Figure Skating versus Ice Hockey

In the Johnston family there is an on-going discussion about what is better – ice hockey or figure skating.  Kate and Lisa (my sister in laws) have both figure skated, and my husband, Scott, and his brother Steve both played hockey, while my brother in law Brad is the biggest hockey fan on the planet.  I guess I sit on the hockey side of that argument, however it is difficult not to have admiration and respect for the other sport. 

Outside the figure skating venue

I’ve always wanted to see the figure skating at an Olympics, but the tickets are difficult to get and some of the prices for the finals have been in excess of $1,000USD (as much as the gold medal game for the ice hockey).  Earlier in the week, Kim managed to get us some tickets for the finals of the pairs ice dance.  We went along with Marta who is a Council Member for the IIHF.  I have to say that it lived up to the hype and expectation, and if I didn’t admire the sport before, I certainly do now.

The skaters execute the most challenging and difficult moves on the ice, with precision and grace.  They glide by making it look easy and it’s a real privilege to watch as each pair take to the ice and perform their perfectly choreographed and practiced routine.  I enjoyed every minute of it!  We had fantastic seats, close to the “kiss and cry” and in the front row to the ice – so literally rink-side!  As I reflected after the performance, it couldn’t be more different to ice hockey if it tried. 

Judges

As a referee by nature I find it fascinating to watch a sport where I literally have no idea about the scoring system.  As we watch the first few pairs skate, Kim and I confer and offer our uneducated thoughts on whether their performance was any good or not.  It becomes apparent that we have absolutely no idea what we are talking about.  When the scores get revealed by the judges they are almost in complete contrast to our views.  Perhaps Kim and I got caught up in the trap of enjoying the music and thinking therefore the routine was good!  I still think if the music is known and nice to listen to then this surely must have a bearing on the scores!

It struck me that there is a huge amount of subjectivity to the scoring.  Of course, the panel of judges will have ample experience and know what they are looking for but there has to be a degree of subjectivity to the scoring.  Unlike a hockey game which is won based on goals scored, the medals here are based on scores given by a collective opinion of a panel of judges.

The panel of judges were sitting on the opposite side of the rink to us and they all sat in big leather chairs.  I noticed one of them wearing a huge fur coat over her shoulders – she looked like a mafia boss who would take no prisoners!  I would certainly be afraid of her peering over her specs and scoring me!

It must be a tough sport to compete in when the end result comes down to impressing the judges.

Kiss and Cry

Leading up to going, Kim kept telling me that we were sitting very close to the “kiss and cry”.  I thought this was a made-up phrase he had coined to describe where the skaters sit to hear the scores from the judges.  He basked in glory when it was confirmed that this is the actual name of where the skaters sit to hear their scores.  One of the coaches left her accreditation on the side and we could see she had access to the “kiss and cry”.  Again, different to hockey where we have a mixed zone for players to be interviewed after they get off the ice … I couldn’t imagine this being called the “kiss and cry”!

The “kiss and cry” for figure skating is essentially a bench at the side of the ice which is big enough for the two skaters and a coach either side of them to sit on after their performance.  Once the skaters finish their routine they exit the ice and then sit on the bench.  It is positioned directly in front of a camera so the TV viewers and everyone in the venue has a close-up view of the skaters and their reaction as the judges scores are revealed.  This puts a real spotlight on the skaters and their emotions after they have skated.  It must be extremely tough for the skaters to sit there and bare their emotion to everyone.  One of the couples fell and to see the cameras on them immediately after their performance was heart-breaking.  Their dream and everything they have been working towards for the last four years was shattered in a matter of seconds.  Putting the spotlight on them and expecting them to smile and be grateful for the scores given to them seemed in a way almost cruel.  We watched successive couples sit on the bench and mask their feelings of disappointment in an attempt to shield from the world the pain they were feeling after not achieving their goal.  Almost every couple who sat down was happy and full of expectation with their coaches congratulating them at the beginning.  However, their emotions changed in a matter of second when their scores were shown, and they didn’t match up with how they thought they did. 

The emotional roller-coaster is clearly there for all Olympic athletes, regardless of sport.  It is a tough business clearly and managing emotions and acting appropriately is clearly a part of every sport at the Olympics.  I guess the different with figure skating is that they have a specific place for people to bare their emotion publicly … I now know why they call it “kiss and cry”!

Warm-up

Kim, Marta and me at the entrance to the venue

The pairs are separated out into groups of five and given a warm-up period on the ice together.  With ice hockey, the teams get a warm-up period on the ice together and they each have a half of the ice to use … they don’t have the risk of running into each other and are not able to cross the centre red line during the warm-up – separation is paramount.  This is again different for the figure skating.  The five pairs skate all over the ice at the risk of running into each other.  It is clear that there is some jostling for position during the warm-up and also a potential to psych each of the other pairs out.  I am sure there is no deliberate skating in each other’s way … but it happens, and it is interesting to see the reaction of the pairs as they need to stop a move or change their skating lane to avoid a collision.  It has the potential to be a bit like a destruction derby with pairs whizzing all over the ices.  For some reason watching the warm up made me remember the movie “Blades of Glory”.  There is a scene in the movie which shows the skaters winding each other up in the warm-up!

