Celebrate Good Times of 2015

As the year nears an end, Team USA has a great slideshow of celebratory moments from elite American athletes in competition. Love that they included figure skating!

Happiest of holidays to all, and may 2016 (an Olympic year!!!) bring more epic shots like these.

New Hall-of-Famers

The latest class of champion figure skaters is being inducted into the Hall of Fame in Colorado.

Here's the impressive list of inductees:

• 2010 Olympic Champ Evan Lysacek
• 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist Sasha Cohen
• 2006 Olympic Silver Medalists Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto
• Legendary Coach Gustave Lussi

It's a great class.

P.S. How is it that Gustave Lussi isn't already in the Hall of Fame? He's a legend!

A Little Helping Hand for Nationals

Remember that little skater who rocked the ice with her 'Whip My Hair' routine a few years back? She's even better now, and she qualified for Nationals!

I've been following her skating career via YouTube and IceNetwork - I like watching her performances because her skating is edgier than your average Novice Lady. Her personality shines through in her skating, and I think it sets her apart from a lot of the automatons I see in the mid-levels these days.

She recently won silver at Pacific Coast Sectionals, which means she earned a spot at Nationals next month. Her family set up a gofundme to help defray some of the expenses.

Skating is an expensive sport, and I'm sure everyone doing it could use a little financial help. I certainly can't give to everyone (gotta support my own skating addiction too, ya know). And I've written before about the reservations I have about crowd-funding figure skating careers. I still think it's a slippery slope.

But this time I can't help it. I pledged a small amount. Maybe it's because I identified with her last year when she just missed Nationals by one spot (me too, I know exactly what that feels like!!!). Maybe I'm hoping the good karma will give me a little boost this upcoming Adult season. And maybe it just makes me feel good to help someone, even in a small way.

Wishing her the best at Nationals! Here's her awesome short program from sectionals:

How many teddy bears can fill an ice rink?

The answer is 28,815. That's almost 30,000 glorious balls of plush bouncing and flouncing on the ice.

Well, at least that's the most that have I've ever seen thrown in a rink. And by the looks of it, it appears that there is room for plenty more in Calgary after the Calgary Hitmen Hockey Club's annual Teddy Bear Toss. Here's the video, worth a watch:



Having been a sweeper once for a competition, I would be a little overwhelmed by this volume of teddy bears. But with the help of hundreds of volunteers and a few trucks, it seems manageable.

I love the idea of the charity here. I know a lot of elite-level figure skaters donate their tossies to charities. Though as many of you know, the tossies I got last year included nips of alcohol, which I very ungenerously did not donate...

An Axel at 80

If I make it to 80, I better still be able to do an axel.

Richard Dwyer, who turned 80 recently, can. His 65-year career in professional figure skating made the Guinness Book of World Records.

Happy 80th Birthday to Richard Dwyer!FYI I took this video less than 3 weeks ago :-)#foreveryoung
Posted by Florentine Houdiniere on Thursday, November 19, 2015

Outdoor Skating Can Be Awesome

A Canadian figure skater—three-time Canadian bronze medalist Elizabeth Putnam—skated on a pristine frozen lake in the mountains of British Columbia, and some dudes filmed her from a helicopter. The resulting footage is amazing!

Remainder of Trophee Bompard Cancelled

The second half of the competition, which was to take place on Saturday, was cancelled following the attacks in Paris Friday. Icenetwork has a nice piece on how it affected the skaters.

This is not the first time a major skating event has been cancelled following a tragic circumstance, and it probably will not be the last. In the skating world, we tend to forget the larger world outside of us - for many of us, that's why we skate in the first place, because it gives us an outlet to escape. And when the real world interferes with the skating world, it's all the more jarring. 

What is interesting is how the ISU will deal with the results of the competition. Will it be counted toward the Grand Prix final? Is it fair to count only short program scores? We shall see. 

Boitano, Yamaguchi, Eldredge and Other Famous Champions Go Undercover

My favorite skaters in the world went incognito to Bryant Park and pretended to be beginners learning to skate. Then they broke character and surprised the heck out of the people they were skating with and it all aired on Good Morning America. What I wouldn't have given to be there!

A Bit of Levity

After the sad news of Debi Thomas' circumstances, I feel the figure skating world (at least MY figure skating world) could use a bit of a laugh.

The first bit is presented without comment:

The second bit, well that speaks for itself too:

Debi Thomas' Rock Bottom

The former Olympian, World Champion and surgeon is going through some hard times these days. Broke and unemployed, she seems to have some emotional trouble as well, and can't get it together.

She is to be featured on the OWN show "Iyanla: Fix My Life" this week. You can watch a clip from the upcoming show here.

I hope that the show helps her, and that she finds a path to a better life. She had some serious talent out there on the ice back in the day. She used to choreograph her own competitive programs, unlike most skaters. I hope maybe she can find the motivation to re-choreograph her life in the present.

The show airs tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on OWN.

Here's one of my favorite performances of hers - the short program at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, which had her in 1st place going into the long.

Watch Finlandia Trophy Online

Thanks to modern technology, we can watch the competition live (and for free)! It's being streamed here.

Synchro is on tonight!

Tenley Albright Inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame

Tenley Albright/Wikimedia Commons

Last week, the 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist, retired surgeon and director of the nonprofit MIT Collaborative Initiatives was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY. The Boston Globe did a great piece on her two weeks ago, ahead of the induction on October 3.

I used to have a poster of Tenley skating on my wall when I was a kid. I wanted to be just like her -- an Olympic gold medalist AND a doctor. Obviously neither of those things happened, and I'm cool with that, but she continues to be a role model for me. What an amazing lady.

She was the first American woman ever to win the Olympic gold in women's figure skating, became a surgeon at a time when being a female doctor was rather rare (and perhaps frowned on), and continues her work today as an octogenarian advancing progress in health and medicine-related public policy. Oh and did I mention she overcame polio as a child? She even still skates a little these days.

I wonder if I still have that old poster of her somewhere. Thinking of putting it up on my daughter's bedroom wall!

Smile, Baby!

A "fake smile" attempt

I don't smile when I skate. It's one of my flaws on the ice, I think. When I concentrate really hard (and add some nerves on top of that), I often "forget" to do things like smiling. And breathing.

