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).

Paul Wylie Suffers "Heart Abnormality"

The 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist was hospitalized Tuesday after what being reported as a "heart abnormality" occurred while exercising. His wife says he's resting comfortably, and it seems like there's no reason to worry.

Rumors say differently - I heard from some sources that it was a heart attack, a condition that runs in his family, unfortunately.

Either way, I hope he's ok. He is one of my favorite skaters of all time!

Here's one of the great Paul Wylie performances - his long program in Albertville.

Tossies FTW

wikimedia commons

The concept of a "tossie" is both old and new to me.

A tossie, for those who aren't familiar, is a small gift thrown on the ice following a skater's performance. Usually it is a stuffed animal of some sort, or flowers. I've seen it happen scores of times on television, at Worlds, Nationals and the Olympics. But until I was an adult, I'd never had anything thrown on the ice for me following a competition performance.

I think it may have been outlawed for most amateur events. It requires employing someone to "sweep" up the ice after performances, and holds the possibility of creating dangerous skating conditions if anything is left behind on the ice. But I think the generous spirit of adult competition precludes any of those concerns.

One time during my childhood skating days, I had the honor of volunteering to be a sweeper for a professional competition that came to the civic center my hometown. It was one of Dick Button's productions, if I remember correctly, back in the days when people actually watched those types of events on TV. I got to wear a special dress and pick up teddy bears for Dorothy Hamill, Ekaterina Gordeeva, Paul Wylie, Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudy Galindo. It may seem silly to admit, but I can honestly say it remains, to this day, one of the highlights of my life. (I got to meet my heroes!)

It feels really good to be showered with accolades--it's such a simple gesture, but when a stranger throws a bag of candy with a sweet note of support of your skating, it is pretty empowering. Next year, I promise to come to adult competition prepared this time, and return the kind favor to other skaters!

The reason I am pontificating about tossies is that I read an article on NBCOlympic Talk about elite skaters' confessions about the weirdest things they ever received as tossies. Some of them are hilarious. And it is unsurprising to me that Elvis Stokjo received lingerie as a tossie once.

Yuzuru Hanyu's Quad Loop

Holy schnikes! Consider the ante for next year officially upped!

Yuzuru Hanyu 4Loop+3Axel
Yuzuru Hanyu 4Loop+3Axel at 2015 WTT closing galahttp://skating-ritmica.forumfree.it/?t=52672497&st=1275#entry572849237
Posted by IceSkating&Ritmica on Sunday, April 19, 2015

Team USA Takes Team Trophy

Beating Russia by a mere point, Team USA took the World Team Trophy last weekend in Tokyo. Woohoo!

The win wasn't by a landslide, but it has to feel good at the end of an exhausting competitive year. Gracie Gold won the short, Jason Brown came in second in the long, Ashley Wagner came in 4th in both, Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knerim came in third in the pairs long, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates hit second in the short dance (third in the long).

Russian skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva banged out another flawless 3axel, this time in her free program (she fell on the one she tried in the short). She. Is. Awesome.

Here's a more comprehensive breakdown of the event and scores.

10th Annual FSH Gala

Figure Skating in Harlem held its annual gala about two weeks ago, a star-studded affair that raises money for an excellent and worthy cause. It was the tenth gala, and it brought out the likes of Kristi Yamaguchi, Sarah Hughes, Michelle Kwan, Meryl Davis (and Maxim!) and Evan Lysacek, who was honored for his work with the program (along with Gloria Steinem!).

Skating has a bit of a diversity problem. Much of it stems from lack of access to skating programs, whether financially or geographically. FSH serves to counteract that, offering educational enrichment programs in figure skating and beyond to young girls in New York—kids who wouldn't otherwise have a chance to try it. It's a fantastic program, and I've known many skaters who have worked with the kids there.

