate! You skate at such a rate
You leave behind your skating mate.
Your splendid speed won’t you abate?
He’s lagging far behind you, Kate.”
—David Daiches (b. 1912)
“I have never been able to look upon America as young and vital but rather as prematurely old, as a fruit which rotted before it had a chance to ripen.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)