Did you catch the Women’s Free Skate at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games this past week?
I would tell you to go watch it right now. You should see all four disciplines, in fact. There were awe-inspiring performances by some of the most talented athletes in the world.
However, the spectacle at the end of the women’s event was heart-wrenching, and something I’d rather not have witnessed. Five minutes of raw pain, edited by the producers for primetime television to clearly illustrate the darkest side of the sport: broken dreams.
Figure Skating is one of the few sports that people only seem to remember exist when the Winter Olympic Games come around every four years, and with that, placing all the pressure on one event, disregarding the many other accomplishments an athlete could work toward. The career of a figure skater can be, and should be, much more than that.
Figure skating entered my life at a young age. I started skating at age eight, which was too late, according to any figure skating coach and skater I encountered.
But I loved it so much I didn’t give a f*ck.