Dancing on Ice February 11, 2002
Updated with the final figure skating results on February 22, 2002

Hughes Takes Gold
 What a dazzling performance by Sarah Hughes! The 16-year-old entered the free skate program in fourth place and with no expectations of a medal but, by the close of the women's competition, she was the Olympic champion. She skated a vigorous and spirited routine with complex, well-landed jumps, beating Russia's Irina Slutskaya and gold-medal favorite Michelle Kwan. Slutskaya took the silver and Kwan took the bronze — disappointing results for these two world-class skaters who were each seeking the gold. The pressure seemed to make them stiffen up, causing them both to make errors in their programs. Hughes, on the other hand, simply wanted to do her best and felt no pressure to win a medal — leaving her free to give a heartfelt, joyful, and relaxed performance.

Commentators noted last night that the judges voted on performance alone, with no hint of the bias or controversy that marred the pairs competition. The Sale and Pelletier saga is now the stuff of legends. Despite an almost flawless performance that dazzled the audience, Canadians Jamie Sale and Dave Petellier did not capture the gold on the night of their long program performance. Judges favored Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia by a very narrow margin, upsetting the crowd and commentators — and leaving the Canadians to tearfully accept the silver medal. In the aftermath, controversy brewed: Canada's Olympic delegation demanded an investigation, and the International Skating Union began an "internal assessment." Late last week, Sale and Pelletier were awarded belated gold medals. They shared the top podium with the Russians in a second medals ceremony last Sunday.

The men's competition had fewer surprises. Alexei Yagudin was the clear winner; the brilliant Russian skater left his competitors behind with his flawless, artistic routines. Yagudin's fellow countryman and bitter rival, Evgeni Plushenko, took the silver medal, while the United States' Timothy Goebel earned the bronze with his clean routines and effortless quadruple jumps.

Of the fifteen sports in these Games, figure skating stands out as a perennial favorite. Figure skaters are constantly raising the bar in competition, adding ever more complex jumps to their routines. Breathtaking quadruple jumps have become almost commonplace in men's competitions and will likely be needed to win the gold. (Alexei Yagudin landed a quadruple toe loop-triple toe combination in his short program and Timothy Goebel, known as the "Quad King," performed his jumps perfectly.) In women's competition, the standard to beat has become the triple-triple combination — Sarah Hughes pulled off two in her free skate program while Kwan and Slutskaya faltered. Sasha Cohen has landed quadruple salchows in practice, but decided not to try to perform the first ever quad jump in women's Olympic figure skating.

Learn About the Problem
Figure skaters look so graceful as they glide and leap on the ice, making their rigorous routines appear effortless. But there are actually many forces at work while figure skating.

Learn about the relationship between a figure skater's velocity, the acceleration, and the radius of a circle skated in Physics Explorer: Circular Motion I.

Continue on to learn about the force needed to keep the skater moving in a circle in the activity Physics Explorer: Circular Motion II.

Think About the Problem
During any major figure-skating competition, we start speaking a language that includes terms such as "triple salchow," "toe loop," and "lutz." These are the names of complex jumps that skaters perform by manipulating their skate blades in very precise ways.

Describe the acceleration and velocity vectors for each of the types of jumps listed below. (Remember that a jump includes horizontal and vertical acceleration and velocity.)

Toe loop: The approach is on the right back outside edge. The skater then reaches back with the left foot and jabs the toe pick into the ice to provide assistance for the jump. The highest level toe loop completed in competition has been a quadruple toe loop.

Salchow: The takeoff is from a left back inside edge. The right leg swings to the front with a scooping motion just prior to takeoff to assist the rotation. The highest level salchow completed in competition has been a quadruple.

Lutz: The approach is from the left back outside edge and is assisted with a right toe pick. The approach curve therefore has the opposite "direction" than the landing curve. The highest level lutz completed in competition has been a triple.

Skate Anatomy 101
More than 30 Olympic events require skates. How are skates built?

The blade on a figure skate and a hockey skate has two edges: an inside edge and an outside edge. If possible, have students pick up a skate, turn it upside down, and look carefully down the length of the blade. Ask students to describe what they observe.

Students should be able to see that the blade is not flat, nor is it one sharp edge like a knife. Instead, the blade forms a shallow upside-down "U" shape. Each leg of the "U" is an edge. The edges of the blades allow skaters to make both gradual and sharp turns and curves (skiers lean on the edges of their skis to make turns in a similar way).

Figure skaters also use the edges of the skate blade to launch into different jumps. For the lutz and flip, which look almost identical, the skater takes off backwards and uses the toe-pick to grip the ice before launching. However, the lutz takes off from the backwards outside edge of the blade, while the flip takes off from the backwards inside edge. Some jumps, such as the axel and loop, take off from an edge and do not launch off the toe pick.

While figure skates and hockey skates have these U-shaped blades, the blades on speed skates are actually flat.

Extending the Problem
Students who want to be up to date with the latest information about Olympic Figure Skating can visit these sites:

The mechanics of a skating rink are quite complex. Invite someone from a local rink to talk to your class about how the ice is frozen, how a Zamboni® works, etc. If there is no rink nearby, students can find information at the following sites:

Have your students research the history and sports of the Winter Olympics at one of these sites:

Hockey & Figure Skates
How can you tell the difference between a figure skate and a hockey skate? If you know that the boot of each skate looked different, you're right. But the skate blades are also different.

A figure skate has a toe pick at the front, extending in front of the toes, and a long, slightly curved blade that extends past the heel of the boot. A hockey blade is shorter and curved. It begins underneath the front of the boot and ends at the heel, and it has no toe pick. (The toe pick is what enables figure skaters to perform jumps like flips, lutzes, and toe loops — the skater firmly taps the toe pick into the ice, which vaults them into the air.)