Spring Break
Point/Counterpoint: The Olympic debate: Is figure skating really a sport?
Point - Christian Senger/Counterpoint - Adam Caparell/Daily Campus Staff
Issue date: 2/12/02 Section: Sports
Point-
It's one of the age-old questions amongst athletic fans. Is "such-and-such" an actual sport? This inquiry always seems to come up the most around the world's biggest athletic event: the Olympics.
The Olympics features a wide assortment of events, everything from hockey to curling and sometimes certain events come under the fire of that question, is this a sport?
In my senior year of high school, I was on the track team, which is one of those not so glamorous sports. So I feel it's an injustice when someone who is working hard at something has to try and defend why what they are doing is an actual sport, which is something I did on a few occasions last year.
The subject under scrutiny is figure skating. Some people feel it is not a sport and they have some outlandish reasons why, but it should be clear that figure skaters are in fact athletes that participate in a "real" sport.
Well, what makes a sport a sport? Merriam Webster Online (http://www.m-w.com), the authority on what words mean, says that a sport is "a source of diversion, recreation." Using just that definition, it's obvious that figure skating is a sport. Whether professionals or amateurs, people skate as a type of recreation, which would make it a sport by definition. Of course everything that fits that description, isn't necessarily a sport, but there are numerous other reasons why figure skating is a sport
Figure skaters are partaking in a competitive activity that requires them to be in pretty good physical shape. Look at any other sport and they require the same characteristics.
Figure skaters work just as hard as any other athlete. Every sport and its training is different, but each athlete is working as hard as they can at their respective event. Some athletes may lift more weights, have longer practices, or be more built than figure skaters, but that's because their sport may require those things. Figure skaters are working just as hard as those athletes, but in other ways. I don't think any muscular football player could pull off a triple jump or a full skating routine and I wouldn't expect a figure skater to hit a 300-foot homerun either. These athletes are working for varying goals and train differently, but each athlete is putting the same hard work and determination into what they are doing. Although it may not be as "sporty" as most people would like, it is clear that figure skating is indeed a sport.
It's one of the age-old questions amongst athletic fans. Is "such-and-such" an actual sport? This inquiry always seems to come up the most around the world's biggest athletic event: the Olympics.
The Olympics features a wide assortment of events, everything from hockey to curling and sometimes certain events come under the fire of that question, is this a sport?
In my senior year of high school, I was on the track team, which is one of those not so glamorous sports. So I feel it's an injustice when someone who is working hard at something has to try and defend why what they are doing is an actual sport, which is something I did on a few occasions last year.
The subject under scrutiny is figure skating. Some people feel it is not a sport and they have some outlandish reasons why, but it should be clear that figure skaters are in fact athletes that participate in a "real" sport.
Well, what makes a sport a sport? Merriam Webster Online (http://www.m-w.com), the authority on what words mean, says that a sport is "a source of diversion, recreation." Using just that definition, it's obvious that figure skating is a sport. Whether professionals or amateurs, people skate as a type of recreation, which would make it a sport by definition. Of course everything that fits that description, isn't necessarily a sport, but there are numerous other reasons why figure skating is a sport
Figure skaters are partaking in a competitive activity that requires them to be in pretty good physical shape. Look at any other sport and they require the same characteristics.
Figure skaters work just as hard as any other athlete. Every sport and its training is different, but each athlete is working as hard as they can at their respective event. Some athletes may lift more weights, have longer practices, or be more built than figure skaters, but that's because their sport may require those things. Figure skaters are working just as hard as those athletes, but in other ways. I don't think any muscular football player could pull off a triple jump or a full skating routine and I wouldn't expect a figure skater to hit a 300-foot homerun either. These athletes are working for varying goals and train differently, but each athlete is putting the same hard work and determination into what they are doing. Although it may not be as "sporty" as most people would like, it is clear that figure skating is indeed a sport.