Justin Timberlake's 'Alpha Dog' Loves Figure Skating

I'm a big fan of the "listicles" on Cracked.com, and a friend forwarded me one today that I couldn't resist sharing here.

Have you ever wondered what cryptic fake movie tattoos actually say?

Well, apparently, Alpha Dog (Justin Timberlake) has a thing for figure skating.

The translation of the Chinese lettering on his left bicep is literally "ice skating." Who knew?

From Cracked:

Yes, the one activity it is impossible to look badass doing, unless it's in the context of a hockey game. If you're ever running from a murderous street gang, by far the best way to escape is to strap on some skates and cross a frozen pond; they won't pursue for fear someone is watching them (try it!).

I disagree with this statement, of course. I'm pretty sure this scene from Blades of Glory proves that it is indeed badass to give chase on skates.

5-Day Performance Photo Challenge

In honor of Adult Nationals last week, I saw many adult skaters doing a five-day photo challenge on Facebook, each day posting a throwback photo to their younger skating days. Many of the ones I saw brought back memories for myself, having known them at the time.

It's important for a skater to look back on his or her career now and again. The reminder of how far you have come is a powerful motivator. I wanted to participate, but no one nominated me! Though if someone had, I'd have have trouble keeping up. All my skating photos are scattered on hard drives and in photo albums!

Skating as adult and skating as a child were two different experiences for me though, so I'm looking forward to building up photographic memories of the latter.

Are Quads the Glass Ceiling of Figure Skating?

Gracie Gold and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva have confessed that they'll be working on quad salchows and toe loops during the offseason, in the hopes of upping the technical ante in the ladies events next year.

Only one woman has ever attempted a quad in competition--Miki Ando of Japan way back in 2002 as a junior-level skater. It was cheated by a half-turn (and in my opinion not even close) but she gets the credit for the first attempt. Since then, no other women have really tried. And rarely have any done 3axels either.

Women seem to hit a bit of a glass ceiling after the 3lutz.

I don't want to say it's a physical thing, but it kind of is. 3axels and quads require a level of strength that goes beyond just the ability to revolve in the air really really fast. You also have to jump high. And when you're tiny and twiggy, jumping high is not always a forte. If anyone, Tuktamysheva stands the greatest chance of legit pulling it off. She has the height and the muscle. I'm not holding out much hope for Gold or any of the Americans currently competing. To Gold's credit though, she has a very realistic attitude, as evidenced by something she told the St. Paul Pioneer Press recently:

“Right now, unless we add in a second triple-triple (combination jump), I’m kind of reaching the technical limit, and that means we really have to enhance the artistic component.”

And that is entirely possible for Gold. Her presentation is lovely.

Here's a decent quad from Miki Ando during a practice session in 2009:

Adult Nationals Starts in Salt Lake City

The 2015 United States Adult Figure Skating Championships are kicking off this week in Utah! Over 400 skaters will take the ice to compete April 14-18.

A part of me is a little sad, knowing I was so close yet so far away from making it. If it had been held closer to New York, I may have entered the non-qualifying Masters event.

At the same time, I'm truly excited for all the adult skaters who qualified or who entered. It's the climax of the adult skating season for most adults (though some go on to the international competition in Germany that many unofficially call "Adult Worlds" in May). And it's an awesome and rewarding experience, no matter how you place.

It's hard for younger skaters to understand why adult competition is so amazing. I was once one of those younger skaters. But it turned out to be a whole new world that has opened up to me, and I couldn't be happier to be a part of it. Nowhere else in skating do you see such a diverse group of people (diverse in age, shape, race, experience, etc) on the ice, there for no other reason than to challenge and enjoy themselves. It's like being given a second chance at a dream. We're all mature enough to know and accept that we were never bound for the Olympics, and we're wise enough to realize how beneficial the sport is to our lives.

