- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Who would you single out as a person who has had an immense influence on the sport of figure skating over the years?
I think Dick Button is a strong candidate. He invented the modern technique of jumping as "spinning in the air." For better or worse, this made jumps the dominant feature of competitive free skating, which it still is today. Then he went on to become the voice of figure skating in the U.S. for 40 years.
A recent candidate of a different type would be Elaine Zayak. Purely by accident, she gave her name to a set if rules that dominates the ISU Judging System. A thousand years from now, no one will remember who "Zayak" was, but they will still be debating and refining the "Zayak rules" (while driving their "Zamboni's" ).
In the same vein there is the famous "Witt rule" -- the rule that says, hey, girl, you better add some feathers to that costume and cover your behind.
I think Dick Button is a strong candidate. He invented the modern technique of jumping as "spinning in the air." For better or worse, this made jumps the dominant feature of competitive free skating, which it still is today. Then he went on to become the voice of figure skating in the U.S. for 40 years.
A recent candidate of a different type would be Elaine Zayak. Purely by accident, she gave her name to a set if rules that dominates the ISU Judging System. A thousand years from now, no one will remember who "Zayak" was, but they will still be debating and refining the "Zayak rules" (while driving their "Zamboni's" ).
In the same vein there is the famous "Witt rule" -- the rule that says, hey, girl, you better add some feathers to that costume and cover your behind.