The Rumors Are True

The ISU has indeed petitioned the IOC to add synchro to the roster of Olympic sports in 2018! Let's hope the IOC sees the same value that we do in the discipline.

Loving the hashtag #Whynotsynchro.

Bullying in Skating

Ann LeClair/Global News

I've seen a lot of bad behavior on the ice in my day, but I've never seen outright bullying among skaters. Maybe I grew up in a sheltered skating community full of reasonably well adjusted skaters and coaches, but I was appalled by this story about a 12-year-old in Quebec who was expelled from her figure skating school after reporting bullying by an older student.

Bullying is a big enough problem outside of the rink for many kids. I was horribly bullied in the sixth grade—a fellow 11-year-old (non-skating) student threatened to "cut and shave me with my skate blades." Fortunately, that threat was never acted on, and I soldiered on until things got remarkably better in seventh grade. But I know how it can sap your will to keep on keeping on toward your goals.

It makes no sense that a young student with considerable talent is punished because she was bullied, in a very dangerous way, I might add. We don't know the whole story, so it's too early to come down too hard on the coach or the offending skater, who is identified as being male and 15 with clinical "anger management" problems. The coach who expelled her is not talking. But Skate Canada is investigating the incident, and I suspect more will come to light.

Regardless of the findings, I hope that this young girl keeps skating, and finds a place to skate where she feels comfortable and confident.

Synchro in 2018???

Word on the street is that the ISU asked the IOC (Olympic Committee) to consider adding synchro to the Olympics in 2018! I can't confirm that this is true through the ISU, but a Finnish journalist (synchro is HUGE in Finland) made the claim on Twitter today. She links to an article that's entirely in Finnish that I can't read.

Getitcalled.com, the hub for synchro in the US, thinks it's true.

If so, how exciting!!!

90 Seconds of the Ladies of the Olympics

I came upon this video in my travels about social media—it's a 90-second montage of Olympic ladies figure skating produced by the Olympic Movement.



It's well-done from a production standpoint, and makes me feel all the Olympic feels, but I do have a few things to say about it.

First of all, where the heck are Kristi Yamaguchi and Dorothy Hamill? They are two of the most iconic Olympic ladies in figure skating history. Didn't see either in the video. Also, no Nancy Kerrigan, no Midori Ito, Chen Lu or Shizuka Arikawa. There were a few skaters in there I don't even recognize, and we only see the back of Debi Thomas' head, which seems a little random to me. There are plenty of shots of her facing the camera out there, why wasn't one used? I can only surmise that either someone who doesn't know the sport edited it, or there were permissions issues with the use of footage. If I assume the latter, then I guess I understand the omissions.

Secondly, the video that is used, shows some major flaws on the part of these skaters. They are subtle flaws to the casual observer, but to skaters like me (and to judges), they are glaring. Some of them bobble on spins and footwork, the lutzes are flutzed and some of the triples are blatantly under-rotated. Oddly, this doesn't annoy me (well, it did at first). Whether it was intentional or not, it shows that even (some of) the best are only human. Kind of a message that competitive athletes, and their hardcore fans, should keep in mind.

Wednesday Recap

This week's practice was not my best. I started out strong with some positive work on spins and some jumps that felt fantastic, but I hit a wall midway through practice. I started popping almost every jump, dragging my feet, and I could feel sheer exhaustion to my bones. It had been a long week prior to practice, so I'm not surprised.

Nonetheless, something positive did come out of practice—we started choreographing my Halloween show program, which I'm excited to say will be performed to the creeptastic Lana Del Ray cover of "Once Upon a Dream" from the movie, "Maleficent." It's a divergence from my traditional musical selections, so this should be a great learning experience.

Weir & Lipinski Promoted to Primetime

It's official people, Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski (and Terry Gannon) are now the official announcers/commentators for NBC's figure skating coverage.

I didn't dislike the previous team by any stretch, but I think WeirPinski (Weir-a?) will draw the viewers more these days. They've got that flashy, say/do-anything, reality TV style. Scott Hamilton is a class act in response (via the Trib), as I knew he would be:

"I was blessed to have that seat for seven Olympics," Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion, said in a text message.  "I always had the best interests of skating and the skaters at heart. I never wanted it to be about me, and I still don't. I wish them great success."

