Ice dancing was officially added as a medal event at the Winter Olympics in 1976, at the Innsbruck Games.

Quick Scoop: Key Facts

  • Ice dancing became a full Olympic medal sport in 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria.
  • The first Olympic ice dance champions were Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexandr Gorshkov of the Soviet Union.
  • Before 1976, ice dance appeared only at other major events like the World Figure Skating Championships (added there in 1952), not as an Olympic medal discipline.

In short: if you’re looking up “when was ice dancing added to the Olympics” for trivia, exams, or forum debates, the answer you want is 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

TL;DR: Ice dancing joined the Winter Olympics as a medal event in 1976 (Innsbruck) , with earlier decades limited to non-Olympic or demonstration and championship events.

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