Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
February 15, 2002, Washington Post

The Great Skate Debate

Figure skaters are the pop stars of any Winter Olympics. For two weeks, Michele Kwan, Irina Slutskaya and Evgeni Plushenko are the Britney Spears and 'N Sync of Salt Lake City. The skating competitions draw standing-room-only crowds, the best television times and sky-high TV ratings. They are pressure-packed with gold medal drama.

There's only one problem: Figure skating is not a sport.

Don't get me wrong. I think skaters are terrific athletes and I admire the skill, strength and guts it takes to do salchows, double axels and triple toe loops. And, yes, I will tune in for the medal rounds. Skating is exciting and beautiful to watch.

But it is not a sport. The winners are not determined by time clocks or yardsticks, or scores measured in goals, baskets, home runs or touchdowns. The skater's score is not an objective number, not something (like the fastest time or the most goals) that everybody can agree on. The winners in figure skating are determined by the opinions of the judges.

With nine judges, the same skater can get nine different scores for the same program. (Even worse, sometimes the best competitors don't win. Just look at what happened to the Canadian pairs team of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.)

The gold medal hopes of Kwan and Slutskaya, as well as the men's stars, are just a matter of what the judges think. For a skater, all the practice and the preparation comes down to whether nine judges like the skater's performance, or her outfit or even her smile. After all, the skaters are judged for their "artistic presentation," whatever that is.

When Picabo Street or Bode Miller come flying down the side of the mountain in the skiing competition, nobody cares about what they are wearing or what they look like. You don't see any feathers or sequins on a skier's uniform. There are no style points in a ski race. Skiing is a real sport. The medals go to whoever gets down the hill the fastest.

Another thing: Judges seem to score the skaters as much on their reputations as their skating at the Olympics. You watch, the judges will score the earlier, lesser-known skaters lower because they want to "leave room" for higher scores for the later skaters with the world-class reputations. A newcomer from New Zealand or an upstart from Uzbekistan can skate her heart out and still won't have a chance for a medal.

So that means there are almost no big upsets in figure skating. Only a handful of skaters have any hope for a medal. Kwan or Slutskaya will walk home with the gold for the women. Only one or two other skaters (maybe America's Sarah Hughes) have a prayer.

That is why, for me, the best part of the Olympic figure skating is the exhibition that the skaters put on at the end of the two weeks. They throw away their classical music and show tunes and skate to rock-and-roll or even rap. They skate for fun, for show and for the love of skating. There are no judges, no medals, no arguing over who got a 5.7 and who got a 5.8.

At long last figure skating becomes precisely what it is. A wondrous exhibition. An art. A joy.

But not a sport.

Fred Bowen is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him at KidsPost, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with "The Score" in the subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company