There's not much figure skating coverage on primetime TV though, so it may take a while for them to build steam and get more on the air.

Hall of Fame Nominations Open

World Figure Skating Museum & Hall of Fame

The US Figure Skating Hall of Fame has opened its nominations for this years inductees.

There are four categories: Outstanding Competitor, Outstanding Coach, and two Outstanding Contibutors (one for choreographers/costume designers/show skaters, and one for administrators/officials).

Anyone can nominate, so if you have a favorite skater who fits the criteria and you think deserves the recognition, go for it!

Here's a list of the Hall of Fame's existing members, which includes a lot of my (and your) faves. Would love to see some synchro skaters/teams on there someday...

Going for a World Record

Global News

The story of this 11-year-old's attempt to break the record for the fastest spin on ice is pretty rad. Her name is Olivia Oliver, and she's trying to beat 308 revolutions per minute. She's using the effort to raise money for a Polish foundation that grants wishes to terminally ill children.

She talks a little bit about her strategy on Global News:

I have to find the right spot on my blade to spin,” she said. “Once I find that spot, I know it and I squeeze. I pull myself all together as fast as I can and that makes me go much faster.

She's spot-on here—the key to a good spin is finding that sweet spot on the blade, about 3-4 inches below the toepick. If you hit it, especially on a camel spin, you know you're golden for at least 6 revolutions.

I literally have no clue how fast I can spin. Probably not remotely close to the record. I should try to figure it out for fun. But Olivia is super close to shattering the record right now, clocking in at 300 rpm, according to the news reports. The current record is held by a Russian skater, Natalia Kanounnikova, who set it in 2006 at Rockefeller Center.

Ice Theatre is the New Black

Ice Theatre of New York

Professional ice dance troupes are really gaining popularity these days. Much like their counterparts in the off-ice world, they are traveling dance companies that offer a unique experience that often challenges conventional dance--or in this case, ice dance.

Two troupes have been making headlines lately, one I know well and one I do not (but looks cool):

Ice Theatre of New York is kicking off it's home season, Ice: Dance 2014, on September 20 in Sun Valley, and taking it on the road to five other cities, including a Gala Benefit honoring Olympic and World Champ Tenley Albright in New York, October 16-18. All proceeds from that event go to the company's New Works and Young Artists series of education and outreach programs.

I've been an ITNY fan for a while now, and their performances are really fun to watch. It really takes you out of the box of traditional skating, and inspires me to try new ways of playing with my choreography and presentation (an aspect of skating that just about everyone needs more work on).

Here's a video of some of their work:



The other group that I do not know well, but nonetheless seems impressive is Le Patin Libre, a French Canadian troupe that recently got a promotional boost (at least among the figure skaters I follow on social media) with an article in London's Evening Standard. They're prepping for London's annual Dance Umbrella festival, where they will be one of the headliners. They were also featured in a BBC special, 'This is Contemporary Ice Skating.'

Here's a little bit of their stuff:

My New Fave Sport: Finger Skating

Finally, a way I can get in some skating practice while I'm sitting at my desk at work! (Yes, I know this was a thing of the 90s and I'm waaaay behind.)

I (and Buzzfeed) bring you, FINGER SKATING:

Wednesday Recap

My second week back on the ice for the regular season was a success. I started feeling so comfortable with combination jumps that I went for a three-jump combo—2toe-2toe-2loop—and very nearly nailed it (just touched a hand down at the very end). I am hopeful that re-mastering combos will help me find that snap I'm missing in the rotation on the bigger jumps.

I also reveled in the deep edges I could sustain with my freshly sharpened skates. So smooooooth.

Set my next goal of skating in a Halloween show October 18. I've decided on a musical selection, but I'm not revealing it yet, as I still have to see if I can cut it to the right time.

I'm also on the hunt for music for my competitive program. During last few years of my competitive singles career, I was into super into high-energy, fast-paced Broadway showtunes. But I'm sick to death of Broadway showtunes in my advanced age. I'd like to try something different. Maybe something slower. My husband suggested classic rock, but I don't think I can pull it off. Thoughts welcome!

Ouchies on Ice

Canadian champion Kaetlyn Osmond is out for the first part of the season after breaking her fibula on a practice session and undergoing surgery to repair it.

