Eyria said:
I don't think I agree with the argument that skaters are too exhausted to go to Worlds after the Olympics. Nor do I agree that the skating season has too many events.
I mean, for goodness sake, NBA players participate in 82 games or more a season, traveling all the time. Tennis players play in who knows how many tournaments a season--at least 20--under much tougher conditions than skaters face (extreme heat and sun, multi-hour matches). And baseball players play even more games than NBA players, also while traveling.
Eyria,
The difference I see is that figure skating is a highly specialized, highly demanding individualized sport whereas some of the sports you mentioned, such as basketball and baseball, are team sports. Not that these players don't work hard, but think how many pro, ie, elite, baseball, basketball, football, soccer, etc. players there are vs. how many elite figure skaters there are. The fact that there are only a handful in the world who can consistently skate a clean high-level program speaks volumes, at least to me, about the physical prowess needed and mental pressures on a competitive figure skater. Also, if your team is going to the equivalent of the World Championships for your sport and you get injured and can't participate, the team can still win. In figure skating, the skater is the team, or in pairs and ice dancing, the team can't go on without both skaters.
As for tennis, it is definitely a highly demanding sport physically, but it doesn't carry with it the high-risk elements that figure skating does. Also, figure skaters are younger than most tennis players. And as we've seen with teenage tennis phenoms over the past 20 years, a lot of them can't take the pressure, eg, Jennifer Capriotti.
I'd compare figure skating to a sport such as gymnastics. There are only a few major gymnastics competitions a year for elite gymnasts because of the toll gymnastics takes on the body. Also, like figure skating, the women in the sport are younger than female athletes in other sports, which makes them more vulnerable to injury because the skeleton is not fully developed and less able to handle the mental pressures because of less maturity and also because of trying to balance school with their sport. This seemed to be a factor in Sarah's decision not to go to Worlds.
Finally, elite figure skaters train at a very high level of intensity during the figure skating season. Because of the way things are spread out right now, there's no time that a top skater can really take off for more than a week or 10 days at the most. Because the training sessions are so highly focused--being either just the skater and the coach, choreographer, or off-ice trainer--it's a matter of physical, mental, and emotional stress. I'm not saying skaters are exhausted in the sense that they just can't drag themselves to Worlds. However, if you've ever prepared intensely for anything over a period of weeks--midterms, finals, the SATs, a business deal, whatever--and experienced the post "exam-high exhaustion" that gives you some idea of what figure skaters go through after every competition.
I think what has happened with the increase in number of events is that skaters can only go "up and down" so many times a season before they start to burn out, both physically and mentally. It's not something everyone can control, depending on individual differences. With the super pressure of the Olympics, which is basically like Super Worlds, I think a lot of skaters who win the OGM, crash out after that high and simply can't get it back up in time for Worlds, especially when there is no real incentive to do so. Anyway, I think there are a lot of good things to the GP series and the ISU cheesefests, which I mentioned, but I think they do impact on the number of skaters who choose to go onto Worlds after they've won the Olympics. If a skater's goal is to win so many World championships or so many in a row, eg Yagudin, nothing short of severe injury is going to keep that skater from going to Worlds. But if the OGM is the skater's goal and they've achieved everything else, I can completely understand him/her not going to Worlds. After all, if they do anything less than win Worlds, it tarnishes their Olympic achievement. In those cases, I think the risks outweigh the benefits.
Mathman said:
I disagree about the cheesefests, Rgirl. There's nothing wrong with making money, whether you are a performer or the ISU. Plus, the public gets to see their favorites in a venue that is more for fun than for nail-biting competition (such as the International Figure Skating challenge in Detroit, LOL.) Then, too, if your take on the Grand Prix is the right one -- that it's purpose is to allow younger and less experienced skaters to be seen by the judges -- then the top people could skip this series, as Michelle and others have chosen to do lately.
Mathman,
ITA. That's why I said those things about the GP series. However I think it gets to be a catch-22. A skater starts out wanting to get GP assignments so s/he can get experience, exposure in front of international judges, and hopefully prize money and wants to get invited to ISU events for some of the same reasons--plus as you said, the fans like it and it makes money for the ISU (they hope). Then once the skater becomes top ranked and a crowd draw by doing what they mean to do--win and get lots of fans--they're inundated with offers, not only for the GP and ISU series, but for touring, which, lest we forget, starts right after Worlds. So once they achieve what they want, things may get so demanding that in an Olympic year, they may be too injured or burned out to attend Worlds.
With added touring, it's not as if the top ranked skaters are only skating from September through April; they're skating from September through July, with only August off. Even though the last three months is show skating, touring is exhausting. It's even worse for a lot of skaters who have minor injuries, which may need only about four weeks to heal, but that four weeks can cost them upwards of $50,000.
Okay, then, skip a cheesefest. Okay, then risk being in the doghouse with your federation and the ISU. Sasha is already talking about doing only two GP events next fall instead of all three, and IMO, that's how it should work. But will the venue she decides to skip make waves because they'll lose ticket sales? Same thing with the ISU CFs. If a marquee skater decides to skip one, that venue is going to be POd because they won't have the ticket sales.
Like I said, there are a lot of good things to these added events, but there are also some negatives, and I think skating Worlds after you've won the OGM is one of them for a lot of skaters. Also, if you notice, the one discipline where skaters do not tend to skip Worlds after the Olympics is ice dance. Of the four disciplines, ice dance is the least physical intensity. Ice dancing is certainly difficult, but it doesn't require the kind of high-risk motor skills that singles or pairs skating does. The injury rates in ice dancing are not as great, the injuries are not as severe, and ice dancers both peak at a later age and can skate at their peak longer than the other disciplines. I just think the ISU and the individual federations need to take a look at the all the competitive and show expectations put on top skaters, and reconsider their priorities with regard to the skaters and the competitive events.
Rgirl
