FIGURE SKATING!

One thing that I wish people knew about me is my love for the sport of figure skating. While for most people figure skating is relevant once every four years at the Winter Olympics, to me, it's a season of triumph, disappointment, and drama: similar to every other professional sports league out there that I follow.

Why figure skating though?

I just began to intensely watch figure skating about a year ago, because my best friend is a huge skating aficionado and would always talk about the sport: I really wanted to understand what she was talking about, so I began watching in my spare time and quickly fell in love with the sport. There's something about figure skating that's really mesmerizing for me: when skated well, a routine can bring a story to life on the ice, enhanced by jumps and the artistry of the skater. I was furthermore surprised at the fact that figure skating wasn't confined to just the Olympics: in fact, every year, figure skaters are required to come up with new programs and costumes, which they will compete the season with. The Olympics, while definitely the biggest event every 4 seasons, is only one event out of several that skaters will compete in to determine their world rankings and how many spots their country will receive at the next competition: the Olympics this year were actually, in fact, the penultimate event of the 2017-2018 season, so many skaters were only given a week long break before resuming training for the final event, the World Championships.

Furthermore, I love figure skating because of the athletes and the stories they tell on ice: through mens, womens, free dance, and pairs skating. Patrick Chan's "Hallelujah", Javier Fernandez's "Man of La Mancha", Yuzuru Hanyu's "Seimei", Guillame Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis' "Moonlight Sonata", Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's "Moulin Rouge", the Shibutani's "Paradise", Mirai Nagasu's "Miss Saigon", Evgenia Medvedva's "Anna Karenina", Kaetlyn Osmond's "Swan Lake", Han Cong and Sui Weijing's "Hallelujah", and Bruno Massot and Aljona Savchenko's "La Terre Vue Du Ciel" are some of my favorite programs from this season that really made me feel like I was living in the story that each skater brought to life with their interpretation of the music.

Here are some of my favorite skating routines: if you have time, I would definitely recommend watching them!

Virtue/Moir- Moulin Rouge