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Jo Ann's Figure Skating Blog

By Jo Ann Schneider Farris, About.com Guide to Figure Skating

ESPN.com Says That Figure Skating is a Tough Sport

Thursday December 28, 2006
ESPN.com recently came up with a list of "60 Toughest Sports". Figure skating came in 19th. Speed skating was ranked 17th and ice hockey took 2nd place. Roller skating tied with cheerleading for 52nd place!

Now, I've tried ice hockey, and yes, I do agree it is tough. I don't like it when a puck comes flying at me! And....I've tried speed skating too; I like going fast on the ice, but I'm just not brave enough to go "that fast." As a child, I broke my arm roller skating when I tried to do it "like ice," so I don't quite agree with the 52nd place it received. Spinning on rollers or inlines is much more difficult than spinning on the ice!

I would have liked to see figure skating make the top ten, but I realize that ESPN's "Experts" don't know how long it takes to master an axel, sit spin, arabian cartwheel, and stroking forward on the ice. Maybe we figure skaters should consider giving the ESPN "Experts" a lesson? I wonder how long it would take an ESPN "Expert" to master a salchow?

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