When figure skaters compete, they are being judged on more than their technique. While other sports only care if you have proper technique, ice skaters must have much more. They must also have grace and perform artistically. The skaters that lack grace but have excellent technique do not do so well in competitions as those who are graceful and have good technique. The requirement to be graceful and feminine on the ice causes figure skating competitions to resemble more of a beauty pageant than a sport based on athletic ability. The artistic component of Olympic figure skating should not factor into the athlete’s score because it diminishes the value of technical skills needed for this competitive sport. In order for figure skaters to be judged as athletes, they need to be judged on their athletic accomplishments and not on how they look or their artistic performance. The best athletes in America go on to compete in the winter Olympics. The winter Olympics, hosted every four years by a different country, is the only place to see so many talented athletes all competing at the same time. One Olympic sport, figure skating, is not judged the same way as the other sports are. Unlike other sports that focus on technical ability, figure skating also focuses on artistic ability. A panel of judges rate the athletes on two categories, then add those categories together to compute the final score. The first category is technical skill. The category encompasses the more athletic part of figure skating such as the jumps and spins. The second category is the program component part, which encompasses the artistic values of the performance. Figure skaters receive their scores based on the level of difficulty of their technique, and also how artis... ... middle of paper ... ...f the Olympic committee decided to no longer score the artistic component of figure skating then figure skating would lose its beauty. However, just by removing the artistic part of figure skating from the scores will not turn the competitions “ugly”. Athletes will continue to bring a certain level of grace to ice, they just won’t be judged on it. Figure skating is an athletic competition, not an art show. There is a time and a place for art, but during a competition. Because figure skaters are athletes, they should be judged on their athletic ability. When judges factor in their artistic ability into the score, they are taking the focus away from skills needed to excel in the sport. By focusing solely on an athlete’s ability, judges will be sending the message that figure skating is a sport and should be judged as other sports are-on an athlete’s athletic ability.
For every Olympic games, there always seems to be some type of scandal or drama. The 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City proved itself to be full of this excitement and controversy. That year the scandal appeared in one of the most popular events, figure skating. The competition was between the Russian and Canadian figure skating pairs. The Russians showed a performance full of technical difficulty without pulling it off completely. Their performance was marred by simple mistakes. On the other hand, the Canadian pair performed a piece full of emotion, and while not as technically difficult as the Russians, more thorough and precise in their landings and jumps. After their performance the audience and the television commentators all believed they were the gold medallists. However after their score went up, they were sorely put in second place. As it turns out a French judge exchanged votes with a Russian judge so that the Russians would win the event. Since this happened, it has opened up the doors to the world of figure skating and informed the public of its corruptness. What people need to notice is that judges exchanging votes is only one part of the problem and how well a person actually performs the techniques on the ice is only one part of the judging. In an article published in Newsweek right after the scandal was exposed the author states, "For ages figure skating has attracted ridicule for letting a competitor's nationality, make-up, costume, and choice of music seem to count as much as the athleticism and grace." (Begley 40) As it stands now in 2010, it looks as though no one has learned a lesson from this event or article. Judges who make deals before competitions and get caught do not suffer any harsh consequences. They continue to practice unsportsmanlike conduct while judging. In my movie (as yet to be titled) I hope to address not only the fact that judges make deals ahead of time, but that certain skaters are discriminated by their race and sexuality as well as for arbitrary reasons.
Being a female and seriously competing in a non-traditional sport is an arduous task. Many individuals question your sexuality, race and class just because you have decided to participate in a non-traditional sport. However, the main fact that is being disregarded here is that everyone has the capability of playing any sport that they want to play. There should not be any boundaries to anything because of gender. It is unfair because there are certain things that are acceptable and unacceptable in society which puts a lot of pressure on people that are into non-traditional sports. The question is, why does being accepted matter so much in society? Why is it so hard to be accepted for something that you want to do? I mean you are not hurting anybody yet you are made to feel guilty for trying to be good in a non-traditional sport.
In the past the Olympic games were used as a way for the Greeks to honor their gods. Today the games are not an honoring but more of a social gathering. What’s great about the games today is that everyone has equal opportunity to compete. No matter your gender, size, ethnicity, or wealth, all you have to do is work hard and
Organized figure skating has been around since the 18th century. Since then it has grown and evolved into the Olympic sport we see today. There have been many notable skaters and moves in skating's distinguished history. One of the most interesting and storied is the axel jump.
Welcome to the Olympics, by far the most published and drawn event in the world.
