The Ugly World of Competitive Figure Skating :: Exploratory Essays

The Ugly World of Competitive Figure SkatingFor both Olympic games, there always seems to be some type of scandal or drama. The 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City proved itself to be full of this excitement and controversy. That year the scandal appeared in unrivalled of the most popular events, figure skate. The competition was between the Russian and Canadian figure skating pair offs. The Russians showed a murder full of technical difficulty without pulling it off completely. Their performance was marred by simple mistakes. On the other hand, the Canadian pair performed a piece full of emotion, and while not as technically difficult as the Russians, more thorough and precise in their landings and jumps. After their performance the audience and the television commentators all believed they were the gold medallists. However after their score went up, they were sorely put in second place. As it turns out a french judge exchanged votes with a Russian judge so that the Rus sians would win the event. Since this happened, it has opened up the doors to the world of figure skating and informed the public of its corruptness. What quite a little need to notice is that judges exchanging votes is only one(a) part of the problem and how well a person actually performs the techniques on the ice is only one part of the judging. In an article published in Newsweek right after the scandal was exposed the author states, For ages figure skating has attracted ridicule for letting a competitors nationality, furbish up about-up, costume, and choice of music seem to count as much as the athleticism and grace. (Begley 40) As it stands now in 2010, it looks as though no one has learned a lesson from this event or article. Judges who make deals before competitions and get caught do not suffer any harsh consequences. They continue to reading unsportsmanlike conduct while judging. In my movie (as yet to be titled) I hope to address not only the fact that judges make dea ls ahead of time, but that certain skaters are discriminated by their race and sexuality as well as for arbitrary reasons. The movie will be set in the United States, most likely in Connecticut, a common place for skaters to train. The main character, Kris is working on making it up the rivulet of the amateur skating circuit. She comes from a lower middle class family that cannot support her hobby of skating.