Is figure skating an "extreme sport?" (Lysacek interview) | Golden Skate

Is figure skating an "extreme sport?" (Lysacek interview)

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
From the Columbus Dispatch:
Sipping a cappuccino recently in the Chiller North lobby, Evan Lysacek likened men's figure skating to an extreme sport.

To the wiry U.S. champion, who will headline the Champions on Ice exhibition Saturday at Nationwide Arena, the athletic talents of the top performers these days allow them to skate figure eights around their graceful predecessors…

"The jumps and stunts we are doing nowadays are like an extreme sport," said Lysacek, 21. "The days of doing five doubles and just skating to pretty music are over…"

Q: You describe men's figure skating as an "extreme sport," but do you see its image as still a work in progress?

A: People tell me sometimes that it's a girlie sport. Well, in my fifth hour of training, when my lungs are burning and I have a gash on my knee and I've hit my head on the ice, I don't think it's a girlie sport.

I'd rather be running up and down a football field and being tackled by a linebacker. That seems easier than what we're doing.
This got me to thinking. Both figure skating and the Winter Olympics are at a low ebb in terms of audience appeal and viewer interest. The Winter Olympics in particular seems about to be taken over by new teen sports like moguls and snowboarding, as interest in the more traditional winter sports wanes.

Should figure skating follow suit? Should we be encouraging our kids to try a 1080 Lutz in a half pipe?

At 2006 U.S. Nationals Stephanie Rosenthal rescued a ladies event that had placed us at serious risk of terminal boredom, with her hip hop program to Rockit. (I don’t remember any other performance from that event.)

Is it time for figure skating to go over to the Dark Side?
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I don't think the switch in Winter Games interest to snowboarding, etc. is a bad thing. It's just the times-a-changing again. However, I believe ladies' FS still got the largest audience (ratings-wise) of the whole 2006 Olympics broadcast in the States.

I think part of the problem, barring scandal, is the way that FS has been packaged in recent years. ABC/ESPN have had exclusive coverage of this event apart from the Oly Games and they've focused on pretty girls in pretty dresses the whole time. It's more of a showcase rather than a sporting event. The music choice, the fluff pieces they show, everything is just booooring. Only this past year have they started to treat it more like a sporting event, IMO- and I'm mainly talking about their Nats coverage here. They've turned to more backstage drama/analysis of routines, which creates a better sense of excitement and I think it's a more accurate depiction of what FS is about.

I've been to some athlete picture forums and have downloaded some training routines from skaters such as Kiira Korpi and Sarah Meier. I'm always surprised as to how much off-ice training and exercises they have to do to stay in shape. It really shows the more "sporty" aspect of things. If ESPN would take cameras behind the scenes during their training routines and sort of give us a "day in the life of a skater" that would make things more interesting IMO, as viewers will come to the realization that figure skaters do the same "athlete-like" training workouts as athletes in other sports. This is one aspect I liked about NBC's Olympic coverage in 2006, and I hope it carries into their SA/Nats coverage for the next three years.

Sorry if that was a little winded and off-topic, but I think FS will get more respect as a "real sport" if the TV networks decide to portray it as such.
 
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Hsuhs

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
I could probably see smth in this 'renew the figure skating' campaign if it wasn't for Evan Lysacek trying to lead it.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I think that is taken from an American point-of-view. Europeans, although 'Fusboll conscious' still love their winter sports. Who else would stand in the cold and watch some athletes doing cross country skiing? I think too, the Japanese love Ski Jump, and a few other winter sports. These sports are on a par with Ladies Figure Skating, except maybe in America.

As for Figure Skating, the americans made a heroine out of Sonia Henie and this is what resulted. With top movie draw, paper dolls, coloring books, and touring ice shows, Ladies figure skating became the thing to watch during the Olys, (talk about hype) but Americans then went on to appreciate Barbara Ann but it didn't catch hold for cometitions until TV hyped Carol Heiss. Nilsson Ratings exploded with Wide World of Sports, and remained at a plateau until that cute little gal with the chartreusse dress catapulted Ladies Figure Skating back on Prime Time where it stayed until the SLC scandals.

I believe had they hyped Button and the Jenkins Brothers as much as the Ladies, Mens Figure Skating would have become as popular as Ladies with no hint of androgeny. But they didn't.

Geez, I got carried away with all that. I doubt any yunguns reading this, know what I was talking about or do they care to unless they are Figure Skating Historians.

Bottom Line is to start getting good American hype going to bring back the sport and let's face it, the glamor of Figure Skating. IMO, those fans who enjoy watching American lose, must understand that TV is going to be lost also.

Joe
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
seems like evan is on some sort of campain to make figure skating a "masculine" sport. Know he compares it to football. Is USFSA paying him to do this?
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
seems like evan is on some sort of campain to make figure skating a "masculine" sport. Know he compares it to football. Is USFSA paying him to do this?

