Kiss and cry

The area is usually located in the corner or end of the rink and is furnished with a bench or chairs for the skaters and coaches and monitors to display the competition results.

It is often elaborately decorated with flowers or some other backdrop for television shots and photos of the skaters as they react to their performance and scores.

Erkko came up with the name when visiting television technicians who were mapping the arena prior to the event wanted to know what the area was called.

[4] The term "kiss and cry" was widely used by the early 1990s, and is now officially a part of the International Skating Union Regulations.

[5] Showing the "kiss and cry" area has personalized the sport and has helped make figure skating more popular in televised Olympic competition.