And nowhere in skating do you get the volume of support from your fellow competitors than you do in this endeavor. I went from people stealing my skates as a kid, to people I didn't even know throwing stuffed animals and candy (and vodka) on the ice after I skated. I went from being shunned in a hotel elevator and knocked over during warm-ups by fellow competitors as a kid to being Facebook friends with my competitors and sharing in their skating lives via social media. It's wonderful, and I can't wait to do more of it - I have committed (in my head of course, USFS hasn't announced the events yet, haha) to competing again next year!

To give you an idea of how cool Adult Nationals (AN's) is, here's a cool USFS promo:

Synchro Worlds: Canada Takes the Cake

After 6 years of playing second fiddle, Team Canada 1 (Nexxice) took back the World Championship in Ontario last weekend from team Finland 1 (Marigold Ice Unity) in a squeaker! See the final results here.

I was able to watch the top teams on Ice Network, and here are a few of my observations:

Team Finland 1 and 2 (Rockettes) had the coolest intersecting circles I've ever seen.

Team Russia 1 (Paradise) did some sweet pair/dance spins - in fact, the last few programs I've seen from Russian synchro teams are heavy on the freestyle moves. I saw one team even do side-by-side-by-side-by (you ge the idea) axels!

Nexxice was simply amazing. They won overall but actually came in second in the freeskating portion. I thought they should have been first in both, but I'll take the overall win. They skated to the flowing but challenging Blue Danube. It's a hard piece to get right with synchro in particular, given that the pace of the music changes constantly. It's hard to time twizzles and steps with that kind of flightiness. But I thought Team Canada 1 nailed it, speeding up and slowing down with amazing synchronicity. And I love that they had one man on the team whose role wasn't schticky. Too often you see teams with a guy on them who use him as a prop. I wish there were more men in synchro!

Team Sweden 2 had a pretty cool costume schtick with their Black Swan routine. Their white dresses turned black halfway through the routine!

Team USA can't get above 7th place, sadly. It's a bit hard to watch them in the context of international competition, because the top teams look so much more crisp and polished.

Team Finland 2 had a killer pass-through spread eagle! It's always fun to see the cool ways synchro teams can be original. They're all doing the same moves, but teams are constantly upping the ante with how they enter them, exit them and execute them overall.

And finally, a general note about watching synchro, if you aren't too familiar with it:

The mark of a good synchro team is if you look at any one skater at a time, you can see that they instinctively know at all times where the person next to them is, and need only extend their arm to connect.

#Synchroin2018!

Happy National Siblings Day

April 10 is National Siblings Day, a day when people post pictures of themselves with their brothers and sisters on Facebook and write cheesy yet heartfelt messages about how much they love and appreciate them.

Well there are no siblings who appreciate each other more (or less) than skating siblings. Here are some notable ones:

• Hayes & David Jenkins
  
• Peter & Kitty Carruthers
  
• Emily & Sarah Hughes
  
• Alex & Maia Shibutani
  
• Max & Maddie Aaron

And here's a stunningly awkward WSJ article from 2010 about what it's like to be a brother/sister ice dance pair.

Here's my offering - my brother was skater for a time, but strangely there are no photos but this one to speak of of us both on the ice.

Crowd-funding a Skating Career

I have mixed feelings about crowd-funding in general, but I thought it was interesting to see that the trend of crowd-sourced fund-raising is starting to touch the sport of figure skating.

Like the story of this young skater from Maine, who is getting financial help with skating after a family friend set up a Go Fund Me for her.

Skating is an expensive sport. No wait, let me rephrase...skating is a VERY expensive sport. For young kids taking the sport seriously, between ice time, lessons, dresses, skates/blades, competition fees, travel expenses, and supplementary training, you may be easily looking at 5-figure sums per year here. My head spins when I think about what the heck I'm going to do if my daughter expresses an interest in doing it. (Breaking out in hives now...) So I can see how crowd-funding might be a great way to raise money to help the cause.

