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- Dec 29, 2013
Is there any HD footage of Mariah Bell out there? I've not been able to find any.
Random Figure Skating Questions
- Thread starter tulosai
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- Feb 27, 2012
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- Dec 29, 2013
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- Oct 25, 2012
Right, I've been saving up a few stupid questions over the past few weeks, to bring out when there's not much else happening.
So, seeing as I have now posted the comment that brought one of them to mind, it is probably an appropriate time to ask it.
When researching my Sonia Lafuente Fan Fest, I was surprised to find that she is actually from the Canary Islands. Which, technically, means she is from Africa. And this started me thinking...
Over the years, we have seen quite a few figure skaters from South Africa. But, what about the rest of the continent?
Off the top of my head, I can only think of two, both of whom are Junior skaters from the northern part of the continent:
To try to find more, I went through the results from every edition of the Four Continents Championships since they started. And I was surprised to find that, apart from South Africa, no country in Africa has ever been represented at Four Continents! (I was expecting to find somebody from Zimbabwe or Zambia).
And then I went to the Figure Skating at the Olympics page on Wikipedia, and again found that South Africa was the only African country to be represented!
So, can anybody else think of any other skaters from Africa? (And, if anybody even thinks of mentioning Surya...)
CaroLiza_fan
So, seeing as I have now posted the comment that brought one of them to mind, it is probably an appropriate time to ask it.
When researching my Sonia Lafuente Fan Fest, I was surprised to find that she is actually from the Canary Islands. Which, technically, means she is from Africa. And this started me thinking...
Over the years, we have seen quite a few figure skaters from South Africa. But, what about the rest of the continent?
Off the top of my head, I can only think of two, both of whom are Junior skaters from the northern part of the continent:
- Yasmina ELHARIM, from Morocco.
- Amira ABDUL MOATI, the Russo-Egyptian skater who competed in the UAE Nationals in April (she doesn't have an ISU Bio yet, so see this thread for more info).
To try to find more, I went through the results from every edition of the Four Continents Championships since they started. And I was surprised to find that, apart from South Africa, no country in Africa has ever been represented at Four Continents! (I was expecting to find somebody from Zimbabwe or Zambia).
And then I went to the Figure Skating at the Olympics page on Wikipedia, and again found that South Africa was the only African country to be represented!
So, can anybody else think of any other skaters from Africa? (And, if anybody even thinks of mentioning Surya...)
CaroLiza_fan
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- Jul 26, 2003
The ice dancer Anna Yanovskaya was born in the United Arab Emirates. Which, being on the Arabian Peninsula, I guess it could be called Africa?
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- Oct 25, 2012
Traditionally, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea are used as the dividing line between Africa and Asia, as they form part of the Great Rift Valley.
Hence, the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula are normally classed as being in Asia.
However, neither of these Peninsulae are on the Eurasian Plate. The Sinai Peninsula is actually on the African tectonic plate, while the Arabian Peninsula (along with most of the Middle East) is on it's own tectonic plate, the Arabian Plate.
Why is this part of the world always so complicated?!
CaroLiza_fan
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- Jul 26, 2003
Exactly!
And the "continents" defined by the ISU do not match those in the geography book. Israel, says the ISU, is in Europe. So perhaps they might put UAE in Africa?
And the "continents" defined by the ISU do not match those in the geography book. Israel, says the ISU, is in Europe. So perhaps they might put UAE in Africa?
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- Oct 25, 2012
And it's not just the ISU. Israel's state broadcaster is part of the European Broadcasting Union, which is why it can enter the Eurovision Song Contest. And in football, Isreal is a member of UEFA, the European confederation.
I just looked up which football confereration the UAE is a member of, and it is the Asian one, the AFC.
So, it is all down to Isreal trying to distinguish itself from it's Arab neighbours by branding itself as a "Western" country that is causing the confusion.
Oh, the joys of Middle Eastern politics!
CaroLiza_fan
As far as the ISU is concerned, there's just Europe and Everywhere Else. There's no need to distinguish between the different parts of Everywhere Else in terms of continents -- they're all eligible for the Four Continents Championship as opposed to European Championship.
At one point, back when Chait & Sakhnovski were skating, the TV commentator during the broadcast stated that athletes from Israel were invited to compete at Europeans because it wouldn't be safe for them to compete in a more regional competition. Of course, it's not as if a TV commentator was ever incorrect. LOL.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
BTW/FYI, just noticed that Skate Canada has redesigned its website.
Not saying that your complaints will not remain.
Just saying that it looks different. And obviously was not worth starting a new thread for this FYI.
ETA, ... the Latest Results page is only partly functional for me. It has the 2014-15 results. But links to archived results do not show up at the bottom of the page.
eta, FYI for Doris, re Paradis/Ouellette fan thread:
In case it helps, I have looked up the date/location information on the Quebec section site for the comps corresponding to the videos on Ustream.
I have edited everything into an old post of mine:
http://goldenskate.com/forum/showth...er-Ouellette&p=1167254&viewfull=1#post1167254
I have edited everything into an old post of mine:
http://goldenskate.com/forum/showth...er-Ouellette&p=1167254&viewfull=1#post1167254
Thanks for editing a Mariah Bell pkg for us
. I hope she has seen it.
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- Jul 31, 2014
I think that is the same reason given in football/soccer for why Israel is part of Europe.
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- Jun 21, 2003
According to Anaxamander (6th century BCE):
https://peripluscd.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/anaximandre-6th-century-bce.png
This just made my evening!
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
Thank you, Mathman.
Okay, possibly really stupid question:
I see most of female single skaters wear leggings in practice and dresses in competition.
Does it make difference? I mean, I think dresses could get more air friction(air resistance?) during rotations. Same way, do hair styles-pony tail, bun, or long untied hair, etc-make any difference in jump?
Recently, I discovered that garments with tons of beads could become quite heavy. Could it also affect skaters?
I see most of female single skaters wear leggings in practice and dresses in competition.
Does it make difference? I mean, I think dresses could get more air friction(air resistance?) during rotations. Same way, do hair styles-pony tail, bun, or long untied hair, etc-make any difference in jump?
Recently, I discovered that garments with tons of beads could become quite heavy. Could it also affect skaters?
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
In my experience, it doesn't make much of a difference. Depending on the material, the skirt itself can be quite light. Beading on the actual body suit doesn't make any difference. I mean, a hoodie's heavier and people jump fine in that. Long hair can be a hindrance in that it gets in your face but other than that, it doesn't really matter. Whenever you get a new costume, you practice a bit in it to make sure it doesn't impede your ability to jump and move. If it does, changes need to be made.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
A question to those who speaks both English and Russian - what is the proper English equivalent to the Russian term "скольжение"? sliding? gliding? footwork? I'm at a loss each time when I have to translate it, and the dictionaries are of no use here, they don't specify this word as a figure skating term... 