I had a skating friend who rocked what she liked to call "fake smile." It was dazzling. She was so good at going out there with a giant smile plastered to her face that stuck there even if she fell. I'm working on my fake smile. I think I made headway on it last season. At least the photos show evidence of it.

I was reminded to work on my smile when I saw this piece on the Rockettes blog: "7 Ways to Improve Your Facial Expressions During a Performance." Some of the advice is practical, like "lift your eyebrows," and "relax your jaw and tongue." But some of it is more emotional, which is harder to practice, but more effective if employed, I think:

When the emotion comes from inside you, your outward expression will be a natural one. Get your whole face involved, not just your mouth. Let it match the energy of the music and the movement, allowing your enthusiasm for dance shine through.

Replace "dance" with "skating" and we're on to something.

Holy Crap, a Quad Axel

I'm sure folks have attempted one before, but I'd never seen it. Now I've seen it all. A quad axel attempt by Artur Dmitrev Jr.

It's not even close, but it's close, you know what I'm saying? Will we be seeing quad axel attempts in competition? I've seen quad salchows, quad toeloops, quad loops and quad lutzes. It's only a matter of time, I'm guessing. (Also, why does no one do a quad flip?)

This is Artur Dmitrev junior

A video posted by Ari Zakarian (@arizakarian) on Oct 6, 2015 at 5:54am PDT

Carolina Kostner Can Skate Again

She has been cleared to compete in 2016 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

According to the CAS press release, the Italian skater and Olympic bronze medalist was disqualified from competition for lying to a doping control officer in 2012 about the whereabouts of her then-boyfriend, Olympic race-walker Alex Schwazer, when they came a-knocking at her door during an investigation of Schwazer's drug use while competing at the London Games.

A little white lie cost her a year of skating. Unfortunate, but glad to see her allowed back into the fold. The question is, will she compete?

Single Jumps

Single jumps get the shaft in figure skating. For those with Olympic stars in their eyes, singles are just a stepping stone to greater revolution, and we never see them again except maybe on a warm up, or if you screw up and pop a jump in competition.

But if you don't learn your single jumps properly, you're going to hit some major walls (and sometimes the rink boards) when you try to up the technical ante.

This video has some great slow-mo footage of technically stellar single jumps, to give you an idea of how they should look if you want to do triples, or even quads some day.

Figure skating jumps:
Posted by Skating Moments on Thursday, July 2, 2015

A Real Headache

U.S. bronze medalist Josh Farris is out of the Grand Prix circuit this year because of a concussion he suffered while attempting a quad in practice.

I love Josh's skating. One of the things that struck me most about him last year was that he managed to rack up the points and do reasonably well, even without a quad. But now no one, including himself, knows when he'll be back. I hope soon, but I absolutely understand the need to fully heal.

With all the news about the lasting effects of concussions in NFL players, one can't help but wonder if figure skating is shaping up to follow suit. There are at least 3 elite level skaters who are sidelined by concussions right now, and as we all saw up close last year with Yusuru Hanyu and Yan Han during the Grand Prix, knocks to the head will seriously mess you up. How many knocks to the head does it take to make it a thing?

Farris' WD brought up a great point for me that has been irking me about the sport for a while now. The obsession with upping the difficulty levels, particularly in the men's and pairs' events, is becoming somewhat dangerous. Falling on a quad is a lot different than falling on a single, double or even triple jump. Smacking your head on the ice while doing a quad, well you just don't want to do that (that's what Farris did, apparently).

But if you're a dude and you don't have a quad in your program, you're automatically at a huge disadvantage. A quad toe-loop, which is the easiest of the quads, is worth 10.3 points, baseline. For reference, a triple toe loop is worth 4.1. I may be crappy at math, but that's a little more than a six-point difference. It's even a stark difference compared to a triple axel, which clocks in at 8.5 points. (A quad axel, which has never been attempted, is worth a whopping 15 points, which is almost as much as the technical value of my entire program, if we're being honest.)

So elite-level male skaters are under pressure to nail these high-scoring maneuvers that are pretty rough on the body, and frankly dangerous. (See Jeremy Abbot's disastrous fall at the Sochi Olympics for an idea of how much this could hurt.) Sounds like a recipe for...well, you fill in the correct word here.

Petition Circulates to ISU over French Skaters

Here's an interesting hubbub in the skating world that rarely gets attention.

Finding the right pairs or dance partner is no easy feat. And oftentimes, at the elite level, the right pairs partner for you is someone who is native to another country. And together, the two of you must jump through bureaucratic hoops in addition to jumping on the ice in order to be eligible to compete in ISU events.

In this case, the French Ice Sports Federation is being bajiggity about letting Bruno Massot and two other French skaters team-up and compete for other countries with their respective partners. I don't understand enough of the politics surrounding these particular cases, and the change.org petition is not very well-worded, but you will get the idea. It seems like France doesn't want to let go of its good skaters? I don't blame them.

As a journalist, I don't sign petitions as a general rule. But I won't deny that a Bruno Massot/Aliona Savchenko team-up would be formidable on the competitive circuit.

Hockey Players Give Figure Skating a Try

As more an more hockey teams embrace basic figure skating as a valid supplemental training activity, the less I find myself laughing at goofy hockey players.

Here are some NHL rookies getting their figure skating on in a video from the NHL Players Association that I think is a great demonstration of how figure skating maneuvers can help improve hockey skills. It's not about jumps and spins at all, but about the much more important elements of basic footwork.

The rookies trying their hand at figure skating #NHLPARookieShowcase
Posted by NHLPA on Tuesday, September 1, 2015

One Giant Leap for Synchro

The newly released schedule for the Grand Prix Final has synchro in the mix!

This is great news for synchro fans. I think any opportunity for synchro to get exposure alongside the more media-friendly disciplines of the sport in an ISU-sanctioned event is one step closer to getting synchro in the Olympics.

Black Ice on 1932 Rink for Figure Championships

The ice is ready for the World Figure Championship & Figure Festival this week (Aug 28 and 29) in Lake Placid. The 1932 rink is the site of the competition, and they've turned it black to make it ideal for tracing figures on the ice. It looks so cool! Almost makes me want to dig out my old scribe. Almost.

