After watching the first two days of the Spring Star, I thought now would be a good time to re-visit a topic that was last discussed back in spring 2014.
Here is the previous thread:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/50912
And there is also a discussion about glasses from a few months earlier in a more general thread, which starts with this post from yours truly:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/831452
Now to explain why this topic came back into my head.
At the Spring Star, the COVID-19 precautions mean that the skaters are given a plastic box to put their belongings into. This box then gets handed back to the skater by person who opens the gate when they come off the ice at the end of their programme. For nearly all the skaters, the first thing they do is take out their skate guards and put them on. But, when Ul'yana HOMICH (BLR) came off the ice and was handed her box, the first thing she did was to take out a pair of glasses and put them on. And this was the case after both her SP and FS.
Judging by her actions, I take it that she is like me and is as blind as a bat when not wearing her glasses. And so, getting them on as soon as possible was the priority.
For her FS on Friday, she was skating to this song:
Kadebostany - "Castle In The Snow"
And the funny thing is that it includes the following lines:
In our previous discussion, a lot of skaters were mentioned who use contact lenses when skating. But, the fact that she put her glasses on makes it obvious that Ul'yana was not doing this. She was skating without being able to see properly. With how bad my eyesight is, I know I wouldn't be able to do the things she was doing without any help. So, I am in awe of her!
During a Podium Ceremony later in the day, we saw that Rodion KOZLOVSKIJ (BLR) also wears glasses. However, he didn't bother to put them on after his programmes. So, I assume his eyesight isn't as bad.
The lack of sponsors on the boards presents an added problem. I know he was talking about the effects of the speeds they are going at, but it reminds me of a famous quote from my hero, the late motorbike racer Joey Dunlop:
But, when you have plain white boards around the ice, a person who only sees coloured blurs can't distinguish where the ice ends and the boards begin.
Anyway, the skaters that were mentioned the last time who either wear glasses when off ice, or who have issues with their eyesight, are:
That is rather a long list!
@Imagine mentioned Shizuka Arakawa wearing glasses during a programme, but we were not sure if it was just part of her costume or whether she does normally wear glasses. And we have seen pictures of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva wearing glasses now and again, but with Liza you can never tell whether she actually needs them or she is just modelling them.
It is now nearly seven years down the line from that thread. There are bound to be a lot of skaters that we have found out about since then.
Ul'yana Homich and Rodion Kozlovskij are my new discoveries. So, who else can we add?
CaroLiza_fan
Here is the previous thread:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/50912
And there is also a discussion about glasses from a few months earlier in a more general thread, which starts with this post from yours truly:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/831452
Now to explain why this topic came back into my head.
At the Spring Star, the COVID-19 precautions mean that the skaters are given a plastic box to put their belongings into. This box then gets handed back to the skater by person who opens the gate when they come off the ice at the end of their programme. For nearly all the skaters, the first thing they do is take out their skate guards and put them on. But, when Ul'yana HOMICH (BLR) came off the ice and was handed her box, the first thing she did was to take out a pair of glasses and put them on. And this was the case after both her SP and FS.
Judging by her actions, I take it that she is like me and is as blind as a bat when not wearing her glasses. And so, getting them on as soon as possible was the priority.
For her FS on Friday, she was skating to this song:
Kadebostany - "Castle In The Snow"
And the funny thing is that it includes the following lines:
"I cannot see anything
I am blindfolded"
I am blindfolded"
In our previous discussion, a lot of skaters were mentioned who use contact lenses when skating. But, the fact that she put her glasses on makes it obvious that Ul'yana was not doing this. She was skating without being able to see properly. With how bad my eyesight is, I know I wouldn't be able to do the things she was doing without any help. So, I am in awe of her!
During a Podium Ceremony later in the day, we saw that Rodion KOZLOVSKIJ (BLR) also wears glasses. However, he didn't bother to put them on after his programmes. So, I assume his eyesight isn't as bad.
The lack of sponsors on the boards presents an added problem. I know he was talking about the effects of the speeds they are going at, but it reminds me of a famous quote from my hero, the late motorbike racer Joey Dunlop:
"There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one."
But, when you have plain white boards around the ice, a person who only sees coloured blurs can't distinguish where the ice ends and the boards begin.
Anyway, the skaters that were mentioned the last time who either wear glasses when off ice, or who have issues with their eyesight, are:
- Jeremy Abbott
- Jason Brown
- Jeffrey Buttle
- Alissa Czisny
- Meryl Davis
- Charles Dion
- Zachary Donohue
- Meagan Duhamel
- Javier FernƔndez
- Christina Gao
- Dorothy Hamill
- Brooklee Han
- Yuzuru Hanyu
- Jan Hofmann
- Midori Ito
- Kim Yuna
- Carolina Kostner
- Maxim Kovtun
- Andrew Lum
- Evan Lysacek
- Mirai Nagasu
- Larry Pierce
- Joannie Rochette
- Alex Shibutani
- Daisuke Takahashi
- Ashley Wagner
- Angela Wang
- Charlie White
- Kristi Yamaguchi
That is rather a long list!
@Imagine mentioned Shizuka Arakawa wearing glasses during a programme, but we were not sure if it was just part of her costume or whether she does normally wear glasses. And we have seen pictures of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva wearing glasses now and again, but with Liza you can never tell whether she actually needs them or she is just modelling them.
It is now nearly seven years down the line from that thread. There are bound to be a lot of skaters that we have found out about since then.
Ul'yana Homich and Rodion Kozlovskij are my new discoveries. So, who else can we add?
CaroLiza_fan