Is Figure Skating a Sport? –Matt

Every 4 years my t.v. gets hijacked.  Not by extremist, but by my wife.  A sort of feminine jihad, if you will.  The item that prompts this coup is the winter Olympics, but more specifically ice skating.  She watches with amazement as sequined performers fly effortlessly through the air, landing on a narrow blade of steel upon ice.  No doubt the display is amazing.

The Olympics are perhaps the greatest display of sporting events in the history of mankind, bringing athletes from every corner of the globe to compete in sports that often do not get main stream coverage.  And probably the most watched competition is figure skating.  But is figure skating a sport?

It is important to note the difference between a sport and a competition.  While all sports are competitions, not all competitions are sports.  On the most fundamental level to be a sport there must be direct competition between two players or teams, the ability to score, the ability to defend and a non-disputed winner.

Baseball has two teams on the field at one time, trying to score runs against each other.  Football has two teams that try to advance the ball against each other.  Tennis has two players or teams that try to get the ball past the other player.  The list can go on and on.

On the other hand a competition could have one or more participants that may or may not compete at the same time.  Their performance is graded or judge and a winner crowned by the determination of who has the greatest number of points.  Figure skating falls within this category.  Darts, most skiing events, gymnastics are all examples of competitions rather than sports.

One interesting hybrid is boxing, where it is both a sport and a competition at the same time.  The goal of boxing is to get the opponent to surrender through physical force.  If this fails over a certain period of time, then judges will crown a victor.  

So, while figure skating may have merit and is entertaining to watch, it is not a sport.