We love figureskating, like LOVE.  It’s hands down our favorite Olympic sport, and we love that the women get at least as much attention as the men, if not more.

Figure skating has had some recent successes, and in fact today NBC signed a deal to increase it’s coverage of figure skating over the next four years.  And there’s actually a skating cable channel–although it’s totally unavailable to UPH, apparently, no matter what we do.  (Yes, we checked.  Screw you, DirectTV!)

However, a recent article by former international-scene figure skater Jennifer Kirk (she’s from Boston, plus she skated to “Razzle Dazzle” from Chicago in a fab flapper outfit. LOVE.) points out some of the issues figure skating has.  She takes issue with the scoring system, which we talked about fairly recently, and agree has its…well, ups and downs.

Some of the other points she brings up, and what we think….

Stars: Specifically that there currently isn’t one.  Sasha Cohen’s mounting a comeback, but even she never reached the heights she should have.  Sarah Hughes, gold medalist, disappeared after that season to go to Yale.  (A fantastic choice but not one that leads to being the star of the skating world.)  Kimmie, Beatrisa, and other current girls are beautiful skaters, but they don’t have the dominating talent of Michelle Kwan at her best, or the charisma of Cohen (or, in another women’s sport, Shawn Johnson).  This is an issue, but its one that will come and go: skating is spoiled about this because Kwan had such a deathgrip on being the best for so long…in most sports, stars come and go and sometimes there aren’t any.  (Can anyone name a recent female runner that isn’t Caster Semanya, or even a serious male swimmer not named Michael Phelps? Casual fans can’t, and that’s ok.)

Age: Ladies skating is more like prepubescent tiny girl skating.  True!  These girls are TINY and encouraged to stay that way, to put it kindly.  They’re also getting younger and younger, which Kirk attributes in part to the scoring system: you have to be smaller and more flexible to land the jumps that get you the most points, so it skews young.  We don’t think the youth part is an issue, actually, but the body image part sure is…leaving out how unhealthy it is, which should be obvious, those bodies have no connection to reality for plenty of girls today who could be fabulous, athletic skaters if they only thought it was worth a shot.

Accessibility: Figureskating isn’t a sport you can try for fun in your backyard. Even the most basic skills take training, as well as an environment, that isn’t readily available.  By it’s nature, it isn’t going to be a sport that’s big in innercity schools, but the sport’s governing body could and should make an effort to bring skating–even as a spectator sport–to more homes.  We have some of the most beautiful, artistic skaters in the world…and most Americans haven’t even noticed.

We’re excited for the Olympics, and even more excited to see what can be done to raise skating’s profile, especially for women.  (Also? We’ll admit it…we want one of those flippy little skirt outfits. For real.)