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SkateFan4Life
Guest
I was browsing through my copy of the “Lake Placid Preview – 1980 Winter Olympics” , which contains a long article on Linda Fratianne, the then defending US and World champion who was going into the Olympics as a gold medal favorite. Annet Poetsch of East Germany was the co-favorite. We all know the outcome of that competition.
Many of us remember Linda as the skater who popularized heavy beaded skating costumes and costumes with “petal” skirts. She spoke in this article on the importance of always looking neat and attractive, even during practice. She said, “I always wear makeup. You never know when a judge may be at the rink.”
I remember seeing televised Olympic figure skating practices from 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2002. Indeed, most of the women wore makeup – sometimes heavy makeup. Their practice outfits, for the most part, were very attractive and fashionable – not your average sweatpants garden variety. Kristi Yamaguchi wore stunning practice outfits at Albertville, Nancy Kerrigan wore the lovely white practice dress she wore the day she was attacked at the US Nationals at the Lillehammer practices, Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski wore very pretty outfits during their Nagano practices, and Sarah Hughes wore attractive outfits during her Salt Lake City practices.
All of them wore makeup – the non-running kind, I’m assuming.
I really wonder if the glamour side of this sport is going a bit far. Frankly, who cares what the skaters wear during practice? As long as they’re decently covered up, they should feel free to wear whatever they want, and the heck with making a fashion statement. On the other hand, when it’s the Olympics, and the eyes of the world are focused on you, it does make sense to look your best. Perhaps the same skaters I mentioned above wear plain, no-frills outfits when they practice at home and wear the "fancy practice clothes" only when they're practicing at major competitions.
On the other hand, there was Tonya Harding, who wore plain, no-frills black practice dresses and leotards during her televised practices, whether she was in Oregon or at Lillehammer. Perhaps she was making a statement, maverick that she was.
Many of us remember Linda as the skater who popularized heavy beaded skating costumes and costumes with “petal” skirts. She spoke in this article on the importance of always looking neat and attractive, even during practice. She said, “I always wear makeup. You never know when a judge may be at the rink.”
I remember seeing televised Olympic figure skating practices from 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2002. Indeed, most of the women wore makeup – sometimes heavy makeup. Their practice outfits, for the most part, were very attractive and fashionable – not your average sweatpants garden variety. Kristi Yamaguchi wore stunning practice outfits at Albertville, Nancy Kerrigan wore the lovely white practice dress she wore the day she was attacked at the US Nationals at the Lillehammer practices, Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski wore very pretty outfits during their Nagano practices, and Sarah Hughes wore attractive outfits during her Salt Lake City practices.
All of them wore makeup – the non-running kind, I’m assuming.
I really wonder if the glamour side of this sport is going a bit far. Frankly, who cares what the skaters wear during practice? As long as they’re decently covered up, they should feel free to wear whatever they want, and the heck with making a fashion statement. On the other hand, when it’s the Olympics, and the eyes of the world are focused on you, it does make sense to look your best. Perhaps the same skaters I mentioned above wear plain, no-frills outfits when they practice at home and wear the "fancy practice clothes" only when they're practicing at major competitions.
On the other hand, there was Tonya Harding, who wore plain, no-frills black practice dresses and leotards during her televised practices, whether she was in Oregon or at Lillehammer. Perhaps she was making a statement, maverick that she was.
Go figure.....
