Well, if you had been born 104 years earlier you would be the same age as Madge Syers.
Yes, that was a totally awesome part of figure skating history. In 1902 Madge Syers noticed that the rules of the ISU did not specifically forbid ladies from competing in the world championship.
Sort of like when Babe the Pig found out that you didn't have to be a dog to compete in the sheep-herding contest. The organizers of the event never in a million years thought any such thing would ever happen. Imagine! A pig wanting to herd sheep or a lady wanting to participate in athletics!
So when Syers signed up for the World Championship the ISU had no way to keep her out. She finished second to Ulrich Salchow (there is a legend that Salchow gallantly offered Syers his medal, acknowledging that she was the better skater, but that story is probably apochrophal.)
Anyway, the response of the ISU was swift. They immediately passed a rule instituting secret judging...on no, wait, that was 2002. They immediately passed a rule prohibiting women from competing. The reason: when ladies skate in ankle length dresses, the judges can't see their feet, so they can't give a fair evaluation of their talent.
Show a little ankle, now, that was another story! Syers cut off her skirt at mid-calf (starting a fashion trend, much like Dorothy Hamill's haircut) and entered the 1903 British Open Championship, which was not an ISU event and did not prohibit women. She won the gold medal, and her husband won silver.
Finally in 1906 the ISU initiated a women's world championship alongside the separate but equal men's. Syers won, becoming the first ladies' world champion. She won again in 1907 and was the gold medalist (ladies) at the 1908 Olympics. (She and her husband got bronze in pairs -- I think we can see who was the weak sister in that partnership.
)
I guess in the long run the ladies had the last laugh. Once Sonia Henie burst onto the scene (even shorter skirt), ladies' skating pretty much took over, in terms of public interest.
But in 2010 the pendulum swung back the other way, as Patrick Chan and Takahiko Kozuka made everyone forget all about Mao Asada and Yuna Kim at the Vancouver Olys. Even the return of Michelle Kwan could not wrest the spotlight from the gentlemen's side of the sport.
You know my position so well so that you know the answer. Besides, the points in your last a couple of posts, either I have already stated my position clearly in my previous posts, or I see no points to discuss it further because without A, there is no point to discuss B.
