a look at the littlest ice princesses

http://nytimes.com/2005/04/22/travel/escapes/22skate.html?pagewanted=1

An interesting article about a young skater at a competition,and how figure skating impacts her family

Wow! 5'7" at 12? There haven't been many female singles skaters that tall. Only Jennifer Robinson comes to mind, and it's doubtful if she was that tall at 12. You wonder if Megan will be able to stick it out when the jumps don't come quite so easily.

Lol, its really hard being a tall skater. I'm twelve too, but I'm 5'9.

SparkleSk8er, but you have one huge advantage being tall -- you will look great in all your skating outfits. When you are tall like a model, your dresses will kind of drape down over your body from your shoulders, creating a beautiful long line (like Tatiana Navka).

Mathman

First Love

The ice princess in the story's first love was her horses... shame because that was an activity that she and her father enjoyed together. Not only that, with a 10 acre farm, mom and dad had centered their lives around horses before figure skating came on the scene.

Johnny Weir also made the same choice. Could ride a horse and figure skate also because they both took up Saturdays.

I loved figure skating but couldn't wait to have a horse and a farm. My choice was the opposite of this young lady's. Wish her all the luck in the world.

BTW, tall is GREAT for horseback riders.

Linny

My favorite name of the skaters they photographed is "Thankful Cromartie." It makes for some interesting combinations, such as, "You're welcome, Thankful." Seriously, lovely name.


This was my favorite paragraph:
<<Interest in the sport waxes and wanes. US Figure Skating had 171,739 members last year, up from about 139,000 five years ago. But those in the skating world say they feel interest is soft, in part because of the opening up of other sports to girls. "The No. 1 competition figure skating has in the U.S. is women's hockey," Mr. Barksdale said. The most significant factor behind the decline is probably simple timing. It has been three years since the Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, and about a year until they return, to Turin, Italy. "Every four years business rebounds," Mr. Barksdale said. "If you want to know the business plan for figure skating, it's the Olympics.">>

I think someone on GS noted the influence of Title 9 on figure skating. Thanks for the link, Bronxgirl. Interesting article.

Rgirl

The tallest female skater I recall, was Lisa-Marie Allen from the States. She skated and competed during the 70s.

Ladskater said:

The tallest female skater I recall, was Lisa-Marie Allen from the States. She skated and competed during the 70s.

Click to expand...

How tall was she?

What about Jo Jo Starbuck? Wasn't she really tall, or was her partner really short?

Then there was Rachel Meyer of the dance team of Rachel Meyer and Peter Breen (they went to the Olympics in 1992)-- she was really tall as well.

Nice article.

Lisa Marie was 5'8 or 5'9. I remember reading how her height really affected her on her falls. As she hit the ice , the fall would whip her whole body (I'm thinking that she couldn't control her head and limbs) and she would splay out on the ice.