Scoring

The ranking is based primarily on the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and the Grand Prix Final. The system also includes continental championships and, to preserve historical comparability, major professional competitions that played an important role particularly during the era when leading skaters often moved into professional competition after ending their amateur careers.

Before the introduction of the Grand Prix series in 1995, selected prestigious international events are also included, some of which later became part of the Grand Prix. This helps balance the differences between historical periods with different structures of the international competition calendar.

Team competitions carry three times the point value of the corresponding individual results and are included exclusively in the national rankings. They do not contribute to the individual rankings.