Worlds for the Non-Figure Skating Fan
I know many visitors to Boot and Blade aren’t avid skating fans. As such, here’s a few top tips for watching the World Figure Skating Championships coming up on March 19-25 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Don’t miss the TV coverage. For my Canadian readers, CTV/TSN is covering the skating. Here’s the schedule.
- Choose the right events to watch. If you can’t catch every event, then you’ll want to watch the free programs–both to see more skating and to get the final results. If you’ve only got an hour or two to spare I’d choose the women’s and pair’s free. The powerhouse Japanese women’s team competing on home ice will be spectacular to watch. I think the pairs free is always the most exciting event, so it gets my vote again.
- Check out the Team Canada blog to understand their goals for the competition.
- Read up on the not-so-new scoring system so that you can get a better idea on how the skaters are judged.
- Check back with Boot and Blade during Worlds for an explanation of the different between two similar jumps–the flip and the lutz.
Happy viewing!