The Ugly World of Competitive Figure Skating :: Exploratory Essays

The Ugly World of Competitive Figure skateFor every Olympic games, there always seems to be some display case of scandal or drama. The 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake metropolis proved itself to be blanket(a) of this excitement and controversy. That year the scandal appeared in one of the most popular events, figure skating. The competition was between the Russian and Canadian figure skating pairs. The Russians showed a performance full of skilful difficulty without pulling it off completely. Their performance was marred by dewy-eyed mistakes. On the other hand, the Canadian pair performed a piece full of emotion, and turn not as technically difficult as the Russians, more thorough and precise in their landings and jumps. After their performance the audience and the tv commentators all believed they were the gold medallists. However after their score went up, they were sorely entrust in second arrange. As it turns out a French umpire exchanged votes with a Russian ju dge so that the Russians would win the event. Since this happened, it has exposed up the doors to the world of figure skating and informed the public of its corruptness. What slew need to notice is that judges exchanging votes is totally one part of the trouble and how intimately a person actually performs the techniques on the ice is only one part of the judging. In an article published in Newsweek just after the scandal was exposed the author states, For ages figure skating has attracted derision for letting a competitors nationality, make-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 nurture any harsh consequences. They continue to practice unsportsmanlike conduct while judging. In my movie (as yet to be titled) I hope to address not only the fact that judges make deals ahead of time, except 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 trial of the amateur skating circuit. She comes from a lower middle class family that cannot reliever her hobby of skating.