Fun at organized, purpose-driven sports is associated with achieving goals rather than physical expression and joy. The process is now secondary to the product, and the journey is secondary to the destination. People in postindustrial societies live with the legacy of industrialization. They emphasize organization according to rational principles based, whenever possible, on systematic research. Being organized and making plans to accomplish goals is so important that spontaneity, expression, creativity, and joy- the element of play- are given low priority or may even be considered frivolous by event planners, coaches, and spectators. Snowboarder Terje Haakonsen decided against performing in the Olympics because he didn’t want to endorse a form of sport in which organization and rationalization had subverted play. Haakonsen believe that fun and effort merge together in sports when they are done in terms set by participants. This merger collapse when sports are done for judges using criteria that ignore the subjective experience of participation. When creating sports, these are important things to remember because there is a tendency in postindustrial cultures to organize all physical activities for the purposes of rationally assessing skills and performances. Working to improve physical
First of all, Ekaterina Gordeeva should receive this award because of her outstanding achievements. “In the 31 competitions whose results are known at the senior and professional levels, they finished first 24 times, and never lower than second from the time they won their first senior world title.” (Rabinovitz). At the World Championships, Grinkov and Gordeeva received gold medals at Geneva in 1986, Cincinnati in 1987, Paris in 1989, and Halifax in 1990. At the Olympic Games, Grinkov and Gordeeva received a gold medal for pairs skating at Calgary in 1988. During the European Championships, Grinkov and Gordeeva won gold medals at Prague in 1988, Leningrad in 1990, and Copenhagen in 1994. At the International level, Grinkov and Gordeeva competed at the Olympics from 1987-1988, receiving first place, and from 1993-1994, also receiving fi...
Considering the fact that the Olympics are the most tested sporting event in the world, the situa...
Like any other sport, ice-skating is obliged to creative people who bring something new to it. These people are known to everyone as the inventors of particular jumps, splits, spins. They are given credit for their work and, sometimes, the skating moves they invented carry their names. For instance, the Lutz jump was invented by Alois Lutz before World War II; the Walley jump was attributed to Bruce Mapes who performed with the Ice Follies in the 1930s. With Mabel Fairbanks that was never the case. The spins she invented never have been officially admitted to be exclusively her creation.
Sports become stereotyped as gender-neutral, feminine, or masculine based on conceptions regarding gender, gender differences, and beliefs about the appropriateness of participation due to gender (Colley et al., 1987; Csizma, Wittig, & Schurr, 1988; Koivula, 1995; Matteo, 1986). Sports labeled as feminine seem to be those that allow women participants to act in accordance with the stereotyped expectations of femininity (such as being graceful and nonagressive) and that provide for beauty and aesthetic pleasure (based on largely male standards). A sport is labeled as masculine if it involves the following: 1) attempts to physically overpower the opponent(s) by bodily contact; 2) a direct use of bodily force to a heavy object; 3) a projection of the body into or through space over distance; and 4) face-to-face competition in situations in which bodily contact may occur. These characteristics are believed to be appropriate expressions of masculine attributes such as aggressiveness, effectiveness, and power (Metheny, 1965; Koivula, 2001).
Kristi Yamaguchi had to overcome an abundance of challenges before she was made into an Olympic figure skater. First off, she was born with clubbed feet, a birth defect in which both of her feet were curved or slanted inward. Kristi started figure skating as a therapy to heal her feet, but she came to love the sport and stuck with it. When the famous Olympian shares her story to her fans everywhere, she inspires them to overcome their challenges and not to stop striving for success.
In conclusion, in youth and basically any of the different ages of athletes sports, the rules are different for the different genders playing the sport which makes it a judged game based off of athletes difference in
Figure skating helps older adults to strengthen their lower leg muscles which includes hip adductors and abductors, calves and ankles. Figure skating helps older adults to improve their balance and helps maintain proper alignment of the upper body (McKay, 2014). “Many older adults are donning skates, spandex and sequins and going after golds of their own” (McKay, 2014). Older adults are very careful with their jumps and spins in figure skating and which are easy for them to do at their age compared to young adults. Older adults can fracture their bones or disturb their muscles easily when they jump or spin while skating. Figure skating is a great sport, it helps older adults to clear their mind and it is a good way to get exercise while they are enjoying their skating with a partner (McKay, 2014). Figure skating gives opportunities to older adults to meet with new partners, and they sometimes get involved in a relationship especially who are single, divorced or widowed. Figure skating is not easy for older adults as they can injure themselves if they fell on ice, so the older adults who like figure skating or participate in figure skating sport they spend their money to get training for figure skating. There are many older adults who are passionate about figure skating and they skate like young adults. When people get older they enjoy figure skating because it brings a good memory to them from their young adulthood. "It's nice to skate as an adult because you make the decisions," says Ms. Panzer. "It's your money, your time, it's not your parent telling you what to do" (McKay,
Other sport disciplines have well-defined standardized spatial frameworks but do not measure performances in exact ways. In terms of arenas, soccer and tennis are more or less identical from match to match. Performances, however, are measured in non-precise entities like goals, points, sets, and games. Moreover, performances are in a sense relative as they depend upon social interaction with other competitors.
For the past few years there has been a very controversy issue that has been plaguing the Summer Olympics. The Summer Olympics was first held in 1896, it’s an international multi-sport where athletes around the world come to compete with other athletes from different countries. There are many events that are held in the Summer Olympics ranging from Track and Field all the way to Volleyball and Basketball. In each Olympic event there are medals that earned to the winners, the first place winners get a gold medal, the second place winners get a silver medal, and the third place winners gets a bronze medal.