It's too bad they got rid of the Lussi Rink, but I understand why they did. Figures are making a comeback though...

I won't be part of that comeback, but I fully support others behind it!

Posted by World Figure Championship & Figure Festival on Sunday, August 23, 2015

I thought they retired?

Apparently I haven't been as on top of figure skating news as I thought I was. Because I totally thought Mirai Nigasu and World Pair Champs Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford were planning to retire after last season. That couldn't be farther from the truth, I've recently learned. 

Duhamel and Radford are not only not retiring, they're planning to seriously up the ante by attempting the world's first throw quad lutz. That's bonkers. I can't wait to see them try it in competition. They are going to be unbeatable points-wise, if they can pull it off.

Mirai Nagasu is apparently working on her 3axel. See video here, via The Skating Lesson. It looks...alright. She's still under-rotated by about a half, but if she can get it by the time the competitive season starts (we're running out of summer...) she might get the little boost she needs to get back into medal contention.

I didn't think Adelina Sotnikova had retired,  but I almost forgot she existed until I saw the headline that she was returning. It will be interesting to see how she does this year, after taking off all of last year to nurse an injury. Frankly, I think she'll be crushed by Tuktamysheva and Radionova, but that's just one skater's opinion. 

Kristi Yamaguchi Launches Athletic Clothing Brand

Wikimedia Commons

She's a champion. She's trendy. And she's a mom. That's a great recipe for a cool fashion line, if you ask me. The 1992 Olympic champ has come out with a line of comfy-looking activewear called Tsu.ya.

It is being sold in select stores around the country and part of the proceeds of the line will go to Kristi's reading charity, the Always Dream Foundation.

I love the Keyhole Tee. It's not practical for skating, but it looks cool. The Skylar Sports Tee though is definitely something I would wear on the ice, or to yoga class.

Rebel on Ice

David W. Carmichael / Wikimedia

Last week ESPN aired a short documentary on three-time World Silver Medalist and five-time European Champion Surya Bonaly. 'Rebel on Ice' was terrific for a number of reasons, but I'm most interested in the fact that a piece of mainstream media finally acknowledged the extreme lack of diversity in figure skating. It's directed by Retta of 'Parks and Recreation' fame, and produced by Eva Longoria as part of a series on ESPN. You can watch it here.

Surya Bonaly is one of the most talented athletes the sport has ever seen. Watching her back in the 90s was spellbinding. She had flawless ebony skin, and a chiseled, muscular body that lightly bounced and flew across the ice like she was skating on the moon. And she was tough as nails out there on the ice, turning in powerful, jump-filled performances.

But she got shafted by the judges on the world stage time after time, who derisively called her a "gymnast on ice." She never got that coveted World Championship, and had to play second fiddle three times. She probably would have won at least one of them if they were using IJS when she competed. She definitely should have won Worlds in 1994. No offense to Japan's Yuka Sato, but Bonaly definitely out-skated her. And I don't begrudge Bonaly one bit for taking off that medal during the ceremony. I wouldn't have had the stones to do that if I'd been in her position, but I absolutely understand why she did it. And I also understand why she said f--- it at the end of her career and did the illegal backflip in her long program at the 1998 Nagano games. After putting in so much hard work to be held back by bias so wildly out of your control...well she's a goddamned winner and hero in my book for doing what she did. It should be noted of course that despite the barriers, she managed to eek out a very impressive resume (FIVE European Championships, people!).

Bonaly makes a great point in 'Rebel on Ice.' "I don't know if race made it more difficult," she said of her skating. "But it definitely made me stronger." In other words, she knew she had to work harder to prove she deserved success more than her competitors.

Which brings me back to the original point of this post. There is a gaping diversity gap in skating. A lot of that has to directly to do with income inequality I'm sure--little white girls more often have rich parents who can afford the cost of training at a high level, at least in America. (Little white boys too, but rampant homophobia is largely to blame for the lower numbers of male skaters.) But besides that, we can't deny this history of the way black female skaters are judged, which is discouraging at best.

Mae Berenice Meite of France is a modern example. She is a skater very much like Surya Bonaly--powerfully built and she's got a skating style that is wholly different from the little Russian twigs and the American ice princesses. The judges and commentators constantly criticize an apparent "lack" of artistry (as they did with Bonaly), and in my opinion, use it as an excuse to score her lower than she deserves throughout the competitive season. I don't think Meite is as good as Bonaly was, but she hasn't really gotten the chance to show that she could be now, has she?

If there wasn't a lack of diversity and some degree of racism, how can we explain the fact that I can count on one hand the number of black skaters who have achieved some measure of success on the World stage: Tai Babilonia, Debi Thomas, Surya Bonaly, Mae Berenice Meite and Robin Zsolkowy? And the first black skater ever to be nominated to the Hall of Fame, Mabel Fairbanks, wasn't even allowed to compete because of her color. What does that say about the sport? There's a great piece on New Republic that goes into more historical detail.

How do we fill the gap? With more programs like Figure Skating in Harlem and with more scrutiny of IJS judging for starters. And more little girls seeing bigger girls like them achieving success in the skating world. We all have our own responsibility as well within the skating community to foster an open-minded and welcoming atmosphere.

Ice Bullies

I've posted about ice etiquette before, but it's something skaters deal with continually, and I've been meaning to talk about it again. It's a hard subject to stay positive about, is often controversial and sometimes you just need to rant.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk in the adult skating community about mistreatment on skating sessions. While adult skating has blossomed in recent years, adults seeking to skate still face discrimination at local rinks. The reality is that adults are more often than not on the lower end of the skill spectrum, and many are just beginners. Often as a result, the younger, higher level skaters populating the sessions have lowered patience for adults on the ice--and by extension, so do their coaches, parents and club/rink managers. There are simply not enough adult skaters in any given community to support an all-adult session (some are lucky in this, I am not), and the younger skaters are the moneymakers, so adults get no priority. Some folks in the adult community have complained of being unfairly barred from sessions, some have complained of abuse by young skaters and their parents, and some have actually been injured on sessions by aggressive skaters.

The whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth, for two reasons. The first is that I was once one of those haughty little girls who had little patience or respect for the adult skaters with whom I shared the ice. It seemed like they were always. in. my. way. But I certainly never victimized anyone. I did huff and puff and silently curse during moments of frustration, but I think I knew better than to take it further than that. I think under the momentary frustration I must have realized that just because you can do double axels and triples doesn't mean you have any greater right on the ice than someone who is trying to master a waltz jump or a scratch spin. We all pay the same fee to get on the ice. I certainly fully understand that now and regret I even had private thoughts disparaging other skaters, adult or otherwise.

The second reason is that it brings the skating experience to a negative place. Skating is not fun when you're already unsure of your footing as a beginner, and also constantly in fear of getting run over by a little ice queen. And there is no help for it. You can't yell at a young kid for being a bitch on the ice without inciting the wrath of a parent or coach. You end up being the bad guy for standing up for yourself. Some adult skaters have admitted that they were threatened by crazy parents for daring to tell their kid to take it easy on the ice before she hurt another skater. If my kid ever acted like some of the jerks at the rink I skate at, I would pull her off the ice immediately and apologize to the person she offended.

Which leads me to the infuriating experience I endured at a practice session this week. I am not a typical adult skater. I am high level, and I am aggressive on the ice--not bitchy aggressive, but I will look you in the eye and be vocal if necessary to avoid incident when I have the right of way, and I am not afraid of self-righteous little girls (hello, I have a two-year-old). I also have never felt mistreated by a rink or club. Nonetheless, I find myself constantly frustrated by the vibe at one of my home rinks. I share the ice with a few highly aggressive girls with terrible attitudes that pretty much terrorize other skaters (they've been complained about by some, to no avail). I had interactions yesterday with two of them, one of whom dangerously cut me off (could have gotten a blade to the face if I hadn't relented), and the other of whom scoffed at me when I accidentally got in her way. Both of these incidents occurred while I was in a lesson and they were not. In the heat of the moment, all I could do to assert my right was to look them both straight in the eye with a very mom-like "seriously, did you just act like that?" Both stayed the heck away from me afterward, so I think it had some effect.

Like many things in life, it all seemed very animalistic. Like one ape or wolf asserting its dominance over another, beating its chest and growling. I'm sorry it has to be that way. I'd like to coexist peacefully, but constantly find myself needing to take a stand to defend my right to be on the ice that I paid for. And then sometimes you have to remember that they're children with a lot to learn who probably have emotionally abusive parents, and you just have to let it go.

So the question becomes for other adult skaters, how do you defend your right to be on the ice? Well, I'm still trying to figure that one out...In the meantime, I wish all my fellow adult skaters the best in dealing with these egregious breaches of ice etiquette.

Beijing 2022

It's back to Beijing for the Olympics in 8 years, except this time its for the Winter Games, something China has never before hosted.

Given all the bad juju going on around the USOC retracting their Boston 2024 Summer Games bid, Sochi's $50 billion tab for Winter 2012, and the dearth of viable bids for the Olympics in general due to the enormous economic toll it seems to take (where it once brought prosperity), the fanfare over announcement of Beijing is somewhat dampened.

But I'm still excited, because OLYMPICS.

RIP Aja Zanova

The two-time World Champion and pioneer for women's figure skating has died at the age of 84. She had a remarkable skating story, including a daring escape from an oppressive Czechoslovakian government after she won the 1950 World Championships at age 18. She eventually moved to New York, and only returned to her native Prague 40 years later.

She was the first women to do a 2lutz in competition, and she invented the back camel layover position that is a big scorer in today's system. She toured with the Ice Capades, Ice Follies and ran Wollman Rink.

Here's a wonderful tribute video compiled by Ice Theater of New York to honor her in 2005.

Special Olympics World Games Have Started

The Games are on, now through August 2, in Los Angeles. Best of luck to all athletes!

These are the summer games though, so you won't see any figure skating. You'll have to wait until 2017 when the Special Olympics World Winter Games come to Austria.

I never knew much about Special Olympics figure skating programs, as they are unfortunately few and far between. I do know however, that skating can be a marvelous therapeutic experience for anyone, exercising both the body and mind and promoting sensory integration and confidence.

A quick search produced some info on programs supported by USFS, and on the ISI's Special Skater program. Looks like there is a lot of support for it, and by the looks of the photos on the Austria 2017 page, it seems like a fantastic competition.

It's Raining Men!

Pierre-Yves Beaudouin / Wikimedia Commons

Hallelujah! Men are finally allowed to compete at the elite level of synchronized swimming! They are eligible for the first time at the World Aquatics Championships in Russia happening this week.

For once, skating can lead by example here...sort of. Men can be part of synchro teams and compete at the senior level. They don't really very often, but they can.

However I think male synchronized swimmers will get to the Olympics before synchronized skaters of any gender will...

The Glove to End All Gloves

The Skating Glove, by AptaFitted

Gloves are a huge part of skating. HUGE. You don't always see skaters wearing them in televised competitions, or at least you may not be able to tell they're wearing them - with the rise of blade grabbing maneuvers in the last decade, slim, skin-colored gloves have been all the rage to protect precious digits from blade slices. In fact, it can be dangerous not to wear gloves, and most, if not all skaters wear them during practices at all times.

I always felt naked without my gloves on. It's a weird, disconcerting feeling that's irksome enough that it could throw off my concentration during a show or competition, and psyche me out a bit. But when I competed, skaters just didn't wear gloves during performances. It was frowned upon, though I can't recall why. But one of the first things I did when I decided to compete again was purchase a pair of competition gloves, and I've not looked back. At this point in my life, anything that would help to keep me from having an anxiety attack during a competition is worth it, judges be damned.

So when I saw this Kickstarter for the AptaFitted skating glove, I had to look into it. I'm not sure I need as much coverage and structure as it purports to offer, but I think it's a great idea and I'm all for supporting it.

It's World Jump Day!

Well, not really. World Jump Day was an art installation/hoax from 2006, whose campaign fooled people into thinking 600 million people jumping simultaneously across the globe would somehow shift the earth's orbit and eliminate global warming. Interesting concept, if improbable, yet it has become something of a cause day for environmentalists hoping to draw attention to global warming.

