Figure skating is a fantastic way for many people to spend the time when the weather gets colder and things get freezing or snowy, and it also is an entire highly practiced competitive sport of its own as well. Whether you’ve learned some figure skating tricks in your life before or just happen to know the term, or anywhere in between, there’s a lot more to know about this topic than you may think.
Today we have a handful on interesting tidbits that you may not know about this sport. Here are some things you didn’t know about figure skating.
Metal Skates Late
The skates we think of when referring to ice skating or figure skating are pretty simple in form, essentially fitted boots with metal pieces on the bottom that help to glide along the ice. These have existed for centuries, and metal was only added to them around the 13th century. That’s a long time ago, but even farther back skates still existed but were made with animal bone.
U.S. Rebound
Back in 1961, the entire United States division for figure skating actually got devastated when their plane crashed and killed all members on board. The competition was cancelled for respect to the massive loss of life, and it took many years for the country to be able to come back to competitions like this after such a huge tragedy.
Danger Skates
Until the late 1840s, ice skates existed with metal bottoms but were still incredibly dangerous for wearers to use more than basic maneuvers. In 1848 E.V. Bushnell created a more secure clip to attach the runners to the bottom so that people could be able to do more intricate or artistic movements without worry of injury from skates falling apart.
Intense Movement
While it may be pretty to watch unique tricks occur on the ice, thinking about the technicalities behind it can be baffling. Most skaters spin around at least 300 RPM (revolutions per minute), which is more intense than some astronaut training tasks. Similarly, during jumps most light weight individuals can hit the ground with up to 1000 pounds of force.
Specificity in Performing
There are actually a lot of very nitpicky details when it comes to figure skating competition. For example, if judges agree a costume is too over the top or provocative skaters can lose points. Also most music is banned from having vocals, and most competitions prohibit use of props so that performances are based on skill and individuality.
Facts like these and much more information regarding the specifics and history of sports such as figure skating can be a really interesting way to expand your knowledge, inspire interest in a topic, or just have some fun reading for the day. Figure skating is often only thought about by some folk when the Olympic Games come around every four years which means loads of us out there don’t really know how unique and artistic this activity can be. You can also share these fun facts with family and friends to find out who knows the most about figure skating!