As a former figure skater I can say that, as a child, I dreamed of going to the Olympics. I trained at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was in numerous figure skating shows with top skaters like Charlie Tickner, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton and Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner (Randy even used my lipstick at one show).
However, my journey in figure skating and what would have been a road to the Olympics is so very different than what the road looks like today. Over the years, figure skating has seen many changes and some, in my opinion, have not been for the best.
Years Ago
Now, I am not old by any means, but looking at the names of the stars I skated with you can see it wasn’t recent. My figure skating days were back in the ’70s and the image of figure skating was much different. Quadruple jumps were not even considered. Compulsory figures were required and I spent every morning at the rink practicing my figure eights.
Since then, quadruple jumps are now becoming the goal to reach for and learning to work your edges in figures is no longer required. Personally, I think the loss of compulsory figures have taken something away from the sport. When I look back to my years doing figures, I know that it taught me patience and determination. The precision of skating seems to be lost. You don’t see the intricate edgework that you used to see with Scott Hamilton.
The Loss of Artistry
Back when I was skating, and for many years after I stopped, my mother and I used to watch skaters during competitions. You could always tell the ones that needed work because they didn’t know what to do with their arms. I know this may sound odd, but as a skater back then, you had to put artistry into every move. Your arms just couldn’t sit by your side or move like a robot. As a skater, every moment and every part of your body had to flow.
Young skaters hadn’t developed enough maturity to encompass this artistry with their technical side and this held them back. They may have been a perfect 10 when it came to jumps and spins, but without that flow in their arms and movement, they just didn’t perform. However, this soon changed.
The Move to Jumps
Now, as I watch skating, it is all about the jumps. Now don’t get me wrong, as a skater I think it is amazing that these guys can do a jump with four rotations. But, skating is much more than just jumps and this has been lost. That artistry is gone. I watch skating now and it has become nothing more than moving from one side of the rink to do a jump and then back to the other. There is nothing in the middle.
Skating is a sport that combines the beauty and artistry of dance with the jumps and spins. It is a sport where the skater should become one with the ice and flow together in harmony. Unfortunately, I think in many ways, the changes that have occurred over the years may have hurt the sport and its true beauty more than it has improved it.
While the ultimate goal is to find yourself on the top of the podium at the Olympics and you have to do what the judges are looking for, I can only hope that one day the judges remember what skating used to be. Judge the jumps and the technical side but let’s bring back the artistry. While they are at it I think they need to bring the compulsory figures back too.
Deborah Braconnier is a former athlete and trained as a child at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for figure skating and is a huge fan of the Olympics. Working now as a freelance writer, she brings her love for sports together with her writing.