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How did artificial ice rinks allow skating to spread into warmer regions?
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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.
Artificial ice rinks transformed ice skating from a seasonal pastime into a major sport by enabling the creation of ice surfaces inside large, climate-controlled arenas.1
Before this innovation, skating was dependent on natural freezing conditions, limiting the activity to colder climates and winter months. The development of refrigerated ice technology—beginning with the Glaciarium in London in 1876—allowed for the maintenance of ice sheets regardless of the external temperature. By providing a consistent, year-round surface, these rinks allowed figure skating and other skating sports to expand into regions with warm climates where natural ice could not form.12