Ouch. Skating injuries can be rough. I've seen some nasty ones in my day. Most of the gruesome ones involve collisions between skaters on a session (blades are sharp and pointy, lest we forget). Gashes, slashes and stabbings are more common than one wants to admit...but don't let that scare you away from the sport. If you're vigilant and courteous during practice sessions, you will more than likely never have to contend with a blade to the head (or anywhere else).

Blunt force trauma, on the other hand, is usually self-inflicted, and harder to avoid. Tripping and falling is usually no one's fault but your own. The good news is, the majority of blunt force traumas on the ice sound worse than they are. The crack of a forehead on the ice, or the boom of a body colliding with the boards is loud (and unforgettable), but the boards are forgiving, and the lowered friction of the ice adds momentum to your trajectory (I'm so not a physics expert) and spreads out the impact, kind of like parkour. The ultimate irony of these injuries is that 99 percent of the time, they come from hesitation and fear when attempting maneuvers. Holding back is more dangerous than going for it. That's a good life lesson outside the rink...

And there is a third type of injury, distressingly common among younger skaters--the stress-fractures and growth plate cracks and other types of slow-burning injury that can wreck you for life. I don't know how to avoid those, other than to go easy on yourself?

Anyway, I hope Kaetlyn recovers in time to compete in the major events that occur in the winter, like Canadian Nationals and Worlds. Her skating is decent, and she has an entertaining style on ice. (Hope she rethinks her costume choices though for a little more coverage down under...)

Doping and Skating

When you think of doping, you think of baseball, football, and Lance Armstrong. Maybe swimming or track and field comes to mind too.

Do you think of figure skating? I don't. It isn't a sport usually rocked by doping scandals. (Can you imagine little girls doping? I don't want to.)

I thought about this today after I saw an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about how Olympic Bronze medalist Carolina Kostner is appearing before an Italian panel to address the allegation that she was complicit in helping her boyfriend dope up in London 2012. He's an Olympic champion race-walker (gold in Beijing 2008), and he was suspended from the London Games after he tested positive. Whether she really helped him or not, I have no clue. That would be kind of sucky if she did. (I'll always still love her skating though.)

Regardless of what the panel finds, I was curious, so I looked up some documented cases of doping in competitive figure skating. The only two I was able to verify in the short time I spent Googling was that of Russian pairs skaters Elena Berezhnaya in 2000 and Yuri Larionov in 2007.

Olympic champion Berezhnaya had her European Championship gold stripped that year (w/ partner Anton Sikharulidze) after she tested positive for pseudoephedrine she had taken in cold medicine. Larionov was banned from the sport for two years after he tested positive for Furosimide that he claimed he took for headaches caused by high blood pressure. Both drugs were on the ISU's list of banned substances at the respective times.

I'm no doctor, nor do I claim to know much about the drugs banned by the ISU, but I tend to think that drugs generally have a negative effect on skating. The last thing a skater needs before competition is to have a foggy head, feel dizzy or waffle too much in weight in a short period of time.

Summer Competitions

Cleveland.com

My summer has been dominated by work and toddler care, so I have not highlighted major figure skating events that happened this summer as I wanted to. But I'm going back and doing it now.

Gay Games
This week-long, Olympics-style competition was held in Cleveland this year in mid-August. It is held once every four years, is open to LGBTQ&F athletes, and features just about every sport. This slideshow from cleveland.com shows off some of the talent and fun costumes that were part of the figure skating competition.

Collegiate National Championships
I always feel a little pang of regret when I hear about this competition, having blown my chance to enter a fun event by not skating during college. The competition, held every August, is open to junior- and senior-level skaters enrolled full-time in college. It also offers financial aid for the winners of the senior singles events.

National Showcase 2014
Some skaters feel that standard competitive programs are stuffy and limiting to personal expression, and find an outlet for their need to express themselves on ice in showcase competition. Think props, acrobatics and spotlights. This annual national competition invites skaters from around the country to compete and entertain. It's a lot of fun and very creative.

Junior Grand Prix
This is underway now, and you can watch livestreams here. It's a seven-event series that began August 20 and goes through October 12, It's--as the name of the competition clearly indicates--is the junior version of the Grand Prix series, for skaters who are not competing at the elite level yet, but are darn close. You'll likely to see a few of the skating stars of tomorrow trying out their skilz on the international level.

