ISU — International Skating Union

What is the ISU?

The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international federation for skating on ice: figure skating and speed skating, the latter including short track. Article 1 of its Constitution, in the edition accepted by the 59th Ordinary Congress in June 2024, states that the ISU, “founded in 1892, is the exclusive international sport federation (IF) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)” for its sports, and that it “is a Swiss association having its own legal identity in accordance with Article 60 of the Swiss Civil Code”.^[1] The International Testing Agency reproduces the same self-description, calling the ISU the federation “administering sports in the Branches of Figure Skating and Speed Skating throughout the world.”^[2]

The Constitution divides the ISU into two branches. Under Article 6, paragraph 4, the Figure Skating Branch covers “Single and Pair Skating, Ice Dance and Synchronized Skating”, and the Speed Skating Branch covers “Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating”.^[1] Olympedia, an independent Olympic-history database, describes the ISU as governing all skating disciplines on ice.^[3]

What does the ISU govern?

The ISU writes the competition rules for each branch. Its Constitution and General Regulations sit alongside Special Regulations and Technical Rules per branch; the speed skating volume, accepted by the 59th Ordinary Congress in June 2024, applies to the Olympic Winter Games, ISU Championships and World Cup competitions, and sets track specifications, entry quotas and the procedure for recognising world records.^[1][13] Results, world standings and world records are published on the ISU’s skating site; see ISU Results & World Standings and records and ratification.

Anti-doping. The Constitution refers anti-doping matters to the “ISU Anti-Doping Rules and ISU Anti-Doping Procedures”.^[1] The International Testing Agency states that it “is supporting ISU with the delivery of their anti-doping program since July 2025”, with testing, therapeutic use exemptions, results management and the athlete biological passport among the delegated services.^[2] See anti-doping.

What it does not govern. The ISU’s remit is the two branches its Constitution names, and Olympedia’s description limits it to “skating disciplines on ice”.^[1][3] Skating on wheels is not among them; for roller and inline skating see World Skate.

When was the ISU founded and where is it based?

The ISU’s Constitution gives its founding year as 1892, and its list of Congresses begins “1st Scheveningen 1892”.^[1] Two independent sources agree on the year. Olympedia’s figure skating overview states that it “was established on 23 July 1892, the first true international governing body of any winter sport.”^[4] Encyclopaedia Britannica states that the ISU was “founded in the Netherlands in 1892” and “was created to oversee skating internationally.”^[5] The year and the country are therefore independently confirmed; Scheveningen rests on the Constitution’s list of Congresses, and the exact day on Olympedia alone.

Olympedia records the first world figure skating championship “being held in what is now St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), Russia, in 1896.”^[4] Renaming. No change of name is recorded in the sources retrieved.

Seat. Article 2 of the Constitution states that “The headquarters of the ISU shall be located in Switzerland at a place designated by the Council”, so the city of the headquarters is a Council decision. Article 1 separately fixes the legal seat: the ISU “is therefore under the jurisdiction of Switzerland and the location of its legal residence is Lausanne.”^[1]

How is the ISU recognised?

IOC. Recognition by the IOC is written into the ISU’s own Constitution, which calls it “the exclusive international sport federation (IF) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)” for figure skating and speed skating.^[1] The year of that recognition could not be established: the Constitution, Olympedia’s organisation page and its figure skating history were each opened, and none gives a date.^[3][4] Olympedia records that figure skating “was contested first in the Summer Games, at the London Olympics of 1908 and again in 1920 at Antwerp”, before the Winter Games began.^[4] At Milano Cortina 2026, held from 4 to 22 February, figure skating, speed skating and short track speed skating were all on the programme.^[14] See Winter Olympic Games.

WADA. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of Code signatories includes the International Skating Union under the heading “WOF members”.^[6]

ITA. The International Testing Agency lists the ISU as an international federation for winter sports among its partners, with a programme running since July 2025.^[2]

What does the ISU organise?

The Constitution’s championship programme covers World, European, Four Continents and Junior World Championships, with separate championships for short track and synchronized skating.^[1] The speed skating and short track world championships of 2026 have been held; the 2027 editions of all four are scheduled.

Speed skating and short track. The ISU Speed Skating World Championships were held in Heerenveen, Netherlands, from 5 to 8 March 2026, and the ISU Short Track World Championships in Montréal, Canada, from 13 to 15 March 2026.^[11][12] For 2027 the ISU calendar lists speed skating World Championships in Beijing (25–28 February) and the Short Track World Championships in Seoul (12–14 March).^[8][9] See World Single Distances Championships and World Short Track Championships.

Figure skating. The 2026–27 season opens with the Grand Prix series from late October, ending with the Grand Prix Final in Chongqing, China (10–13 December 2026). The calendar then lists the European Championships in Lausanne (27–31 January 2027), the Four Continents Championships in Astana (10–14 February) and the World Championships in Tampere, Finland (17–21 March 2027).^[7] The synchronized skating World Championships are scheduled for Nottingham, Great Britain, on 2–4 April 2027.^[10] See ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Who are its members?

The ISU’s members are national skating associations. The Constitution sets out the categories: full ISU Members, which are the national governing bodies; Provisional ISU Members, admitted for an initial period before full membership; and Special Clubs, which the Constitution limits to “the Internationaler Schlittschuh-Club Davos and Stockholms Allmänna Skridskoklubb only.”^[1] In the United States, figure skating is run by U.S. Figure Skating.

No member count published by the ISU itself could be retrieved. Encyclopaedia Britannica, in an undated entry, gives the union “more than 100 member organizations”; the figure is Britannica’s, not the ISU’s.^[5]

The members meet in the Congress, whose 59th Ordinary session in June 2024 accepted the current Constitution.^[1] Olympedia lists Kim Jae-Yeol of South Korea as President since 2022.^[3]