Another thing that has changed in figure skating, especially since about the mid-'90s is the role of professional skating. I can't recall the exact year, but prior to sometime in the mid-'90s, Olympic eligible skaters were truly amateurs in that they could only make a certain amount of money performing their sport and they couldn't do endorsements. The big money came after you had won at least one World title and the OGM, at least for skaters in capitalist countries.
So most skaters would train like crazy for 4 to 6 years and then go join a touring ice show. Peggy Fleming did Ice Capades and also got to do TV specials. After their "Bolero" took the world by storm in '84, Torvill and Dean toured for several years as "Torvill and Dean and the Russian All-Stars," which was, I believe, the first time Soviet skaters could tour outside the USSR, though I don't know how much of their salary they got to keep and how much went to the then Soviet Federation.
Dorothy Hamill won her OGM in the Ice Capades era, as did Scott Hamilton and Roz Sumners her OSM. Sometime between '84 and '88, Scott Hamilton, frustrated with, "Is this it?" skating for Ice Capades founded Stars on Ice and what was eventually named Champions on Ice was also founded around the same time, though I'm not at sure about its history.
The point is, a pro career was the payoff for winning big during an intense but relatively short competitive career. Unless you won your first OGM at 16, such as Katerina Witt, or 16 and 20 for Gordeeva and Grinkov, respectively, the idea of going for two Olympics was not considered, with the exception of the "leap winter Olympics" of '92 and '94 so the IOC could alternate the winter and summer games every two years.
Therefore, Michelle and Irina and those who have come after them are the first generation of skaters to compete under the system in which the big money comes with competition instead of professional skating. Though skating with a pro tour can be grueling, especially SOI, you're not expected to do quads or 3/3s. If you're with COI, you do one 3-4 minute number during which even the marquee skaters may only do three triple jumps. Now, skaters such as Michelle, Irina, and Sasha for the ladies; Plush and Weir for the men; and various pairs teams do both in terms of COI. That is, the both compete and do COI. Only if you join SOI and are a US skater is your Olympic eligibility revoked. (That's a different thread.)
Anyway, people are talking about no places to rest during an LP. How about no places to rest for the top skaters during the year? When a skater is climbing the ladder, s/he/they may do the entire GP series, all the cheesefests, Nationals, Worlds, and then go on tour, plus the Olympics given the year. I see this change in figure skating as at least an equal contributor to higher injury rates as the COP, given how much we DON'T know at this point.
As for the COP restricting creativity, I say baloney. I think it's a matter of skaters and choreographers getting used to the COP and using it to be creative. An analogy may be Film Noir of the '40s and '50s. The Hayes' Code put all kinds of restrictions on what could be said or shown on film, so creative directors who wanted to make films about the darker aspects of life learned to imply all the "hot" stuff. Similarly, I think that once those invovled in skating learn to work with it, we'll see more creativity, not less. Of course, some people, both fans and those in skating will never like the COP. That's their prerogative, but it's also creating a problem for themselves that isn't going away, at least for the skaters. Fans at least can give up watching.
I know I often use this example, but it's because I thought it was such a striking piece of choreography, which is Tarasova's black&white "Swan Lake" for Sasha Cohen. It had some of the most creative choreography I'd seenn in years and was certainly artistically expressive. Weir's "Otonal" was also created under COP, as well as Suguri's "Paint It Black" SP, plus Arakawa's World gold medal LP--all beautifually creative, at least for me. And there is in the COP reward for "expression of the music" and other choreographic issues, which to my mind belong in the creativity category.
I think right now skaters are focused on the technical big point grabbers, but I believe it's the natural reaction to any new system. Go for the objective stuff like spins and jumps, things a federation can't argue over. But I do believe that the judges have, do, and will reward those skaters wiho have the best balance between technical content and aesthetic expression.
In other words, I think a basically clean program (no falls) that affects the judges' emotions, whether it be excitement, ie, Irina '05 Worlds, or "lump in the throat," ie, Kwan '98 Nationals, will garner higher scores than a clean program of equal or similar point value that's just blah. However, I would NOT want to have a "degree of emotion" section in the COP. After all, some judges' lump in the throat could be a real yawn for other judges. I think there are enough ways for skaters to build in artistry and emotion under the COP. Great choreographers such as Tarasova, Lori Nichol, and LeeAnn Miller did so under the 6.0 system and continue to do so under COP. But nobody's going to hit one out of the rink every time. Choreographers, just like skaters, have their up and down years too.
And I think both Michelle and Sasha are genuinely hurt as much as they and their physicians say they are and I wish all skaters who may get injured this season that they recover in time to bring A game to the Olympics.
Rgirl
