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I think people would be roasted for being this awesome these days. This girl is absolute
and she definitely would stab your favorite skater in the back! 
Skaters back stabbing?
- Thread starter KwanIsALegend
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I think people would be roasted for being this awesome these days. This girl is absolute
and she definitely would stab your favorite skater in the back! 
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- Feb 27, 2012
Where exactly could one find hard data of this kind?
If you are able to provide a reliable source of hard data, I would be interested to take a look.
If you are not able to provide a reliable source of hard data, then I am not willing to assume that you are correct just because you say so.
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- Jan 23, 2009
Are we going to pretend figure skating isn't marketed as a glamorous rich people sport? After all, our two commentator representatives are (in)famous for their glitzy, attention-grabbing designer rotation of clothing, "hilarious" catty banter, and off-ice antics.
Who knows, maybe our sport is populated by a bunch of average, down-to-earth Joe-ettes, but no one's going to take that seriously. Especially when the original post has Tara and Johnny in them.
There are so many "elite" skaters that do not fit this model that they cannot be called exceptions.
https://youtu.be/UEg9yAyqUbc
Love these early 2000's fluff pieces.. 'we kind of hate each other'
That said it certainly does seem like skating culture has changed since then, especially among a lot of the top skaters who often seem to be hanging out together.
To kind of beat a dead horse, in the US, where there isn't really government support, skaters on average, elite or not, come from higher than median household incomes. Usfsa publishes a fact sheet that says figure skating fans have a median household income of 110,000$, which is double the average, and I would assume the demographics are similar and overlapping with skating families. Elite skating is still extremely difficult to afford even if your family makes double this amount, so that many relatively well off skaters and families still have to sacrifice a great deal. Because of this they are generally very far from behaving like the stereotype of the spoiled rich kid.
http://www.usfsa.org/content/FactSheet.pdf
Love these early 2000's fluff pieces.. 'we kind of hate each other'
That said it certainly does seem like skating culture has changed since then, especially among a lot of the top skaters who often seem to be hanging out together.To kind of beat a dead horse, in the US, where there isn't really government support, skaters on average, elite or not, come from higher than median household incomes. Usfsa publishes a fact sheet that says figure skating fans have a median household income of 110,000$, which is double the average, and I would assume the demographics are similar and overlapping with skating families. Elite skating is still extremely difficult to afford even if your family makes double this amount, so that many relatively well off skaters and families still have to sacrifice a great deal. Because of this they are generally very far from behaving like the stereotype of the spoiled rich kid.
http://www.usfsa.org/content/FactSheet.pdf
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- Jun 11, 2012
Coming to this little party a bit late so haven't read everyone's posts. First of all, I applaud Johnny for his truthfulness and I don't think his comments were made for attention or higher ratings. I think he usually tells it pretty much like it is. For example - two words - Evan Lysacek. If you don't think Evan wasn't into a little back-stabbing with Johnny than you probably didn't read all the comments he made. I do think skating is just as catty and back-stabbing as any sport where there is competition based on human judgement and something other than a timed event. The costumes, the music, the best choreographers, the coaches....it's just ripe for that kind of behavior. But, having said that, I do not think ALL skaters are brats, just as I firmly believe not all rich kids are brats. Don't much buy into these generalized sterotypes.
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Some words from Johnny Weir himself (emphases added):
I have dedicated countless hours of my life to a sport and to competing in the most prestigious and respected event in the world: The Olympics. I watched my family struggle to make ends meet, endure personal struggles with raising an Olympian and often times forgo their own happiness so that I could have a chance at my dreams. When I qualified for my first Olympic Games, my family sold one of our cars to be sure that my mother, father and brother could attend the event and see me skate for the world. If there is anyone that understands the sacrifice that myself and others like me make as young people to attain a dream so few can comprehend, it’s the family of an aspiring Olympian. Rich or poor, a family goes through everything with you. To have a boycott would not only negate the career of some athletes who have only one chance at competing at the Games, but also the over-time shifts an exhausted father takes to make ends meet, or the social acclimatization of a brother who can’t go on spring break because his brother needed another costume, or the mother who works part-time at a job far beneath her, just so she can afford to watch her first born perform for the world.
https://fcnp.com/2013/07/25/johnnys-world-the-gaylympics/
https://fcnp.com/2013/07/25/johnnys-world-the-gaylympics/
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The average US household salary is roughly $56,000, before taxes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States) This article estimates that competitive skating costs over $20,000 a year for competitors at the national level. (https://www.skatersdad.com/how-much-does-competitive-figure-skating-cost.html)
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- Feb 27, 2012
Doesn't answer the question that I asked of Blades of Passion.
