The Ottery
“If an otter can’t have fun doing something, it just simply won’t do it.”

Otters and the Olympics

February 18th, 2006

Here’s a question for all my readers: if otters were to compete in the Olympic Games, which sport would they most likely choose? I’ll post the most interesting responses . . . though of course I have my own ideas, too.

I’ll give away right now that I don’t think any otter in its right otter brain would participate in figure skating as it’s currently practiced. Most of the skaters seem to have no fun on the ice or off it, particularly with the pressures of the new scoring system. Figure skating is the only Olympic sport I watch obsessively, but I have to admit that I don’t watch it because it looks enjoyable. But neither do I watch it for the quad jumps that seem to have become mandatory for medal contenders in the men’s competition. I watch it for the artistry, for the beauty of bodies in motion on a rather strange, slippery element—and artistry has been sadly lacking so far at the Torino Games.

Yevgeny Plushenko is indeed a master of his sport, but I wonder if his gold medal is more due to his mastery of the numbers game required by the new scoring system. Instead of being judged against a perfect 6.0, athletes now earn their technical scores by getting points for each jump attempted, completed, and completed well (different values for each of those). This encourages the skaters to pad their programs with as many jumps as possible, often sacrificing choreography to do so. Plushenko’s free skate, though undoubtedly the best technically, lacked any sort of unity: it was composed of alternating sections of “I’m going to jump now” and “I’m going to move my arms expressively now,” with no real connection between them.

Of all the evening’s performances, I most enjoyed Jeffrey Buttle’s because of his seamless incorporation of difficult jumps into fluid skating that fit the mood of his music (I admit that I’m judging as a dancer and not a skater, but oh well). However, both bronze medalist Buttle and silver medalist Stephane Lambiel fell while attempting quads. According to the NBC commentators, both knew that they were likely to fall, having seldom successfully landed quads in competition. But with the new wacky scoring, trying a quad and muffing it can actually win you more points than not trying one at all. I’m not sure I like this trend. It’s bound to result in more injuries, for one thing.

Today Porpoise called my attention to an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal about the increasing numbers of injuries among young figure skaters. According to the article, hip surgery for skaters still in their twenties is common practice (former gold medalists Tara Lipinski and Alexei Yagudin are among those on this list). Surely something needs to change.

According to the WSJ’s sources, the problem may be not only higher technical expectations in the sport but also flaws in skating boot technology, which hasn’t changed much since the 19^th century. The current structure of skating boots immobilizes the ankle, which helps to prevent twists and sprains, but that also means that when a skater lands a jump, she lands on her heel. All the impact travels up to the knees, hips, and spine. There’s a reason that other dancers and athletes usually land on their toes, rather than their heels: it doesn’t hurt as much.

Apparently scientists and doctors have designed a more flexible boot that redistributes some of the impact to the toes, but they’ve had trouble getting an athletic company to mass-produce the new design (not enough market, Nike says).

Wherever the blame lies, I hope something happens soon to bring more joy into figure skating. As addicted as I am to watching it, I’m definitely more uplifted by another televised athletic competition I watched this weekend: the American Kennel Club National Agility Championships. The dogs who run the course don’t care whether they win or lose; they’re just happy to be out there, doing what they love. Their canine attitude seems to wear off a bit on their trainers and handlers, who know that they need to reward their dogs with affection, attention, and a chew toy at the end of the race, no matter how quickly or correctly they complete the course. Interestingly, the one handler who seemed most concerned with how his dog performed was a former Olympic gold medalist: Greg Louganis. Louganis was so eager to encourage his terrier’s speed that he misdirected him, commanding him to jump off a platform before the dog reached the end. Both were disqualified. It’s something that could easily happen to any competitor, but I wonder how much the “Olympic attitude” entered in. Happily, dogs don’t have this attitude, and if Louganis is the good dog owner that I suspect he is, his terrier has no idea that it didn’t win.

Maybe figure skaters (and skating judges!) should spend more time with canine athletes.

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