FitSugar

Should Athletes Medal Even If They Fall?

FitSugar — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:47:38 PST

While watching the figure skating events at this year's Winter games, a few friends mentioned that if a skater falls, they shouldn't medal. Many of them were pointing to Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, who skated his way into third place despite falling in his long program. Meanwhile, American Johnny Weir skated a flawless short and long program but ended up in sixth place.

The idea of an athlete not winning a medal because of a fall is not a new sentiment, and is only one reason sports with judges are controversial. During the 2008 Summer games, China's Cheng Fei received bronze in the women's vault despite landing on her knees. Like Takahasi, many of Fei's competitors gave solid performances and stuck their landings. But what sets Fei and Takahasi apart is that their overall performances are much more difficult than their competitors who gave clean routines.

What do you think . . .

Should Sports With Judges Be Allowed in the Olympics?

FitSugar — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:00:51 PST

It was nail-biting watching the men's figure skating competition this year. In the end, Evan Lysacek took home the gold - a decision that wasn't without controversy. Many argue that at its core, figure skating is not a sport, in part because the winner is determined by a group of judges. Often, the judges disagree and it's questionable how impartial they can really be - remember the huge judging scandal that plagued the 2002 Winter games? Try as they may to revamp the scoring system, there is always controversy: some felt that Evgeni Plushenko should have skated away with gold, while others said Johnny Weir was cheated out of a better standing.

Some say that the only way to have a fair Olympics is to get rid of any sport that relies on judges, turning them into demonstration sports instead. That way, medal standings are determined solely by an athlete's performance: who crosses the finish line first and which team scores the most points. No one doubted the gold medal victories achieved by Lindsey Vonn, Hannah Kearney, or Bode Miller - it was clear as day that each of them finished first.

What do you think . . .

Grab Bag! Sexy Siblings on Ice

TresSugar — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:30:44 PST

Sibling figure skating couple OK with getting close on ice - Daily Intel
Do you like to cuddle? (Yes!) - Em & Lo
Sticking by a man who cheated on you - The Frisky
Secrets to a long marriage - Lemondrop
Drinking on a date? How much is too much? - YourTango
Cheap date idea that involves a camera - Glamour

Sparkles, Spandex, and Spirit Fingers

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:50:13 PST

For such a graceful sport, there's always a lot of controversy surrounding figure skating: to quad or not to quad, judging scandals, and putting hits out on other skaters, to name just a few of the soap opera-esque moments happening on the ice. For some - like columnist Ken Herman - just calling figure skating a sport is rife with controversy: "Nothing done to music is a sport. And anything involving costumes (especially with sequins) is not a sport. Sports have uniforms, not costumes."

Still, figure skating remains one of the most watched of the Olympic events; I'm thinking those sequins, jazz hands, and feathers have a lot to do with its success. Let's face it - before there was a Lady Gaga, there was competitive ice skating. So far, at the Vancouver games, we've been dazzled with some spectacular costumes: corsets, leather, and feathers dominated, and that was only from the men!

Here are our picks for the most memorable (read: outlandish/wild/questionable) costumes from Olympics past.

And for more photos just

View 17 Photos ›

Olympic Beauty: Talking Makeup With Figure Skater Johnny Weir

BellaSugar — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:00:00 PST

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics have just begun, and with them comes fierce competition in figure skating. Figure skaters aren't just amazing athletes, though - they're also consummate performers with more beauty savvy than you can shake a kabuki brush at. So you can imagine my excitement when Johnny Weir, one of the US team's brightest stars, let me ask him my most burning Olympic makeup questions. He had some great advice, so to find out how to get a performance-worthy look, just keep reading.

Psych Up For the Winter Games With Movies!

FitSugar — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:00:10 PST

As if you couldn't tell, I am pumped for the Winter games. With the opening ceremonies slated for tomorrow night, I have a list of flicks you can pop into your DVD player tonight to psych up for the Olympics while hanging out on your couch.

Olympian Rachael Flatt Shares Her Makeup Secrets

BellaSugar — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:01:05 PST

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are almost upon us, and sports from bobsledding to curling will be all over our TV sets. While she was gearing up for the competition, Rachael Flatt, one of the US figure skating team's stars, let me ask her a couple of questions about hair and makeup on the ice. She had great tips for keeping your hair in place and the eye shadow shades that make your look pop, so to find out what she had to say, just read more.

SMG on Self, But Not Self Centered

FitSugar — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:45:00 PDT

Sarah Michelle Gellar is one of those celebrities that seems a bit more grounded, despite the fact that she too was a child actress. Recently, she deep dived with Self Magazine about what's it's like to be her...

Here are highlights:

Gellar follows a very strict eating plan that she summarizes in two words: good food. "I'm not much of a junk food eater. I like pretzels, but I'd rather have steak. I'd rather have a great meal. I'd rather dine.

It's a bit hard to believe Gellar puts away all that grub give that, at 5 foot 4, she's barely sample-size. But she works up an appetitive by being active virtually nonstop. As a child, she was ranked the third-best figure skater in New York state, and later she earned a brown belt in tae kwon do. Most recently, she's taken up tennis.

Usually I don't buy into celebrities saying that they eat a lot and don't gain weight, but somehow I feel like she's being honest. It seems she is just sensible about what she eats, but she'd never deny herself some tasty grub, especially since her hubby went to culinary school. Also, balancing off the tasty grub with some good old fashioned activity (skating and tae kwon do?!) is definitely a healthy way to live life. Plus, she's known to bike around New York City (man, I still love that bike) instead of using car, or a driver for that matter. Check out the rest of her great interview in the October issue of Self Magazine (on newsstands now).

Source

New Sport: Figure Skateboarding

GiggleSugar — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:00:00 PDT

Hold up. What the hell is this? When I last checked, skateboarding was the sport of hard knocks, not some gliding, spinning, artistic release. This following dude traded in his scrapes and bruises for bad music and a pair of tights. The end result: MAGIC!

One Woman's Quest for the Best: The Fastest, Farthest Female Inline Skate

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:23:05 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Over the next few months, families will travel across the U.S. via plane, train or car during summer road trips. Kacie Fischer will be covering the same distance (nearly 4,000 miles, on her route), but on inline skates. . . and in just 74 days. If she reaches her goal, Fischer will also be breaking five Guinness World Records in the process.

We caught up with Fischer, a Promax DOer, after a long day of skating to get the backstory about her fit trip which has been two years in the making.

How did you get started with inline skating?

I started skating when I was 7, but didn’t start skating longer distances until I was cross training as a college runner. I found that I could travel a lot farther and see a lot more, plus it was a lot more exhilarating-try flying down a hill at 40+ miles per hour! Inline skating is like running on steroids.

More of Kacie's interview after the break.