I have been a fan of ice skating for most of my life. I loved going to ice shows when they came to town and loved to skate, even though my skating was confined to roller rinks since there wasn’t an ice rink in El Paso at the time. When I was about 12, my mother gave me her old boot roller skates and I did all my skating a rink in the park near my house. The floor was coated with rubber, so it was a quieter, and slightly slower, surface than wooden floor rinks. I also came home frequently with rubber burns on my knees and hands from falls and the usual sprained wrist because I was always prone to catching myself on my hands or knees rather than my bottom.
When I moved to Los Angeles, I started ice skating. One of my roommates was also a big skating fan and we used to go to the Laurel Canyon rink regularly. We took lessons and as we began to learn more about skating, also learned to appreciate the show and competitive skaters more and more. It’s easy to underestimate how difficult the jumps and spins they are doing actually are unless you’ve tried it and understand the difference between an inside and outside edge and how you actually the perform the jump properly. I’ve known a lot of people who could hop around on ice and look like they’re jumping, but it isn’t with the technique that makes them a top ice skater. I never reached that level either. I was lucky to do a few simple spins, a waltz jump and some decent spirals.
I followed the successes of our American figure skaters, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton and Kristi Yamaguchi with passion and great pride. Then in the mid-1990’s, a young lady named Michelle Kwan dominated the sport. She was, and probably still is, the best and most consistent figure skater to ever compete. She could bring tears to my eyes with the beauty, grace and quality of her skating. It’s still incredible that she didn’t win an Olympic medal in her two attempts – that on those days, the most consistent and highly acclaimed skater in the world, didn’t quite make it. Of course, she missed the mark now and then. She was human and she had nerves, just like any other skater. But she also was the most deserving. Perhaps she failed because there was a greater lesson to be learned, for people who admired her, by her grace and attitude at “winning” the lesser silver medal and not seeing it as defeat. I still question whether Tara Lipinski should have won the gold medal. Yes, she did a triple, triple combination that Michelle did not do in the long program, but the long program was supposed to also put the emphasis on artistry and clearly, Michelle had the more artistic and beautiful program.
To understand my feelings on this, you need to look at the quality of the skating. There are very few skaters who appear to be one with the ice. They seem to skate from the ice rather than on the ice. Robin Cousins, Torvill and Dean, Davis and White and Michelle Kwan are among those skaters. There is a depth, smoothness and magic to their skating that comes from deep knees, strong edges and so much practice to make it look effortless.
As I watched the broadcast program of the 2015 Four Continents competition, I was dismayed by how much the skaters appear to be struggling. The jumps are harder for the men with the quads being the tough one. Jason Brown, who is a delight to watch, is still trying to nail one. The Japanese and Chinese skaters seem to have an advantage in this area as they are smaller and more compact, which means a quicker rotation in the air. They are also fearless with some of the highest jumps to give them time to get the rotations done. Evan Lysacek had a definite height disadvantage with being six feet tall, while most skaters are much shorter. Evan had to work harder to get those rotations in because it’s harder to compact that larger frame in the air.
In the women’s competition, the skating is a mixed bag. Yuna Kim was the best of the recent skaters, a beautiful technician who listed Michelle Kwan as her idol and inspiration. She emulated Michelle on the ice and in some ways, it was almost like seeing Michelle. But in the competition, since changing to the point scoring system, the women have almost become cookie-cutter skaters, most of them doing the exact same moves, reaching to stretch their legs over their heads in a Beilman and sometimes achieving positions that are neither graceful nor pretty. But they get the points.
They are also falling, skating to boring music and showing little flair in their skating. Gracie Gold and Polina Edmonds show promise. Ashley Wagner comes across as a spoiled and insincere brat and has been a very inconsistent skater. Whether Ashley is a nice person is an unknown, but what the viewer sees is someone who seems like a phony. And none of them seem to skate with the skill, the heart and the joy that Michelle Kwan gave us for over a decade.
Artistry is becoming hard to accomplish amongst all the required elements for scoring. The competition now is laced with required moves and connecting steps that many skaters seem to be struggling to accomplish. The music has slowed to many piano and violin concertos that lack any dramatic effect to slow songs from pop stars. Sometimes the music is fast, but then the skaters seem to struggle to keep up with it and sometimes fail. There are some programs where the music is just background noise if you judge the skating by how well the skater utilizes it.
Well, it’s much harder now with all the required moves. How well would Michelle Kwan have stood up with the new scoring system? Consider this, Michelle did seven triple jumps in one program, including a triple-triple. She also had a beautiful spiral that she extended, changing edges across the whole rink, not just for a few seconds. She had elegant, well-centered spins and who do you think inspired adding the required added footwork to the scores? Long before it was something that earned points, Michelle was using connecting footwork, turns and unusual entry positions into the jumps. When she began working with Lori Nicholl, the wonderful choreographer, Michelle discovered the power of music, took it into her soul and interpreted it on ice. There was joy in her skating and a deep love of it that transcended the program. I think if Michelle had not been injured and unable to heal completely prior to the Torino Olympics, that she might well have excelled under the points scoring system and won the gold medal that she so deserved.
Take a look at the video of Michelle’s program from the 2001 World Competition, which she won in spite of problems with her short program.
Perhaps the most beautiful example of Michelle’s artistry and exquisite skating is evident in this exhibition skate from 1998. She is always in motion, always changing and feeling every beat of the music of “Dante’s Prayer”. I still grow teary-eyed when I watch it and I long for the artistry that the skaters now seem to lack.
By the way, the first time I saw the three-jump combination done was by Michelle’s main rival, Irena Slutskaya, and she was the only one doing it. So that was Irena’s contribution to the new points system. Michelle and Irena traded World titles many times and neither one walked away with a gold Olympic medal. Both were accomplished and brilliant skaters, but Michelle won the hearts of the world. That is a hard act to follow, and so far, no one has quite managed it.