A winter sport in which athletes, alone, as a pair, or in a group, perform figures, jumps, and spins on ice skates on an ice rink. The performance is often accompanied by music and evaluated according to both technical and artistic criteria.
example
Bei den Olympischen Spielen hat sie im Eiskunstlauf eine Goldmedaille gewonnen.
At the Olympic Games, she won a gold medal in figure skating.
Usage tips
Word composition
The word is a clear compound made up of 'das Eis' (ice), 'die Kunst' (art), and 'der Lauf' (run/skating). So it literally describes an artistic kind of movement on ice.
EXAMPLE
Eiskunstlauf erfordert sowohl Athletik als auch künstlerischen Ausdruck.
Figure skating requires both athleticism and artistic expression.
Typical verbs
To express that someone practices this sport, German often uses the verb 'betreiben' (to practice/do) or the phrase 'Eiskunstlauf machen' (to do figure skating). An individual performance is often described with 'eine Kür laufen' (to skate a free program).
EXAMPLE
Meine Tochter betreibt seit fünf Jahren Eiskunstlauf.
My daughter has been doing figure skating for five years.
Parts of the word
The components 'Eis-' (ice) and '-lauf' (run/skating) are very productive in German, especially in sports. If you recognize them, you can also understand other words like 'Eisschnelllauf' (speed skating) or 'Dauerlauf' (endurance run) more easily.