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Why did the International Skating Union raise the minimum age for top-level skating competitions to 17?
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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.
In 2022, the International Skating Union (ISU) voted to raise the minimum age for participation in high-profile competitions, such as the Winter Olympic Games, from 15 to 17 years.12
This decision, which applies to speed skating, short-track speed skating, and all forms of figure skating and ice dance, was made with the explicit goal of protecting the physical health, mental health, and emotional well-being of the athletes. The resolution was passed by the ISU Congress with a voting margin of 100 in favor to 16 against.12