I'm not an environmentalist per se, but I do believe in showing our planet some love. So in honor of World Jump Day, here is video of me jumping (and falling on my butt).

A for effort! #wipeout #figureskating #imfinedontworry

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Jul 19, 2015 at 3:51pm PDT

Carol Heiss Jenkins Last Female Athlete to Be Honored w/ NYC Ticker Tape Parade

New York World-Telegram

Wait, WHAT?

The World Cup champs are going to be honored with the prestigious parade Friday, and everyone is suddenly realizing that no female athlete/athletic team has been giving a parade in NYC since 1960, when Olympic Champion Carol Heiss Jenkins got one.

The championship game the US women played Sunday night against Japan got the highest ratings of any televised sport since 2010.

I hear people complain that women's sports aren't as exciting to watch as men's sports...and on the whole, professional women's sports doesn't rake in the $$ like professional male sports.

But for pete's sake, did we have to deny female athletes a ticker tape parade for 50 plus years???

Time to Re-Up that Membership

Every June 30, your year-long membership in US Figure Skating will expire. If you want to stay a member in good standing and compete in qualifying competitions, you must renew your membership, pay your dues and in most cases, declare your skating club (the skating club determines where you compete in qualifying comps). Without a USFS membership, you're like a skate without a blade out there.

Like the flawlessly responsible adult skater that I am not am, I took care of this weeks ago. There was a glitch in the USFS system though that gave me a bit of a heart attack in the process. They sent me (and probably a number of other skaters) erroneous emails that said I still had yet to renew after I renewed. They later sent a very nice email apologizing for the glitch and confirming that indeed, I had renewed and repaid. Phew!

I'm continuing to skate under the banner of the Skating Club of New York, where I found a welcoming home a few years back. It's one of the oldest skating clubs in the country (celebrated 150 years last year), has produced three Olympic champions (Carol Heiss Jenkins, Dorothy Hamill and Sarah Hughes) and continues to produce top talent in the figure skating world (Adam Rippon, Maia Shibutani, Samantha Cesario). I'm proud to be a member and hope I can make 'em look good when I compete this year!

I think it used to matter much more prior to IJS what skating club you belonged to, specifically in terms of how you were judged on the ice. Your skating club was your banner, your flag, your "country" within a country. And the more prestigious the club, the more favors may be directed your way by judges with loyalties. At least, that was the going theory.

Throughout my youth, I always heard whispers from coaches and parents about the need to join a "prestigious" skating club. There's at least one thusly perceived club in every state/region. For those of us growing up and skating in upstate New York, that meant joining SCNY or SC of Rockland. In Massachusetts, you'd join Skating Club of Boston. In California it was All Year FSC in LA. Dupage FSC in the Midwest, Philadelphia SC and Humane Society, Washington FSC. I could go on.

As a young skater, I chose to keep the now-defunct Achilles Figure Skating Club as my home club. It was a skating community I knew and loved, and it always made me feel satisfyingly rebellious in the competitive arena, winning despite bearing the mark of a smaller skating club maybe no one had ever heard of.

As an adult, I moved to New York. I hadn't skated for years, but I met an SCNY officer who went very much out of her way to inspire and help me get back into it. I had to join SCNY to compete with Gotham City Synchro, and while initially felt like I was betraying my upstate origins, I grew to feel confident with the change in club, meeting and making good friends within the SCNY community. And even though I've left the city since, I still feel very connected to the SCNY folks - thus the renewal of my membership.

A remarkable number of young skaters at the rinks I use upstate are members of "prestigious" clubs. But it's pretty clear they do it for the prestige rather than the community. That all makes me a little sad. They're missing out on a really cool and rewarding part of skating.

Tonya & Nancy: The Musical

Andrew Parodi/Wikimedia Commons

Could it be? Is it so?

A NANCY AND TONYA MUSICAL?

Playbill says it's true, and actresses Tracy McDowell and Jenna Leigh Green will hit the stage as the star-crossed figure skaters in Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera at the New York Theater Festival.

Here's the production description: 

"Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera is a dark musical comedy, with heart, about the feud between Olympic figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, with a score in the style of Queen meets the Trans-Siberian Orchestra."

I would indeed pay to see this. Who's with me?

TOI Nationals Are Happening

Hundreds of Theater on Ice skaters are competing on Cape Cod this weekend at TOI Nationals. It's going to be an exciting, dramatic and fun competition!

I often wish I could participate in this growing discipline of the sport, but no one is really doing much of it in my neck of the woods. My coach organizes some stuff for ISI competitions, but there's no dedicated team who would seek to do Nationals.

I suppose I could start something...but who am I kidding?

OITNB's Uzo Aduba May Skate Again

Huntington Theater Company

Actress Uzo Aduba competed in figure skating for ten years during her adolescence. They say the sport never leaves you, so it makes total sense to hear that she told a reporter she'd like to take it up again. Go girl! Hope I see you at a rink sometime!

And hopefully we'll see her flash more of her skating moves on the show...

The 1964 Olympic Pairs Medal Mystery

I just love this story, and love that a reporter's investigation enabled a long-overdue change to IOC records. An excellent job by Amy Rosewater.

I'd never heard of Olympic bronze medalists Ron and Vivian Joseph before now. The only name in pairs skating from their era that seemed to stick through my generation was Protopopov (they're legendary). But now after five decades, the American brother-sister pair team (and World silver medalists) finally got the publicity they deserve.

At the 1964 Olympics, American figure skating was still reeling from the horrific plane crash prior to 1961 Worlds, and there weren't any viable candidates for the Olympic podium. Ron and Vivian actually came in fourth, but afterward were quietly awarded the bronze medal (at a hotel in Chicago) when it was discovered the silver medal West German team had illegally signed a professional contract prior to the Olympics that year. But two decades later, the IOC just as quietly reversed the decision after Germany appealed. So Olympic records showed the Josephs were the fourth place finishers. Even though they had bronze medals that they were never asked to return.

Thanks to Amy Rosewater's digging and writing, the IOC FINALLY changed their records to reflect the Josephs' bronze.