:scratch: hmm, never thought of it that way.

It's not gonna happen though, at least not here.

I don't know how you can compare it to football though. If you play offense you're constantly getting smacked by one, two or maybe even three guys- at once. Seems much rougher to me than getting a few scratches here and there on the ice. And know how many NFL players wind up with concussions? :confused:

(Disclaimer: this is not to downplay the difficulty of FS. I just mean that from my point of view, when you consider toughness it just seems that one overwhelms the other, imo.)
 
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jennylovskt

Medalist
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
People tell me sometimes that it's a girlie sport. Well, in my fifth hour of training, when my lungs are burning and I have a gash on my knee and I've hit my head on the ice, I don't think it's a girlie sport.

I'd rather be running up and down a football field and being tackled by a linebacker. That seems easier than what we're doing.

I agree with what Evan said in this quote. But I don't think it can be called an extreme sport. It is a highly technical sport, and I agree that it's much more difficult than football.

It does seem that Evan is on a mission to change the image of the sport. Again my heart goes to Evan on this one. I hope that Evan is smart enough to know the limit, and not to go too far.

To have more coverage of the figure skating on TV is more effective than talking, IMO.
 
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gio

Medalist
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
I don't know how you can compare it to football though. If you play offense you're constantly getting smacked by one, two or maybe even three guys- at once. Seems much rougher to me than getting a few scratches here and there on the ice. And know how many NFL players wind up with concussions? :confused:

A few scratches here and there??
In FS you are in danger to broke your leg and hand, not to talk about hitting your had. What about the Jessica Dube incident or the danger of a dougnout spin.
Definitely is a very dangerous sport.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I'd say leave Evan and his quest alone.

One can tell by the interest in Figure Skating which has dropped considerably since the silly antics of ProAm Sunday afternoon nonsense competitions that the sport became either a 'kiddie sport' or a 'girlie sport'.

I don't see Evan changing that current perception of FS, but it would be great, if he did.

Joe
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
A few scratches here and there??
In FS you are in danger to broke your leg and hand, not to talk about hitting your had. What about the Jessica Dube incident or the danger of a dougnout spin.
Definitely is a very dangerous sport.

Dangerous? Sure, definitely, many tragic accidents prove that. But rougher on the body as a whole? I doubt it.
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
Considering a few things.

Pairs and no protective equipment is more dangerous than SOME extreme sports.

The workout / practice regimen of 80-90% of "x-gamers" is smoking pot, hanging with the homies and one - 2 minute constant action.

Scuba diving and Rugby are extremely dangerous as a sports, but is not considered "extreme sports" due to age demographics.

quoting Wikki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_sports
"Some contend that the distinction between an extreme sport and a conventional one is as much to do with marketing as it is to do with perceptions about levels of danger involved or the amount of adrenaline generated."

"The definition of extreme sports may have shifted over the years due to marketing trends. When the term first surfaced circa the late 1980s/early 1990s, it was used for adult sports such as skydiving, scuba diving, surfing, rock climbing, mountaineering, storm chasing, hang gliding, and bungee jumping, many of which were undergoing an unprecedented growth in popularity at the time. Outside magazine, not the X Games, epitomized the meaning of the term, and if there was a clothing style associated with extreme sports it was an "outdoorsy" look favoring brand names associated with mountaineering or backpacking such as The North Face and Patagonia, Teva sandals or hiking boots for footwear, etc."

"The high profile of extreme sports and the culture surrounding them has also led people to invent parodies, such as Extreme ironing, urban housework, extreme croquet, extreme unicycling, and house gymnastics."

So Evan is not that far off, but to try and make a connection is ludicrous in this arena, for it has taken on a different definition than once was.
 

Vodka Shot

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
I don't consider it an extreme sport. When I think of extreme sports I think of sports that are relatively new in the modern era. FS has been around a long time. I don't think football is an extreme sport either. I think more like snowboarding, rockclimbing, skateboarding etc.

Good figure skating is more art than sport to me anyway.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Wow, I would have thought of rockclimbing as more Pleistocene Epoch than "relatively new to the modern era." ;) (But, yeah, I see what you mean. :) )

Actually, I think Seanibu's quote is quite correct. The term "extreme sport" is a marketing term more than an actual sporting category. By labeling something "extreme" you are identifying the audience you are trying to target.

This may be what Lysacek is really trying to accomplish (or what USFS is trying to accomplish with Evan as their spokesman.)
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Evan's picture is on the cover of this month's International Figure Skating. There seems to be a lot of touch up and brush strokes but nonethe less he looks like he is a member of the Sharks (West Side Story).

Joe
 
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