I like the article and enjoy seeing skating in mainstream publications. I agree with it to some extent. I'm a college professor and see lots of international students. The students from Russia and former soviet bloc are so eager to have the opportunity to improve their lot that they go to all efforts to excel, so I was thinking maybe our skaters are just not raised to be as tough. But, then I look at our women soccer, softball, gymnastics, etc., and our women are among the toughest and most talented in the world. So, I think it comes down to USFSA and the promotion of the sport. Skating should be classified as an extreme sport (because it is!). Throwing yourself in the air at immense speed, rotating four time and landing on ice with a thin blade...how much more extreme can you get. Perhaps we're not appealing to the right young girls, girls that would excel in any sport, through the "skating princess" model (it is not appealing to our young girls in the post Title IX era as other sports compete for their attention). Perhaps our culture has moved away from this sport as the number of young girls interested in the skating princess stereotype shrinks. It will require a re-casting of the sport to appeal to girls that would be gymnast stars or soccer stars. Just my perspective on the sport and its lowered interest among youth.
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