Why are people so upset at the word privilege? It's not a dirty word. It doesn't diminish anybody's hard work or talents. It's just one aspect of this skating life, which is very, very expensive. Even if you have to mortgage a house to finance an elite skating career, you'd be considered relatively privileged to be able to have a house to mortgage and use as leverage.
This is not a sport for the dirt-poor — those who are very poor are simply shut out entirely, unlike other sports where you can practice and pursue it at a discount. Every aspect of skating has expenses that are difficult to cut down on: ice time, skating equipment, coaching fees, costumes, competition entry fees, travel. It's not like you can practice on your own in your backyard.
I consider it a privilege to be able to skate, and I am not at all rubbed the wrong way by acknowledging that it is my privilege to be able to afford it. It's a freaking expensive sport!
This is not a sport for the dirt-poor — those who are very poor are simply shut out entirely, unlike other sports where you can practice and pursue it at a discount. Every aspect of skating has expenses that are difficult to cut down on: ice time, skating equipment, coaching fees, costumes, competition entry fees, travel. It's not like you can practice on your own in your backyard.
I consider it a privilege to be able to skate, and I am not at all rubbed the wrong way by acknowledging that it is my privilege to be able to afford it. It's a freaking expensive sport!
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What Johnny (or Tara) says doesn't matter. What matters their behavior and what kind of image they're giving figure skating. For better or worse, these two are creating an image of a wealthy and catty duo. When they say "figure skaters" are backstabbing and catty, they should have said that they themselves are backstabbing and catty.
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It's way over 20k per year, unless you only get minimal coaching. In which case you will likely never be relevant at the elite level.
You seem to be asking for a tax report of all the parents of top American skaters, of which there is none I know of. But you hardly need that to see how well off these families are. Lipinski's father was vice president of a big company and they owned a great house. The Hughes family obviously had plenty of money. Lysacek's dad was a successful contractor. Sasha Cohen's father was a very successful lawyer. Gracie Gold's father is a doctor in a field where the average income is 350k a year. The Shibutanis father is a very successful hedge fund manager. The list goes on and on.
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I think the point is that elite level figure skating is most accessible to high income families (with sacrifices), possible for some middle class families (with many sacrifices) and basically unattainable for low income families. At least in most countries. I know in Russia things are different in that the government funds skating to a certain extent.
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- Jun 6, 2014
I feel like it also depends on the level of fan - some fans are just CRAZY!
But with Korean you never know; following kpop I have learnt the language can be translated so many ways that give such different meaning so I think you are spot on about google translate!
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- Jan 25, 2013
Regarding the OP, I distinctly remember being told to always watch my skates at competitions because of competitors tampering with equipment. I'm sure it was just gossip but the way some guys acted on the ice (I remember at sectionals when one guy almost bowled me over during a practice and told me to "****ing Move!") I wouldn't be surprised if some were actually that cutthroat. It's really sad -- I know some kids are emotionally invested and their parents are financially invested, but I for one would never let my kid step on the ice again on my dime if I found out they sabotaged someone else.
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- Feb 27, 2012
You're the one who suggested looking at how much money the average elite skater's parents make.
I would look at the numbers if you had them.
But you do not have them.
And we could make an anecdotal list of elite skaters whose families are not in that financial league. A list that also would go on and on.- Joined
- Feb 24, 2012
I wonder about the Reeds who switch countries and keep on competing in the hopes of just competing at the olympics - I don't think any of them have come close to a world medal - maybe at a B event? I wonder what their family does that allows them to be so cavalier about countries. But there are definitely some amazing stories of hard luck or hard work among very rich ie Tara's oil exec dad, even struggling Linda Fratianne's dad was a judge (hardly poor). As for the topic of backstabbling I read in Liz Manley's autobiography her story when she was depressed, overweight and losing her hair and how the national champion Kay Thomson made fun of her lack of hair and mocked her offering her hair spray when she hardly had any hair. Years later I beliieve the story was that Liz was in Vegas watching Nudes on Ice and there was Kay skating away au natural. I guess that is cattiness.
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No actually you can't make such a list. Try and let's see. Also, those examples are people who are well above average, not just 'above average', which is what I stated originally. Your opposing list will be exceedingly small.
Sorry, but that is such an "entitled white American" thing to say. There was nothing amazing or particularly difficult that Tara's family had to go through in order for her to skate, as compared to the lives most people are forced to live. Forced. Not getting to CHOOSE to skate.
It probably is a catty sport. I mean, it's inevitable anytime you put a bunch of rich teenage girls in a room together.
Uhm, as if it were any different if you put a bunch of poor teenagers in a room together ... I think the keyword here is teenager not rich or poor.
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Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, Agnes Zawadzki, Ashley Wagner, the above-mentioned Johnny Weir, Rudy Galindo, ...
And "well above average" is what you said in the post that I have quoted more than once.
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