Word: skaters
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Short track speed skater Kim Dong-Sung of South Korea had just finished first in the 1,500-m race, only an hour after the Korean women's relay team won gold in the 3,000-m on the same ice. It looked like a great night for South Korea. A jubilant Kim grabbed a Korean flag and began a victory lap. But his celebration was stopped short when the referees announced that the Korean skater was disqualified for "cross-tracking," claiming that he had blocked American Apolo Anton Ohno when he attempted to pass Kim in the final...
Skating after an American at an Olympics in the U.S. cannot be the most confidence-boosting experience, especially for a skater from Russia. "Oh, it was so hard to skate after Michelle [Kwan]," said Irina Slutskaya, a favorite in ladies' figure skating. Dodging the love tokens strewn on the ice from Kwan's fans was the least of Slutskaya's worries. Because of the skate order, the 23-year-old Muscovite's performance would determine whether Kwan or Sarah Hughes glided away with gold. If Slutskaya finished ahead of Kwan in the long program, Hughes would win; if she finished...
This week, as the figure-skating competition shifts to the women's event, the focus will be on the judges as much as the skaters. How do they make their decisions? Unlike in other sports, technical prowess counts for only so much. Winning is largely a matter of style. Evaluating the finer points of a skater's presentation, such as poise and emotive display, is subjective territory. But it could mean the difference between gold and silver, as Nancy Kerrigan learned in 1994, when judges ranked her flawless performance at Lillehammer behind Oksana Baiul's slightly flawed but more exuberant...
...Skaters can also get tripped up by a judge's cultural bias, with scores dividing along geopolitical lines. Russian and Eastern European judges, with their deep association with ballet and theater, tend to prefer skaters with classical styles, while Westerners are more receptive to contemporary moves. And prejudging is practically a requirement. Judges are encouraged to attend practices to see what the skaters can do. When they start judging, however, they reserve their highest marks for whoever they think will be the best skater--dampening prospects for early performers. Tricky jumps and graceful lines are still crucial, but in skating...
...arched back and well-placed free leg with the knee and foot parallel to the ice. Points are deducted for spins that are not centered or for failure to complete the specified number of rotations. In the short program, judges start counting the required eight turns once the skater assumes the full layback position. In the long program, the preparatory windup rotations are counted toward a total of six turns. Combination spins, in which the skater changes body position and sometimes even the spinning foot, are required elements in the short program...