Eight of the Worst Falls in Figure Skating
Figure skating isn’t all just toe loops and twirls. Figure skaters fall. A lot. When learning a new jump or lift, they fall hundreds, even thousands of times. Most falls are harmless, but occasionally, things get ugly. Here are eight recent examples from the world of competitive figure skating (in order from bruising to downright traumatic)
8. Ice dancers have a flare for the melodrama. Melissa Gregory manages to injure herself after only falling two feet to the ice.
7. It usually is, but it’s not always the woman who suffers the worst in pairs falls.
6. I don’t know who this is, but their overhead lift needs some work.
5. Laetitia Hubert body checks Midori Ito during the warm-up. Keep your head up, Midori.
4. Let go, Karel, let go! Olga Prokuronova looks pretty woozy after that fall. Fast forward to 0:55 for the carnage.
3. My Irish friend watched this fall at the Olympics. She remarked that while everyone was saying that Zhang Dan landed on her ‘knee’. “That’s bollocks. She totally landed on her fanula.” Even if your Irish isn’t strong, I think you can work that one out.
2. This Totmianina and Marinin fall belongs in the wrestling ring, not the ice arena. An excellent example of why this lift is one of the most difficult in the sport.
1. So many stitches. Not so much a fall as a stabbing.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:25 am
[...] entice you, she’s collected eight of the worst falls in figure skating. It’s, uh, not for the [...]
April 6th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
These are truly gruesome. It’s a wonder some of the women get up again. They are tough! And flexible. If they weren’t so flexible it looks like things would have been much worse.
April 6th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Oooh. I can’t even watch the stabbing. Here’s what gets me: with the Midori Ito/some French chick collision: why doesn’t the French chick stop to make sure Midori is O.K.? French chick just skates off and leaves Midori on the ice, wheezing, I’m assuming.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Reminds me of an old “Two Ronnies” sketch with an unkind Irish joke. After a skater falls over and over again, the Irish judge keeps giving her high scores, to the consternation of his colleagues. When they finally ask him why his scores are so inflated, he replies, “Well, you know, it is very very slippy out there!”
April 7th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Hi Julie,
I linked to your blog on mine. By the way, the stabbing was awful. Poor Jessica.
http://hummingbird604.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/oh-canada-great-results-in-figure-skating/
April 7th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Brasseur/Eisler had a nasty fall in a pro competition where he fell on a lift and she went flying. Luckily it wasn’t too serious.
The Zhangs’ fall was heartbreaking in the fact that they had actually landed the quad a month earlier at Chinese Nationals. It was a nice recovery, but I wouldn’t have had them ahead of either Shen/Zhao or Pang/Tong (who had the performance of their lives that night and rightly won the world title a month later).
April 7th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
This collection is truly horrifying! Makes you wonder why girl pair skaters (of which I was one) keep trucking…Then again, some pretty gnarly falls can happen in ice dance and the traffic collisions in singles are a risk as well…
April 7th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
[...] And, yikes, here is a link to some very nasty skating falls caught on tape. But don’t watch these if you are prone to nightmares…http://www.bootandblade.com/news/2008/04/06/eight-of-the-worst-falls-in-figure-skating [...]
April 7th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
[...] Local blogger Julie Szabo started a figure skating bloga few years ago. Check out her post “Nastiest Figure Skating Falls.” This is why the only ice you’ll see me near is in a [...]
April 30th, 2008 at 9:10 am
ouch. For me personally I think some of the worst falls are at the olympics just because of the importance of the event. I felt especially bad when Michelle Kwan lost her gold medal in Japan due to a fall.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:52 am
[...] than a fall, but it’s the most gruesome. Look for the spiraling trail of blood on the ice.read more | digg [...]
May 20th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I’m an ice skater myself. I’ve been skating for 9 yrs. I participate and help run the figure skating shows. I’ve had terrible falls. I did a double axel, when I landed another person slid right underneath me and I fell bruising my hip bone and was unable to walk as well as transported to the hospital. My friends said I was about 4 ft off the ground and they heard the crash.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Yes i admit these are some pretty nasty falls but, i must ask why didnt the fall of Dubreuil and Lauzon make the list? She even had to withdraw… but its just my opinion.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
My poor tatiana. I was there when she fell and I thought she was dead
December 8th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I understand the toughness of the pair women skaters out there, but I have to say something for the men as well. A man has to be strong to do this and I’m not talking about muscle strength. Many a competent singles man has been asked to do this at some point in time and for most the answer inevitably is no. The throws and lifts are the killer. It’s a wonder that any man takes up pairs. The responsibility of holding someone else and the consequences of failure are severe as you can clearly see in these videos. That’s why even though I love singles, I have faaar more respect for pair and dance teams.
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:58 pm
[...] Don’t even try to argue with me. Boot and Blade is definitely a figure skating blog. I can’t imagine a better place to go if I want to see the worst figure skating falls. [...]
February 11th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I am a figure skater, and I personally know that it is pain to fall like that. Learning my loop a while back, I fell hundreds of times, but then when I landed it I got a true sasisfying feeling. Now learning my axel I am a professional faller with a lot of practice! We owe these skaters some respect for getting on skates again. If you are not a skater, you truly dont understand.
February 13th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I agree. I am a figure skater too and have fallen many, many times. Falling is a part of the sport. The harder tricks you try the harder you fall. But, you learn how to fall and you just get right back up again when you do.
December 29th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
i happen to be a figure skater and every fall i take is not even half as bad as these! Watching these videos makes me want to scream!!!! I hate falling, It’s the worst part about skating and espacially falling in a competition!! I feel so bad for the girl that had to get stiches on her cheek!! I wouldn’t quit skating though! I am working on my doubles,(double loop, Double toe, double flip, Double salcow,and Double lutz.) I have laNDED all of them but with a lot of falling and practice!falling is VERY painful but you have to stand up and remember that skating is a sport you love to do and nobody can just get on skates and do what you do!! Even though falling is painful it’s very funny at times! Like when you fall on something stupidly easy like an axel!!!! I agree with Satarian Goddess If your not a skater you probably will know that falling hurts but you wont get it like skaters do!!!