What Was Your Intro to Figure Skating?

I know we've had this topic before, but since we're in between competitions at the moment, and most topics have been thoroughly covered from our favorite program, skater etc I thought this might be fun. Just say whatever comes to mind. Maybe you attended Ice Capades, or Holiday on Ice as a child and thought wow I want to do that! or you fell in love with skating watching some of the earlier champions like Toller Cranston, Karen Magnussen, Janet Lynn, etc. Anyway here goes:

I remember seeing Donald Jackson on TV - in black and white! - skating at the Prauge 1962 World Figure Skating championships.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alrsemq_mzQ

I didn't really think about taking up FS then, just thought wow! We were actually living in California near Redding and it did not snow there. We then moved to Susanville which was higher in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, so it does snow there and one winter my mom and dad surprised me with a pair of figure skates - the boots were blue with gray fur trim at the top of the boots. I remember them well. I was thrilled! My dad took me to an outdoor pond, but it wasn't until we moved back to Canada - Prince George, BC that I really got the opportunity to learn to skate. My mom signed me up with the Prince George figure skating club. My dad made a small skating rink in our back yard for me to practice on. That was it! I spent hours out there practicing what I learned in my lessons. Since then it's been a life long love affair with Figure Skating. Though I did continue to skate for many years,and wanted to skate like Karen Magnussen, I didn't compete, but only skated for the love of skating. I've pretty much just become an "arm chair" expert now, admiring all the great skaters I've seen over the years and going to competitions and Ice Shows. Thank goodness for Youtube, I've been enjoying a look back at some of my favorite skaters and programs.

My figure skates still sit in my skating bag, waiting for me to put them on and take a turn around the rink! I hope I will again one day!!!


May the joy of skating live on forever!

The usual, to watch olympic games on tv, 1998. It is a shame that OG are not televised anymore in my country, less opportunity to new fans or new figure skaters.

But if you are talking about when I became an obsessive fan, it was watching Mao Asada FD GPF 2007 on YT.

I think it was a re-run of this Peggy Fleming Skating Special that cemented my love and desire to skate. I remember staying up late, which at that time was probably 7pm to watch it with my family and just being fascinated.....

Here's Peggy on ABC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnyVYYFfMmk

I was born in the mid-90s, so I missed out on a lot of iconic figure skating moments I actually don't remember the first time I watched figure skating, but I do have vague memories of going skating when I was a little kid, and wanting to be like Michelle Kwan or Kristi Yamaguchi, so I must have absorbed something of the '98 Olympics lol. My figure skater Barbie was always my favorite.

I really became a skating fan during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Plushenko's exhibition program to Je Suis Malade grabbed me with all of the hair flipping and arm flailing drama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI7twzo0css

I think I watched figure skating before at the 2014 Olympics, but it didn't catch my interest much. The above was the first time I saw the true beauty of it. I was mesmerized.

edit: Since a few people mentioned actually going skating, I went once when I was 9ish. I fell all over the rink and though it was kind of nice to glide along I never went back

Peggy Fleming winning her gold medal at Grenoble, 1968. I've been watching ever since.
At Nationals, I was sitting next to a young man and he asked how long I've been a fan of the sport. "Fifty years", I replied, feeling about 100 years old.
I tried to skate several times over the years but sadly, the ladies in my family are better built for roller derby.

I’m still kinda new school but it all started on a winter night in 2002 in a place called Salt Lake City.

https://youtu.be/JDWCrlkloPA

I grew up on ponds and my mom and sister did some small spins growing up. I was the little hockey dude who tried stuff but it wasn’t really until Sasha that I looked at skating as a really cool sport and not just something people did at the pond for fun.

My parents taking me to the local rink and sticking me on the ice when I was around 2. I loved it, and all was said and done at that point.

Calgary 88! Still the iconic figure skating games of all time IMO (except for in ice dance). Ekaterina Gordeeva totally became my skating idol as a kid and I used to tape all the G&G performances I could catch on TV.

European Championships 1994 - Maria Butyrskaya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5sRk-mpC4Q&t=195s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POcVjSr9W9U

Ladskater said:

Maybe you attended Ice Capades, or Holiday on Ice as a child and thought wow I want to do that!

Click to expand...

That was me (except for the "I want to do that" part. )

Growing up in a then-small and off the beaten track town, not much entertainment came our way in the form of touring plays, music concerts, etc. But the Ice Capades came every year around Christmas and t was something special. The first time I went with my family, boy that was cool! There was a big dog on skates (two guys in a dog suit), which was my favorite. After while a tiny lady came out and skated around, but that was not so interesting. (Ny Dad explained that she was the World Champion, but hey, she wasn't two guys in a dog suit.)

When I became a teenager, the Ice Capades was the big high-class date. If you took your girl friend to the Ice Capades, you were a classy fellow!

I've posted this a billion times on here by now, but V/M at the 2010 Olympics really got me into it. I thought they were stars.

Albertville 1992 Mishkutenok & Dmitriev - mesmerizing

I started in 1988 with Gordeeva/Grinkov. I just loved them. I still remember where I was when I heard about Sergei's death.

I only followed pairs until the adorable Sasha Cohen arrived on the scene.

It was 1994 when the Nancy and Tonya debacle was mainstream news. I’m git sucked into the story and decided the actual skating part looked pretty cool. I was right

Kim Yuna Olympics 2010 fs. It was on those highlights of the day replay.

It was skaters such as Janet Lynn, John Misha Petkevich, Charlie Tickner, Jojo & Ken, Tai & Randy that I remember. But to be honest, it was probably just as much Dick Button's commentary and ABC's coverage that drew me in. The skating coverage was well organized and they did an excellent job getting you excited to watch and then explaining how it all worked.

Torvill and Dean '84 games by the even more ancient ancientpeas, my dad.

Born into it. Mom is a figure skating coach. She taught me and I just continued taking lessons from her as I got older. She’s actually a great technical coach but is waaaaaayyyyyyyyy too headstrong to deal with insane skating moms so she mostly teaches small children where it isn’t so serious yet lol

In terms of picking a performance that got me into the sport as a spectator really - this one, by the absolute king himself Daisuke. Phenomenal, and that wasn’t even his best program.

Everyone's connection to figure skating is personal and unique, but we all have the same connection, the love of figure skating. Pretty much every Canadian kid learns to skate at some point whether it's to be the next World or Olympic FS champion or to be the next Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby! Skating is in our blood here in Canada. It's a favorite pass time growing up. I always loved skating out doors in Prince George, there was certain feeling of freedom and fresh air about it. Healthy way to grow up too! Thanks all.