Ryan Stevens

Ryan Stevens is a Canadian figure-skating historian and author based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His Skate Guard blog has published research about the sport for more than a decade. He has contributed to Skating magazine and U.S. Figure Skating, and museums and broadcasters including CBC, NBC, and ITV have consulted him about skating history.

Stevens’s books combine statistical reference works with narrative history and biography. His Canadian almanac documents competitors and the institutions behind them, while separate histories cover the European and World Championships. Technical Merit investigates the development of jumps, and Sequins, Scandals & Salchows examines the 1980s. His biography of Barbara Ann Scott connects a championship career with the public meaning of sporting success in postwar Canada.

Stevens also presents his research to historical and sporting audiences. In January 2026, he gave the Historical Society of Ottawa an illustrated talk about Scott, discussing both her skating achievements and the pressures of national celebrity. His books use a similar range of evidence, moving between competition records, photographs, personal histories, and the cultural circumstances in which skaters performed.

Figure Skating Books

The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating: Stevens assembles a reference to Canadian figure skating through biographical entries, institutional history, and competition results. Skaters, coaches, judges, and other contributors share space with records of shows and governing organizations. The almanac preserves achievements beyond the most famous champions, providing a structured account of people and events whose combined work developed the sport across different regions and generations. Published in 2022.

Sequins, Scandals & Salchows: Figure Skating in the 1980s: Stevens examines figure skating in the 1980s, when leading competitors and performances reached a substantial popular audience. A chronological account moves beyond familiar highlights such as Torvill and Dean’s Boléro and the rivalry between Brian Boitano and Brian Orser. Competitions and touring shows are connected with wider events, including the Cold War, the AIDS crisis, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Published in 2024.

A Complete History of the European Figure Skating Championships: This reference follows the European Figure Skating Championships from their beginnings through a year-by-year chronology. Results, notable firsts, and historical facts accompany photographs of major competitors. Stevens documents the oldest international championship in the sport, combining a record of performances with information about the champions and changes that shaped the event across successive periods of European skating. Published in 2025.

A Complete History of the World Figure Skating Championships: Stevens records the World Figure Skating Championships from the nineteenth century onward in a chronological reference. Detailed results and notable firsts are accompanied by photographs of champions and historical context. The book brings competition records together across generations, allowing the development of the championships to be followed through changing participants, events, and the achievements that established new standards in the sport. Published in 2025.

Barbara Ann Scott: Queen of the Ice: Stevens traces Barbara Ann Scott’s rise to the 1948 Olympic championship and the extraordinary attention that followed. The biography considers the first Canadian woman to win Winter Olympic gold as both a skater and a national figure. Her success is placed within the aftermath of the Second World War, when sporting achievement offered a recovering country a widely shared source of pride. Published in 2025.

Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps: Stevens investigates the history of figure-skating jumps, concentrating on their origins and development rather than offering a technical instruction manual. Essays cover familiar jumps, paired elements, and the backflip, while records identify important firsts under modern judging. The account restores individual innovators and earlier experiments to the story of moves now treated as essential components of elite competition. Published in 2023.