And in fact, the official recognition of that bronze medal makes American figure skating the winningest nationality in Olympic figure skating history - with 48 Olympic medals.

Grand Prix Assignments Announced

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by, in that Grand Prix assignments are already here!

Here are the assignments, from USFSA.org - quite a few TBA's in there, thanks to the retirement of several skaters like Samantha Cesario, Douglas Razzano, etc.

TEAM USA ASSIGNMENTS FOR 2015 ISU GRAND PRIX OF FIGURE SKATING SERIES

2015 Skate America - Milwaukee - Oct. 23-25
Ladies: Mariah Bell*; Gracie Gold; TBA**
Men: Max Aaron; Jason Brown; TBA**
Pairs: Tarah Kayne & Daniel O’Shea*; Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim; TBA**
Ice dance: Madison Chock & Evan Bates; Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker; TBA**

Skate Canada International - Lethbridge, Alberta - Oct. 30-Nov. 1
Ladies: Polina Edmunds; Ashley Wagner
Men: Joshua Farris; Adam Rippon
Pairs: Marissa Castelli & Mervin Tran*
Ice dance: Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani

Cup of China - Beijing - Nov. 6-8
Ladies: Karen Chen*; Courtney Hicks; Hannah Miller*
Men: Richard Dornbush; Grant Hochstein
Pairs: Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage
Ice dance: Madison Chock & Evan Bates; Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker

Trophee Bompard - Bordeaux, France - Nov. 13-15
Ladies: Gracie Gold; Angela Wang
Men: Max Aaron
Pairs: Marissa Castelli & Mervin Tran
Ice dance: Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue

Rostelecom Cup - Moscow - Nov. 20-22
Ladies: Polina Edmunds; Hannah Miller
Men: Ross Miner; Adam Rippon
Pairs: Tarah Kayne & Daniel O’Shea

NHK Trophy - Nagano, Japan - Nov. 27-29
Ladies: Courtney Hicks; Mirai Nagasu; Ashley Wagner
Men: Jason Brown; Richard Dornbush; Joshua Farris
Pairs: Jessica Calalang & Zack Sidhu; Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim
Ice dance: Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue; Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani

*making Grand Prix Series debut
**to be confirmed by Sept. 15, 2015

Practice Recap

It has been a busy spring. Between work, childcare, home improvement projects, skating and finding time to eat and sleep, there has been precious little time to document my journeys on ice. But I have a few minutes...

I've been skating twice a week and working on upping my IJS point values. I've added combo jumps and spins that were in me to do last year, but weren't quite ready for prime time. I've also been going over the scoring system and memorizing base values, grades of execution and how they are all tallied. I'm still a little confused on how spins are scored, but I got the jump system down. I crunched a few numbers and learned that the score for all the jumps in my program last year (if only base value was earned, not counting any GOE), was ~14 points. This year, if I incorporate all the jumps I'm planning (and complete them to earn base value only), I'll add six more points to the technical score.

This summary of the system has proven to be a major resource, more so than anything on the USFS website in terms of helping me understand the system.

As far as jumps are concerned, I've given myself two major goals - first, to get that darned 2axel back (more on that in a bit) and to get my 2lutz on the correct edge. Regarding the latter, this issue goes way back to when I learned the jump. In those days, the 6.0 system was firmly in place, and it tended to ignore the "flutz." Most elite-level female skaters passed off flutzes as true lutzes in those days - Sarah Hughes, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, to name a few. But IJS will nail you with a mandatory negative GOE if you pull that today. It's not a score-killer, but it annoys me enough that I feel the need to get it right. And let me tell you, once you've learned to do a 2lutz off the inside edge, it feels like a completely foreign, new jump to get it on the outside. It's not there yet, but it's getting close.

Regarding the 2axel, a little bit of history. I first landed this jump when I was at the intermediate level, 15 years old. Two years later, I lost the muscle memory. I literally could no longer tell I where I was in the air, and it was kind of terrifying. It was like the Polar Express, once you hit a certain age, you can't hear those bells ringing anymore. When I picked up skating again years later, I still had no sense of timing with the jump. It seemed depressingly out of reach, even though I was in peak physical condition, arguably more so than I was in my late teens. I was a not a little sad about it, to be honest. But this week, a breakthrough! Something started to feel familiar again...I found some snap in the air and came down on one foot! It was cheated severely, but it's eons beyond what I had been able to get out so far. My dream of getting it back is within reach, I think! Here's a video of an attempt from practice this week.

It's ugly and it's cheated but zOMG it's on one foot! HUGE milestone! #figureskating

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Jun 9, 2015 at 5:24pm PDT

Cooking with Boitano

Gary Stevens / Wikimedia Commons

What would Brian Boitano...cook?

Apparently, a lot. The 1988 Olympic gold medalist is launching a web series with the USOC that focuses on cooking with elite athletes, called "Cooking with Team USA and Brian Boitano."

I think this is a really cool idea. Cooking for an athlete in training is different than cooking for your average adult, and the lessons in it are valuable to everyone, athlete or no.

One of the healthiest ways to be involves eating a diet of a lot of energy-boosting stuff and to be consistent about it. I tend to have trouble with this, even more so now when I'm obligated to put the dietary needs of a 2-year-old before my own. (Time to sit down and eat? Who has that??) If I haven't been doing a good job keeping myself nourished, I feel it immediately on the ice. My energy plummets and I bend at the waist and feel extra dizzy and light-headed. Not good. I always keep a Clif Bar in my kiss n' cry bag, because sadly this happens more often than it should.

Skating at High Altitudes

The locations for the U.S. Figure Skating adult competitive season were announced yesterday, and the choice of venue for Midwestern Sectionals as Colorado Springs has since become a topic of debate among the adult figure skating community.

I compete at Eastern Sectionals, so I don't really have a stake in the debate (my beef is with the lack of announcement about a location for Easterns...erggg). But if I keep up the competitive skating, it's an issue I may have to face in the future.

Indeed, it all brings up a great point about skating in general - how competitions held at higher altitudes present a challenge for some skaters who are not used to the effects of thinner air. Generally speaking, elite-level figure skaters are well-trained enough endurance-wise that it would only have minor effects. There may be a bit more heavy breathing or gasping for air at the end of a program, muscles may feel a little heavier, etc. The effects are certainly not imagined.

