Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How did E.W. Bushnellâs all-steel skate improve on earlier skates?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
figure skating
Katarina Witt, competing for East Germany, became the first woman since Norway's Sonja Henie (1928, 1932, and 1936) to win consecutive Olympic gold medals, doing so in 1984 and 1988.
In 1850, E.W. Bushnell of Philadelphia introduced the all-steel skate, which significantly improved upon earlier designs by replacing the cumbersome wooden footplate that had previously been used to fasten the metal blade to the skater's foot. Prior to this innovation, skates typically consisted of a metal runner attached to a wooden base, which was then secured to the shoe using leather thongs or straps.12