On the other hand, and this may all be in my head, I'm worried that it might creates a weird sense of entitlement for a young skater, and expectation that you can just always ask other people to shoulder the costs. And crowd-funding isn't always a surefire or reliable pursuit.

I know the story of the young skater profiled above is a happy one, but what happens when everyone starts doing it?

Synchro Worlds

Get ready for some dazzling skating, people, Synchro Worlds starts on Friday with the short program from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada!

There are 25 teams competing, see the roster here. Two teams from the US are in the mix, the Haydenettes and Miami University. This ain't the first rodeo for either of them, and I think the Haydenettes have the bigger (long) shot at a medal, most likely bronze, if any.

The powerhouses are usually Finland and Canada, who went gold, silver and bronze, respectively, last year (Team Finland 2 got bronze). They are all amazing to watch, like optical illusions on ice!

The competition is only airing on Ice Network, but as with most synchro events, there will probably be individual clips of the teams on YouTube uploaded by fans shortly after the competition.

Here's the video of Team Finland 1 (Marigold Ice Unity) gold medal-winning free skating program from last year's Worlds in Italy. I've never seen a synchro team skate so fast!

World Team Trophy Roster Announced

You thought the figure skating season was over? Nooooope.

The World Team Trophy has been an ISU event held every other year (on odd years) since 2009. It's exactly like the team event at the Olympics last year, and will be April 16-19 in Tokyo. It's the six best teams in the world, and Team USA has been announced.

Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold have a shot at redemption after a disappointing Worlds, and Max Aaron has a shot at more World-level competition after a disappointing 4th-place finish at Nationals. At this point, I think the only place to watch is on Icenetwork with a subscription.

Team USA will compete against Russia, Canada, France, China, and Japan.

#tbt 1947 Worlds

Toronto Sun

About a week late, I stumbled on this slideshow on Time.com, showcasing the skaters of the 1947 World Championships in Sweden. Rare photos of Dick Button, Barbara Ann Scott and others offer a neat glimpse into figure skating's past.

A few observations:

There are no female judges. All judges appear to be stodgy-looking older white men.

The figures weren't perfectly symmetrical.

Everyone looks gleefully happy to be skating. It's like pressure and anxiety are nonexistent.

*NOTE the photo above is not from the slideshow, it's a photo of Barbara Ann Scott and Hans Gerschwiler practicing before the 1948 Olympics, which she won. But it's around the same time, so you get the idea.

Wednesday Recap

I have had to cut down my practices to once a week since Easterns, due to various family travel commitments. While it's nice to take a bit of a break from hardcore training, it's also a bummer to realize how quickly all the stamina I built up dissipates!

During last night's practice it was clear that I was dragging a bit, bending at the waist and falling more than usual. But it was one of those practices where I got to try new spins, practice some jumps I left out of competition, and try to incorporate them into my program for the next competition.

Which, I've contemplated, may be the Colonial Open in May.

Among the new elements I've been attempting, side layback spins and 2axels. My progress on the 2axel with the harness last night was encouraging.

2axel. So close I can almost taste it! #figureskating

A video posted by Jessica Marshall (@jess_on_ice) on Mar 31, 2015 at 7:01pm PDT

Jason Brown Skips Quad, Lands World's First Quint! (April Fool's!)

I haven't seen any good skating-related April Fool's jokes on the interwebs today.

So I was trying to think of a good April Fool's joke to play here on Jess on Ice, like "Jason Brown Skips Quad, Lands World's First Quint!" But I lack the straight-face necessary to pull that off.

Instead, I refer you to a publication that excels at pulling off a great joke headline, The Onion. Last year during the Sochi Olympics they published "Emergency Crews Attempt to Rescue Figure Skater Who Fell Through Ice," complete with an expertly doctored image from the arena in Sochi. When I posted it on my FB feed, a few people were fooled - that was unintentional, of course.

Of course falling through rink ice is impossible, but it's still funny to imagine it.



Happy April Fool's Day!