But since we're dealing with older skaters who are not quite elite-level here, the concern is a bit more warranted. Many skaters are actually very worried, and some are angry that it puts them at a disadvantage for the season. On the other hand, many skaters have chimed in saying the altitude difference isn't that hard on your skating, and that the host club in Colorado Springs puts on one heck of a fun event.

The way I see it, the location isn't going to change. So the best thing skaters can do is to educate themselves on the effects of higher altitudes on athletics. One of the skaters posted this helpful primer that really explains a lot - I learned some things I never knew, like the fact that it's not actually about the air, it's about the air pressure. Skaters will need to train harder and get that endurance up. That's not so simple of course, and with adult skaters, injuries may become more likely.

Synchro Gets the Heave-Ho in 2018

Forgive my sad need for a rhyme-y headline, but I'm trying to make light of a crappy situation. The IOC decided against adding synchro at the Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018. This is upsetting to myself and to thousands of synchro fans all over the world.

Why is it so hard to add synchro, in a world where synchronized swimming has been a part of the Olympics for decades? I get that it's an expensive prospect, and I get that it's a relatively unknown branch of the sport (read: no one will sponsor it). But were those really the reasons? I wish there was some clarity for the public on why it was left out this time.

There's nothing for it though, but to start up #SYNCHROIN2022.

I like US Figure Skating's somewhat positive thinky response:

We're disappointed Synchro won't debut at #PyeongChang2018, but optimistic for the future...Here's #WhyWeLoveSynchro!Why do you LOVE synchro?!
Posted by U.S. Figure Skating on Monday, June 8, 2015

2016-2017 Adult Competition Sites Announced

US Figure Skating revealed the locations for Adult qualifying competitions today for this year and next. You can see them here.

Adult Nationals is in Ann Arbor - someplace I've never been, woohoo! (Just gotta make it now) But frustratingly, the location for Adult Easterns is TBD. Sad face.

But in 2017 it will be in New Jersey, and 2017 Nationals are going back to North Carolina.

Did Synchro Get Dumped for 2018?

The IOC reportedly added a bunch of events today to the Pyongchang Games in 2018, but synchro was not included. I'm hearing folks unofficially say it was rejected, but this NBC Olympic Talk article seems to imply that no decision was rendered.

Is it still up for consideration? Is that it for synchro in 2018?

Well this is ugly...

There aren't a lot of sex scandals in figure skating. At least there aren't a lot publicly.

There have been allegations of sexual abuse between coaches and skaters, and between skaters, but nothing in recent memory has even come close to dominating any sort of headlines. When you think of the main scandals in figure skating, Nancy and Tonya, and the 2002 Olympic judging, come to mind first.

But it does happen, and in a very unfortunate way. Coaches can have a lot of power over young students who have Olympic dreams. The right coach = success in many ways. That's true of mentors in any sport. And that kind of power, in the wrong hands, can have devastating consequences.

I bring this up because I read that a figure skating coach in Canada has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing two of his male students when they were underage in the 1980s.

The vast majority figure skating coaches are not going to abuse their students sexually. Mentally, maybe, but that's another story entirely. Very few skaters have come forward with allegations. But for those that do, they need to be heard.

Balancing Act

I recently came across an array of photos on HuffPo of prima ballerinas in San Francisco, that depict the life of those dancers who are also mothers. They're from a new book by photographer Lucy Gray, who specializes in depicting motherhood on film, called Balancing Acts: Three Prima Ballerinas Becoming Mothers.

It's not skating, but it's a similar idea - it's rare that you see women at the top of their sport (I'm counting ballet as a sport here) who are also mothers. The demands of being at the top of one's game often don't leave time for other aspects of life, namely having a family. It's possible, but it's not the choice many make because of the high degree of difficulty of the so-called "balancing act" it requires.

I can make this sweeping statement because even I react with some degree of incredulity when I hear about Olympians who are also moms, especially in figure skating. And in truth, my mouth fell open when I saw these photos. (I didn't know ballerinas had kids!) It's still a novelty in the public eye, therefore it must not be common and easily achievable.

Not everyone will choose parenthood, and that's 100 percent alright by me. But for those of us who do choose it, and namely those who have not yet taken the plunge, please know that having a baby doesn't have to spell the end of your athletic dreams.

Ice Capades Celebrates 75 Years

Ice Capades 1965, by George Petty/Wikimedia Commons

I saw the Ice Capades once, when I was really young. The only thing I remember was the shtick they always did with a pinwheel, where the last skater always has trouble catching up with the end of the rotating line.

The term Ice Capades is nearly universally known. Like, everyone has heard of it, despite the touring show going defunct in 1995. It just wasn't capturing the interest of families like it did in the 40s when it began, and Vaudeville-type entertainment on ice was all the rage.

The Ice Capades is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and a group of avid IC alums and fans is organizing a gala in Las Vegas that they're dubbing the Ice Capades Reunion. It's June 22-24 at the Flamingo. A flash mob is promised. Looks fun!

Tumbling...on Ice?

I've done a cartwheel on ice as part of my program. But THIS.

WOW!!!! On ice.... skates big shout out to Yakimenko Sergey Strength Project
Posted by Strength Project on Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Adult Worlds Is On

The competition that many unofficially refer to as "Adult Worlds" - a.k.a. the ISU International Adult Competition held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany - began yesterday.

Adults aged 28-78 from all over the world compete, and it seems like everyone enjoys the experience immensely. Olympic silver medalist Midori Ito has even done it (and won it!) in the past. It's amazing to see how popular adult skating has become around the world, and how empowering it is for the participants. Rock on!

I wish I could have done it this year, but was not a very realistic prospect given the logistics. It may never be a realistic prospect...

But I have a friend competing (break a leg, Mary!), and they have a neat-o free live stream!



International Adult Competition 2015... by skatingvideos

Thinking of Jim Sladky

Ice Follies

I just heard that 6-time U.S. ice dance champion and World medalist Jim Sladky is in an Arizona hospital in critical condition.

