Does figure skating still have the "fundamentals" or "figures"

[darkstar]

or what ever they were officially called? When I was a kid, they did those tracing of 8s, etc. Do they still do that but not show it? If so, I never hear them mention it as part of the score.

[KamaAina]

1. Compulsory figures, and no

sometimes called the "Katarina Witt rule". The charismatic East German skater was so bad at compulsories it sometimes cost her titles, no matter how well she did in the short program and free skate. But see, she was ratings gold. So naturally they just got rid of the pesky compulsories. :eyes:

[darkstar]

2. Right. That's what I meant.

Compulsories. Thanks for clearing that up. Weird that it's still called figure skating. Kind of like we still dial our cell phones.

Katarina Witt. I recall I kind of had a crush on her.

[fishwax]

3. the katarina rule was about costumes -- Witt was actually good at compulsories

She finished in the top 3 in the compulsories for both of her Olympic golds. She was already retired when the compulsories were dropped in the early '90s.

It was television that killed compulsories -- they started dropping in value in the 1960s, though the percentage that they were worth varied considerably until they were dropped in the 1990s. (I actually remember seeing a very little of Witt and Debi Thomas doing compulsories in the '88 Olympics. They were both great skaters, but this was not good television.)

[Chellee]

4. What's the rule about the costumes?

and how does it involve Witt?

[fishwax]

5. something about the hips and buttocks being covered by a skirt or leggings

At the European championships in 1988 her costume caused an uproar because she had a skimpy showgirl outfit. So they made a rule that the hips and rear had to be covered by pants or a skirt, though I don't know the specifics. (I think the rule is gone now.)

[begin_within]

6. She really pushed the envelope on skimpiness

I remember a couple of times it seemed like you could almost see up her butt.