and why it isn't a sport, but rather a competition. All the points relate to dance, and dance competitions as well. I thought it was a nice article and some good points

sports.yahoo.com . . .

I disagree with that article. Figure skating is both a dance and a sport.

Besides, the man can't write - check out all the 1 sentence paragraphs. I hate it when people say "what sport do you do?" and I say "figure skating, swimming, running and walking" and they say "figure skating isn't a sport". Wrong!!! It is. It require strength and power, sure, it's not as ungraceful as basketball, but it sure as he** is a sport.

" It require strength and power"

The author did not say that it didn't. He said he thought figure skaters to be very athletic in fact.

Figure Skating is so a sport, we get just as many concsuions, and injuries that a socccer player would get

I thought that the article was well written - this is something that my boyfriend and I debate all the time and after reading this article I can begin to see why people don't quantify figure skating as a sport. Just as gymnastics isn't a sport, and diving isn't a sport.

My problem is this - no one comes out and says that freestyle skiing or aerials isn't a sport, or that snowboarding isn't a sport etc. It seems that the "female dominated" events are ragged on for not being sports, when there are plenty of other "sports" that fall into the same category of being a judged competition. The author of the article makes all valid points and does it in such a way that is NOT insulting to figure skaters - but if you're going to classify figure skating, gymnastics and diving as "not being sports" then the argument MUST be made for all judged competitions.

Of course it is a Sport otherwise it would not be in the olympics

What will he say at the summer olympics when sports Dance [ballroom and latin ]is being staged as an exhibition sport for inclusion in future olympics

Mama DD's xxx

I definitely disagree with him, particularly in the paragraph about Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Tonya was a better jumper, but she did not train consistently and smoked, etc. Tonya knew that Nancy would beat her, but it was because Nancy had put in the work.

Also, the judges don't just randomly decide which jump looked better- There are set criteria for what makes a good jump an excellent one.

Also, I don't quite understand his point about referees- I think an umpire or a ref is as much a judge as any.

I think many of you missed a lot of points in the article.....

I agree with sunshinepoint, that things like snowboard and sking JUMP and TRICK comeptitions should be grouped into that category as well. I think the author was only thinking for ski and snowboarding RACES in that article.

Re sunshine sport

Gymnastics and swimming are sports why do you say they are not
if these things were not sport why are they all in the modern Olympics?

I think the article is written by someone with a big chip on his shoulder about something to do with the winter olympics.Also in very bad taste

Mama DD's xxx

^ Did you read the article? The author states why he believes they aren't sports. His definition of a sport is having a clear cut winner based on distance, number of runs scored, number of touchdowns etc. Figure skating, gymnastics, diving (not swimming), freestyle skiing - ANYTHING that has a "judged" component is a competition in his eyes and - I can see his point. He doesn't have a chip on his shoulder - he gives a LOT of credit to the difficulty of each of these events and thinks that skaters are incredible athletes. Re-read the article.

Hi Here is the definition of the word sport

sport (GAME) Show phonetics
noun
1 [C] a game, competition or activity needing physical effort and skill that is played or done according to rules, for enjoyment and/or as a job:
Football, cricket and hockey are all team sports.
I enjoy winter sports like skiing and skating.
See pictures , , , .

So you will see that skating is a sport according to definition as a competion [as he is trying to say is not a sport]with rules comes under Sport

Ice Skating is a SPORT and always will be and that is my argument

Mama DD's xxx

balletstar05, thanks for sharing the article.
sadly, i do not believe it is a 'good' article on figure skating, it is simply 'an article on figure skating'
much like the other skaters in the forum, i think, or know, that this writer's points are flawed. the point of his article is to prove that figure skating is not a sport. a 'sport' being defined as something that ' no judge should ever determine a winner in'.

Already his arguements fall short, as clearly this is not the definition of any kind of sport. He also shows is lack of understanding in our judging system by claiming that 'There is nothing absolutely quantifiable' about judging in figure skating.
Sadly, it seems that the efforts of the ISU and other organisations in shaking up the way skating is judged, flit by unnoticed by him.

As another member pointed out, his crazed ideas that prettiness wins over atheleticism in ice skating, just shows us even more clearly how his article stems on his shallow beliefs rather than that of a well-researched and informed opinion.

Oh well.

on another point - hey, if everything in 'sport' were black or white, right or wrong, there wouldn't be very much excitement, hmm?

(I've read the article about 5 times now, and i guess if he said 'figure skating is not a highly accurate, exact, clearly measurable sport in terms of winning', then yes okay, maybe he has a point. but, he didnt.)

I would agrue that "sport" is a blanket term for any athletic endeavour in which the object is to win a high placement as compared to you opposition. Thus, there would be subcategories of the term "sport" that would include "game", "competition", etc.
This argument would be consistent with the definition that groovygran posted. I would even argue that dance, when it becomes competitive (ie Irish dance world championships etc), would qualify as a sport...even ballet.
Also, "sport" and "art" are not mutually exclusive. I don't think anyone can argue that Torvill and Dean weren't artists however, they were most certainly gifted athletes in the sport of Ice Dance.

How I agree [as a UK citizen ]with you re Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean They were sportsman and woman of the highest calibre and were honoured for this by the British Government

I still say Ice Skating whether Dance Figure or Speed are a sport

Mama DD's xxx