We have the start of 2015 qualifying competitions to look forward to this fall, starting with North Atlantics in Lake Placid on October 5.

Back to the Wednesday Recap

This summer, it was extraordinarily hard for me to skate. Rinks slim down on sessions during the summer months, usually because it's not so profitable to remain open due to the hockey offseason. (Hockey rules the rinks out here, unfortunately, and the figure skating clubs have to fight for ice time.) There were no evening or early morning sessions from June-August, which are the lifeblood for working adult skaters like myself. So I found my goals thrown off by lack of access [shakes fist!].

But as of last night, the Tuesday night sessions are back, and I'm BACK IN THE GAME.

It was a productive session, despite the atrophy of my muscle memory over the summer. In the absence of on-ice practice in the last three months, I loaded up on yoga, with the hopes of increasing my flexibility. I'm not bendy and flexy by nature, and it has always been extremely difficult to get that leg up in those "look-at-my-crotch" moves that are so popular these days. Building core strength and flexibility has proven to be the best supplement to my skating at this time in my career, more so than endurance training.

Session highs: I started getting combinations back—nailed a 2toe/2toe on the first try. The feel of combos is different when you've been out of it for a long time. Takes a while to get the mechanics back, even though when I was younger I could whip them off without a thought.

Session lows: My lutzes are still flipping to the inside edge, and the snap that needs to happen to land the 2axel still isn't happening. I'm frustrated with the lack of progress on these two, but am chalking it up to not skating all summer...for now.

And I finally handed off my skates to be sharpened, after (gulp) almost two years. Granted, I only skated for a small portion of that time, having been red-shirted for much of it, and the blades were brand-spanking new when I started. But they were nevertheless dull and nicked and starting to affect some of my edgework. So I'm looking forward to a nice sharp blade next week!

Carolina Kostner Performs at Burning Man

As if I didn't love her enough! She (roller)skated to Ave Maria in honor of a friend who passed away...in the middle of the California desert at Burning Man.

See the video of her skate here.

It's a somewhat simplified version of her amazing short program from last season, and she rocks it. She's almost as amazing on roller blades as she is on ice. I wonder if she practiced?

I'm pretty good on roller skates, but it takes me a little while to get adjusted. The mechanics are similar, but edgework and push-pull with the surface is totally different, almost alien!

And for comparison's sake, here's the video of her chillingly flawless short program from Europeans.

Inspiring Books Challenge

I haven't been called out on Facebook yet, but I felt inspired to drum up a list of figure skating-related books that have either inspired or affected me throughout my skating journey:

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, by Joan Ryan
This one flat-out disturbed me, as I'm sure it disturbed many others. I never struggled with the psychological and physical abuse often associated with the sport, thankfully, so this was a bit of an eye-opener.

Inside Edge, by Christine Brennan 
Another book about the "dark side" of skating, specifically (LGIPB was primarily about gymnasts). I got to ask the author a question about it when she spoke at my school once. I don't even remember what I asked or what she said, I was kinda starstruck.

My Sergei, By Ekaterina Gordeeva (now Kulik)
Gordeeva & Grinkov's skating inspires me to this day, and I took Sergei's death pretty hard, having seen him skate live just the week before. It was hard to pick up this book and read it, but it really is a great love story.

Push Dick's Button, by Dick Button
Haven't gotten around to reading this one yet, but I love the title, I love Dick Button, and I love the Dick Button Drinking Game (he said "effervescence," take a shot!).

The Essential Figure Skater, by Bernie Schallehn, Patti Tashman and Nikki Schallehn
This is a great guide to the technical side of skating and the psychological components of it, written by some folks I know quite well!

The Passion to Skate, by Sandra Bezic and David Hayes
I used to look at the dazzling cover of this book more than actually read it, but it provides a great look into the artistic side of skating, that so often gets overlooked.

There are a few other books I need to add to this list, but I am completely blanking on their titles and authors, and surprisingly random Google searches for "that book about that figure skating girl" are turning up nothing. So there will be a part II to this post, once I'm able to get back to my parents' house and locate those books!