Imagine if someone walked up to you and started criticizing the thing you love most. How would you feel? What if most of the things that person said was wrong? Figure skaters deal with situations like this all the time. People don't believe that figure skating is a credible activity or sport, or they think they're above figure skaters. Either way, most arguments against figure skating are misconceptions, and here's an explanation behind five of them:
1. Figure skaters always have to diet.
Sure, it helps to diet a little bit before a competition, but skaters don't necessarily need to diet all the time. In fact, it's important for skaters to eat protein and carbs every day to make up for the calories they burn during practice. That doesn't mean we go crazy on the carbs, but most of us also don't constantly watch we eat.
2. All male figure skaters are gay.
This is far from the truth. Many male figure skaters are straight—and incredibly hot. But people shouldn't be judged by their sexuality. That part of a person's life is completely private and separate from his athletic life. The only thing that should matter in any sport is how good you are at it.
3. It's so easy that anyone can do it.
Maybe anyone could try out figure skating, but it's nowhere close to easy. We spend our entire adolescent lives practicing and continuously trying to improve. Every practice is filled with stumbles and falls, and it's not pretty. We might make it look easy when we're competing in shimmery dresses and smiles, but behind the makeup and rhinestones is hours upon hours of grueling work. Next time you're on the ice, try to do an axel. This one jump, a mere one-and-a-half turn in the air, takes most skaters years to land.
4. What's the point if you're not going to the Olympics?
The Olympics is only one of many different paths a figure skater can follow. A lot of us might have had a dream of representing our country in the next Olympics, but once we knew that dream wouldn't become a reality, we made different plans. Instead, many skaters choose the professional path and join an ice show such as on a cruise or Disney On Ice. They can also continue their skating in college and join a club sports team and compete against other collegiate skaters across the country.
5. Figure skating isn't a sport.
This is the most common figure skating misconception out there—and probably the most controversial. Figure skaters work just as, if not harder than, any other athlete that kicks a ball around for a living. We spend years of our lives working to perfect jumps and spins. It's also almost impossible to advance in the sport without off-ice conditioning—you know, weight-lifting, cardio, pilates, etc. Of course, there are many skaters who don't compete and only skate for fun. They treat their skating as a hobby, but competitive skaters are in it for the sport. Just look at collegiate club sports associations and the Winter Olympics. If figure skating wasn't a sport, why would it be a part of these organizations? In reality, figure skating is one of the hardest and most rewarding sports out there.