Following the warm-up, the pairs then skate their routines in order – the first pair skating immediately after the warm-up and the last pair has to wait for the four other pairs to skate.  The waiting and the watching of the others must again be mentally challenging for the skaters.

Flower girls

At the end of each routine the skaters finish in their pose to a crowd applause and depending on how good the routine is judged to be by the crowd, the ice can be filled with flowers and soft toys which have enthusiastically been thrown onto the ice in recognition and thanks from the crowd.  The skaters are too busy reaping the applause and they need to get off to the “kiss and cry”, so there are a group of young figure skating girls, dressed in beautiful purple dresses with their hair pulled back identically, who come onto the ice and do a sweep to pick up all the gifts for the skaters.  They are the ice flower girls – a bit like the tennis ball boys and girls, or for ice hockey the snow clearing hockey boys!  It is fun to see how each sport has their own version of assistants to help with tasks like this!  For these girls it must be an amazing experience to be close to their figure skating idols on the ice, and to get to skate on Olympic ice!

Penny and Nick from GB

Penny and Nick skating their Olympic dream

Across my blogs I haven’t really mentioned much about the GB medal success.  This is largely because when you are at an Olympics it is tough to get updates or to know what is happening with the other sports.  I have updates set-up on my Olympic phone where the Pyeonchang application will notify me if GB win a medal – but otherwise I don’t get to see much.  The TV shows largely the Korean athletes and their successes (as you would expect) and so I rely on my notifications and also my friends at home to tell me what is happening with regards to GB triumphs and heart-breaking moments. 

I was therefore over-joyed to get a chance to watch our GB pair skate live.  Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland are our figure skating couple and I got to cheer them on live.  I think in the end they came in 11^th and I could see from their moment at the “kiss and cry” that they were disappointed with their scores.  In my mind they skated beautifully, and I was very proud of them!

Coaches

Any blog about figure skating would not be complete without mentioning the coaching system which seems common practice.  As the various pairs take to the ice, the screen shows the name of their coach and choreographer.  We spotted that a number of the pairs seem to have the same coach.  Being close to the ice we were sitting right above where the coaches stand to watch the performances.  We sat quite bemused as we saw the same coach stand at the side and cheer on multiple couples.  In one instance we saw a coach wearing a Team Canada jacket wish her couple good luck as they get on the ice and then whip off that jacket to put on a Team USA jacket and run down to the kiss and tell bench to sit with the USA couple who had just finished and were waiting for their scores.  It seemed a bit odd to us that competing couples would have the same coach, and also that the coach could work with impartiality and not have a favourite pair.  Again, I’m sure there is professionalism and integrity, but switching country allegiances has to feel a little bit fake and a little bit like a glory hunter in terms of winning a medal!

Kim and I joked about seeing this type of coaching arrangement in ice hockey.  Could you imagine if a team got knocked out and the coach just switched to another team?  It seemed an odd concept to us, but I’m told its quite normal!

Tessa and Scott

I have to confess to not being very knowledgeable at all about the skaters outside of Penny and Nick from GB.  However, the last few days have clearly been an education for me in many respects and I am now aware of the phenomenon of “Tessa and Scott”. 

For those of you who haven’t heard of Tess and Scott, you, like me, must have been living under a stone up until now.  Tessa and Scott are from Canada.  They are perhaps best described as Canada’s sweet-hearts.  They were the flag bearers for Team Canada at the opening ceremony and going into the final dance routine they were in first place.  The pairs skate in reverse order of placement.  Therefore, the pairs with the highest scores to date skate last.  Tessa and Scott were the last pair to skate.  As they were announced, and they took to the ice the venue erupted.  Kim and I looked at each other quite confused as everyone around us who had been sitting quietly, suddenly jumped to their feet and was pulling out of their bag home-made signs of encouragement, which declared their love and support for Tessa and Scott.

We knew something great was about to happen!  Their routine was choreographed to “Moulin Rouge”, so as Kim and I both knew the song it got a tick from us.  However even our untrained eyes could tell they were a class above some of the other pairs in their routine and execution of the moves.  At the end of their performance the crowd were on their feet, whooping and cheering.  The ice was littered with flowers and soft toys.  Everyone was going crazy.  I do believe if the judges hadn’t scored them well that they wouldn’t have made it out of the building alive – even the fur coat mafia judge!

The scores came in and Tessa and Scott won the gold medal.  They were the crowd favourite clearly but also in the eyes of the judges they are pioneers for the sport and driving the standard forward.

I’ve since read about them as a pair and learned that they have been skating together for over 20 years, since they were both seven years old.  It must be an amazing experience to win a gold medal with your best friend.  They are described as the greatest ice dance team the world has ever seen.  Having witness their performance live I would agree with that.

The Olympics is special, and it seems every sport has its heroes and unites people regardless of nationality.  The world loves Tessa and Scott and is full of admiration for their dedication and ability.

If you asked me at the start of the Olympics if I would be writing a full blog on figure skating I would have said “hell no”!  However, having experienced it live, I have a new-found admiration and love for the sport, with all its overt quirkiness and emotion!