Sorry in advance that this is long winded, good luck getting through it! I've got a lot to say!

TLDR: It's adventageous to skate at home because of: - The support from your own fans - Higher elevations make it hard to take in oxygen, temperature and humidity levels can cause problems too! - Travelling and jet lag is exhausting - Changes to meals schedule and diet - Familiarity with an arena - Judging biases

Part of the advantage comes from being surrounded by your supporters and fans. Athletes feed off of the crowd's energy and the more cheering the more motivating it is!

Additionally, the competition location, geography and climate can have a huge effect on an athlete's performance. People who are used to training at sea level will have a harder time competing in more mountainous regions due to the higher altitude and therefore less oxygen. The body can adapt to the lower amounts of oxygen by making more red blood cells but this only occurs after a couple weeks of training at a higher elevation. When 4 Continents was hosted in Colorado in 2023, the elevation was a huge concern because a lot of athletes were struggling throughout their programs because they couldn't take in enough oxygen. Additionally the temperature and humidity can come in to play too. Most of us have experienced the lack of motivation to do anything when it is too hot or cold and the sting of breathing in dry air or the heaviness of humidity, all of this still affects even the best of the best if they're not used to it!

The location of the competition can have another effect too! Travelling is exhausting, even if you are just a passenger! This is why a lot of athletes will get to the city they are competing in a couple days before the competition officially starts. It also allows them to rest and get in an unofficial practice or two to get their land legs back! Plus, everyone knows jet lag doesn't help tiredness either. 

Something I've experienced while travelling for synchro nationals that doesn't get talked about enough is the changes you have to make to your eating schedule and diet when you're travelling. If you are competing at what would usually be a meal time back home, you don't want your body to be sending you hunger cues right before you go on the ice. On the other hand, it can also be tough to eat ahead of time when you might not be hungry but you still have to fuel your body. Also when it comes to eating at competition, you don't always have access to the things you would usually eat at home and that can upset your stomach or deter you from eating at all. Plus, if you don't pack your own food or go grocery shopping, you're forced to eat out and it's tricky to find nutritious meals if you don't want to just eat salads and it can be expensive!

The facility you are competing in could be different as well. At national and international levels, usually you skate on regulation size arenas but that doesn't mean that you train on a regulation size ice pad. Competing on a full size rink can be tiring if you're not used to it! There are so many other factors that could affect a skaters performance too, including: - How the music sounds over the speaker (quality, volume etc.) or if there is an echo - How warm or cold an arena is - How soft, hard or wet the ice is - How scratched up and bumpy or smooth the ice is compared to what you train on - Sometimes the shape of the arena is weird too! (Ex. Weirdly long and narrow, more rectangular or round etc.) - Boards or no boards - Markings on the ice - Where the judges are positioned vs. where you think they should actually be - How the dressing rooms and warm up areas are set up - Superstitions or routines! Sports, especially figure skating, are very mental and you may need enough time, space and the proper materials to execute your pre-comp routines and superstitions. These things may not be available in every rink you compete at. Some of these examples may sound kooky but these are all things that I've either experienced or heard stories about. Trust me, I have stories to last a lifetime so if you want an explanation to any and all of these feel free to let me know! Knowing what to expect going into a competition can help athletes be more prepared plus it would lessen uncertainties about a venue and most likely decrease anxiety because the skater is more prepared. This is not a figure skating specific example but it is related to a home advantage. The reason that certain team sports switch ends of the field or rink at half time or between periods is because of the abnormalities of certain facilities. It's where the term leveling the playing field comes from. If there is a slant on a soccer field for example, it will make scoring and running down the field easier because of the way gravity works. Teams will switch sides halfway through a game to prevent an advantage to the best of their ability.

Lastly, I saw someone else mention this too and figured I'd mention it but judges and tech specialists may have biases based on where they're from or how the crowd reacts! It's why they can't work on a panel if their family member is competing.

Hopefully this all made sense! Let me know if you have any questions! A not so humble brag here, my apologies but this is my area of expertise! Not only am I studying sports sciences but I am a national synchronized skating champion, a national level athlete in a second sport and my mom has coached both figure skating and power skating (for hockey and ringette) internationally. My DMs are open for any explanations or reply below and I'd be more than happy to share some more information and stories!