Yet, the sport’s juding system was even more subjective at its peak popularity, in the nineteen-nineties and early aughts it’s more likely that the time-intensive, if fairer, judging system is what has tested the attention spans of casual spectators. Many blame a combination of judging subjectivity and earnest sequin-studded theatricality for undercutting figure skating’s credibility among the general public. To hear some in the sport speak, figure skating is near death. Figure Skating has not been able to command rights fees from broadcasters at all. Ratings for non-Olympic-year competitions have plummeted since its contract with ABC, worth twelve million dollars annually, expired in 2007, U.S. Audiences have since struggled to understand scoring, and, worse for broadcasts, the painstaking evaluations can drag competitions out for more than three hours. In 2002, figure skating adopted a new, more technically elaborate judging system. The profound shift in pacing offered by Freezer Aerial cannot be underestimated. Zakrajsek and Weisiger hope that speed and simplicity will build excitement more easily, particularly with a younger demographic accustomed to entertainment being just a finger-swipe away. Because judges will be grading only one element, their scores can be posted within seconds unlike the current freestyle competitions, Zakrajsek says, the entire event can be completed within two hours. After observing the popularity of previous jump contests at the Broadmoor Open and Weisiger’s Grassroots to Champions training camp, they opted to up the ante with prize money and world-class athletes. So this really puts it front and center.”įreezer Aerial is the brainchild of two skating coaches, Tom Zakrajsek and Audrey Weisiger, who have both trained skaters to national championships. that sometimes the real athleticism and competitive aspect of the sport gets missed. “A lot of the sport is so focused on artistry. Figure Skating president, Sam Auxier, said. “I think it’s great to have this type of innovation, and especially around jumping,” the U.S. How, critics ask, can figure skating be taken seriously when its practitioners wear outlandish costumes and emote to lyrical music? Figure skating is often portrayed as frivolous and effeminate, somehow less substantive than more combative games, like football or hockey. The gendered perception of the sport is, admittedly, difficult to shake. champion, current NBC commentator, and perpetual personality, noted, “The sparkle of rhinestones sometimes does distract men, especially our male audience, from seeing what’s actually going on on the ice, which is young people at their height of physical prowess doing something that very few people can do, in the most high-pressure and high-profile level.” Those in the sport also realize the challenges it can pose. So you have these awesome ski-jumping ladies, you know, like this Sarah Hendrickson,” she said, adding, “Then you skip over to the skating fawns.” “It’s like the tough broads versus the delicate broads. Last year, during the Olympics, the journalist Hanna Rosin betrayed something of this view when she discussed female skaters and ski jumpers on Slate’s Double X podcast. Yet skating is frequently coded as a feminine art, diametrically opposed to the more masculinized image Americans frequently conflate with physically demanding sports. These athletes are jumping off of the ice on a blade, and rotating three, four times in the air, and it’s exciting.” “There’s really no reason skating shouldn’t be. “You look at all these extreme sports, and they’re so popular,” the Olympic champion and figure-skating commentator Tara Lipinski said. This competition format may seem antithetical to the public’s idea of figure skating, but, in fact, many in the sport already view skateboarders and ski jumpers as their natural compatriots. There will be no spins, no footwork, and no choreography set to songs from “My Fair Lady.” Instead, skaters will perform jumping passes one after the other, trying to impress judges and rack up points. The Freezer Aerial Figure Skating Challenge premières tonight, at the Broadmoor Open in Colorado Springs, U.S. It’s not the X Games it’s a new vision of figure skating. The crowd roars, in thrall to the drama of extraordinary bodies engineering reckless feats, and occasional agonizing capitulations to gravity. Backed by an electric wash of hype music, they’ll rev up to dangerous speeds and hurl their bodies into the air, where there’s no room for error. Give some of the best athletes in the world four rounds to throw down their most audacious tricks. Unlike conventional competitions, Freezer Aerial will feature no spins, no footwork, and no choreography set to songs from “My Fair Lady.” PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID RAMOS / GETTY