I knew Jim for a brief time as a young skater, when he took up teaching at my home rink. I am thinking of him and his wife and hoping for the best.

Jim is a living legend in the skating world, though perhaps not widely recognized as such among the younger generations of skaters. He and his former partner Judy Schwomeyer heralded the inclusion of ice dancing as an Olympic event when they exhibitioned it in Grenoble in 1968. They later went on to join Ice Follies, and they invented the Yankee Polka, a high-level dance pattern that skaters can test.

Here's a video from 1972 Nationals. I just love the way they bounce around the ice!

Commercial that Makes You Feel the Feels

Came across this insurance commercial that features a skater as she progresses through her career from beginner to mother. As much as I hate to admit a commercial made me feel feels, it did. I'm not about to go buy insurance from them though, for the record.



I love that there's even a shot of the skater pregnant on ice. Most people do not understand how great of a form of exercise skating can be for a preggo. Most doctors will tell you to avoid doing anything that could cause you to fall during pregnancy, and figure skating is implied. But any conscientious pregnant skater would never skate recklessly. In my experience, if you listen to your body, you'll be fine. We know what we're doing out there, trust us.

PChan Is Coming Back

He's baaaaaaaaaaack. 

After a year of living adventurously, Canadian and World Champion Patrick Chan is digging back into skating. I think he's the best (and has the potential to win all the things), and am excited to see him compete more!

Update on Paul Wylie

He Facebooked from the hospital, and it sounds like he's doing much better!

The long and short of it - he had a freak cardiac arrest that was not a heart attack, and was put into a medically induced coma so docs could figure out what the heck happened. He's out of it now, and his heart is healthy. But there is no conclusion as to why the arrest happened.

See his FB update below. Hope he gets sprung from the hospital and back on the ice soon!

Update from Paul Wylie <3 After a whirlwind of a week, I am...
Posted by Professional Skaters Association(PSA) on Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Adult Skating Promo

Park City TV released a short video that takes a look at some of the personalities of adult skating during Adult Nationals last week. It gives viewers a great sense of how diverse and fun the community of adult skaters in the United States is, and several of the skaters interviewed really captured in words the essence of why I'm continuing with the sport.

One particular thought, by skater Michael Rubke really hits home:

"I had spent so many years working on the sport that it would be a waste of my talent to never do it again."

Tanith & Charlie Tie the Knot

Yay, figure skating's hottest couple just got married!

Olympic silver medalist Tanith Belbin and Olympic Gold (and silver) medalist Charlie White had their wedding this weekend outside Detroit, where they lived and trained during their respective competitive careers. According to People, Meryl Davis was a bridesmaid.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

It Figures!

The long lost art of figures--that archaic discipline that puts the "figure" in Figure Skating--is not all that lost after all. It has a pretty motivated following, actually, and competitions devoted solely to figures exist today. I just saw an announcement for the World Figure Championship, to be held in Lake Placid in August. 

Figures are essentially patterns you make with your skate on the ice. Loops, brackets, 3-turns, serpentines and counters to name a few of the technical maneuvers. If you're familiar with Moves in the Field, these terms should ring a bell. Figures used to be the core of the sport, but were axed from competition in the early 90s.

Watching them is like watching grass grow. But if you're really good at them, you have a talent on par with all the world's best jumpers and spinners. Figures are low-impact, but precision and perfection are demanded. And the pressure is turned way up when you compete, as the judges are right there on the ice next to you, analyzing every move you make, and every edge you take. (Cue The Police song)

I was briefly exposed to them as a kid, but I hated them with the fire of a thousand suns, and dropped them like a hot potato as soon as I was allowed. They didn't come naturally to me like freestyle skating did. My circles on the ice looked more like Mickey Mouse pancakes or the Blob than anything resembling a passable figure. I wish I'd tried harder at them, as I think the skill involved greatly improves freeskating technique.

Anyway, the competition in Lake Placid promises to offer "black ice," which makes seeing and tracing figures on the ice a lot easier. ORDA got rid of the Lussi Rink, a rink famously dedicated to figures with dark ice, so I wonder how they're going to offer it?

OMG the Tonya & Nancy Museum

This. Is. Priceless. Two Brooklyn hipster comedians took Kickstarter money and made a "museum" in their apartment hallway dedicated to Tonya and Nancy: The Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan 1994 Museum.

The NY Post called it the "worst idea ever." Rolling Stone called it the "Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan museum we never knew we needed."

I think it's HILARIOUS.  Of course the world needs a Tonya and Nancy museum. Of course it does.

IceNetwork went inside the "museum," and offers a cheeky look at the images ripped from the internet artifacts the inside of the apartment museum.

From the "museum" Kickstarter:

Part of the museum team's research has been the realization that everyone is either a Tonya or a Nancy (if you're thinking about it, you're a Tonya. This of course is made more confusing by the fact that, if you immediately thought you were a Nancy, you are most definitely a Tonya. The only real way to be a Nancy is to have very long lines in your body. If you thought you were an Oksana Baiul, well, aren't you just perfect, we see right through you).


I was gonna go, but when I learned tix were $75 a pop, I decided to go watch the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary again and call it even.

A Competition for Jumping Beans

Jumps are undoubtedly a hallmark of the sport of figure skating. They often overshadow the other technical elements during media coverage of competitions. I think with good reason--they are the hardest elements worth the most points after all. Skaters even tend to obsess over them, and consider perfecting them more of a milestone than anything else.

That's why I thought it was super cool that the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado is taking jumping competition to a new level. National Champ Michael Weiss is helming the star-studded operation, which is no surprise, given he is the poster skater for jumping. He was the first American to land a quad in competition (quad toe). Observe his majestic "tornado," a gymnastics-esque full twisting backflip on ice. (Sorry the video is a touch crappy.)


Michael Weiss also gives a great video tutorial on jumps over at MonkeySee.com.

Name the Olympic Cities!

Whenever I find myself procrastinating, I like to spend time over at Sporcle.com, doing quizzes and puzzles and other brain games. Specifically those that have to do with a certain sport near and dear to me.

So today (in the middle of an Olympic drought) I found myself doing this one. How many can you get? I got 38/49 Olympic cities (most of them winter).