During the Cold War (1947–89), judges tended to vote in East-West blocs, a practice that influenced the outcomes of some close competitions. The Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria often voted as a unit, while the United States, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, and Italy often showed support for athletes from their countries. However, not all the judging that was alleged to have been politically motivated was necessarily so; some preferences were simply a matter of taste. For instance, judges from the eastern bloc countries have long displayed a preference for classical music and balletic choreography over music and dance that contained more pop-cultural themes. Although this situation has moderated since the early 1990s, some voting along political and cultural lines continues.

The evolution of increasingly difficult jumps continues to be a hallmark of the sport. Triple jumps, for example, became significant for men and women in the 1980s, and quadruple jumps became increasingly more important for men in the 1990s. The triple axel, the most difficult triple jump, was first landed in competition by Canadian Vern Taylor at the 1978 World Championships in Ottawa. Eleven years later, at the world championships in Paris, Midori Ito of Japan became the first woman to complete the jump. Canadian Kurt Browning, the first person to complete a quadruple jump, landed a quad toe loop at the 1988 World Championships in Budapest. Elvis Stojko, also a Canadian, holds two records with respect to the quad; he was the first to land a quad in combination with a double toe loop (at the 1991 World Championships in Munich) and with a triple toe loop (at the 1997 Champions Series final in Munich). Timothy Goebel, an American, completed the first quad salchow in 1998 at the Junior Grand Prix finals. He also was the first to land three quads in one program, two quad salchows and one quad toe loop at the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston.

The 1990s were a tumultuous decade for figure skating. The elimination of compulsory figures from competition in 1990 gave an advantage to the more athletic freestyle skaters. Until the late 1980s, skaters who were good at figures could win competitions without having strong freestyle-skating techniques, since compulsory figures were the most important part of the sport. They constituted 60 percent of the total score at national and international championships held in the 1960s but had been reduced to 50 percent by 1968. The short program was introduced in 1973, and at that time figures were reduced to 40 percent of the score. Over the next 17 years, the ISU continued to reduce the weight of figures until they were eliminated completely from international competitions after the 1990 World Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Proponents of figures said they developed fine edge control, balance, and footwork, while critics thought them boring and mundane, compared with the athleticism and beauty of freestyle skating.

Another change occurred in the 1990s with the rules dividing professionals and amateurs. Since then the ISU has allowed amateurs, even at the lower levels of novice and junior, to earn money from endorsements and in ISU-sanctioned events. The ISU created a new system of eligibility: skaters who were “eligible” for ISU-sanctioned events, including worlds and the Olympics, and those who were not (“ineligible”). Ineligible skaters, buoyed by high television ratings, entered professional competitions with prize money and starred in their own professional ice shows.

Television became very significant for skating. Nowhere was that more evident than in 1994 when skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the kneecap by an advocate of Kerrigan’s competitor Tonya Harding at the U.S. nationals in Detroit. International interest in the situation translated into high television ratings at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The women’s short program was watched by millions of spectators as Harding competed against Kerrigan, the eventual Olympic silver-medal winner.

As figure skating entered the 21st century, the level of athleticism continued to rise, with more men performing quad jumps in both the short and long programs. Increasingly, the world-level women’s champions were expected to have triple-triple jump combinations (two consecutive triple jumps) in their long programs. However, the top skaters achieved success only by combining difficult jumps with artistic and elegant skating.

Some believe that, with the growing emphasis on jumps, good skating is declining. Compulsory figures provided excellent training in edge work and balance, and the difficulty of figures made it hard for skaters to move up quickly through the levels of skating. Today, very few skaters practice figures; a typical eligible skater can look awkward compared with the best ineligible performers, even though he or she may have superior jumping skills.

Although there have always been young competitors, the rule changes encouraged younger females to move up the ranks faster, since little girls can achieve triples quickly, thanks to their narrow hips and lightweight bodies. Lipinski, the youngest ever to win an Olympic gold medal, was only the beginning of this trend, which 16-year-old American Sarah Hughes continued by winning the Olympic gold medal at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Although American Michelle Kwan moved up to the senior level at age 12, she did not win her first world championship until 1996, when she was 16. “Older” skaters such as Kwan and Maria Butyrskaya (who at age 27 won a gold medal at the 1999 World Championships in Helsinki) now compete against younger skaters because the great equalizer, compulsory figures, is gone. Wider hips and heavier bodies are harder to control in the air, but what the older women may lack in athleticism they can often make up in elegance and overall skating and competitive experience.