It's all in the name: no excuses

I'm very aware that I haven't posted for quite a while. This is mainly due to life getting in the way - between work, freelance work, family stuff, friend stuff and, of course, skating, there isn't a lot of time left over for posting.

However, I read a really interesting article on another blog today that I wanted to share with

Cheer up Tuesday

I'm sure we've also seen videos like this before, but I loved this one. She's just so pudgy and little...and fast!

Her music is irritating beyond words, but this little skater is ever so cute. I'm not sure I like whatever those "forward" jumps are that they seem to have the tiny ones doing at this competition - I do fear for their lives I'll admit. But I would love to see competitions (or even just showcases, not necessary that they compete against one another) for really titchy skaters in this country in the future - it's got to be great fun for them and a great introduction to competing.

Enjoy!

Exciting things happening for adult skaters

Is it me, or is it quite an exciting time to be an adult skater right now? Maybe these things have always been going on but I'm just becoming aware of them as I learn more about this sport I've become so obsessed with, I'm not sure....either way, it's good.

Oberstdorf 2014: Day six results

What fabulous results we've seen coming out of the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition in Oberstdorf this week. Today's results are below, but first, take a look at the following table. Turns out adult skating in the UK is pretty decent! Note: The "rank" is purely based on total number of medals, just for reference.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total medals
1	Canada (CAN)	10	13	9	32
2	United States (USA)	12	10	7	29
3	Great Britain (GBR)	13	6	8	27
4	Germany (GER)	3	7	9	19
5	Poland (POL)	6	3	2	11
6	France (FRA)	3	4	4	11
7	Italy (ITA)	2	5	2	9
7	Russia (RUS)	3	3	3	9
8	Finland (FIN)	4	1	2	7
9	Australia (AUS)	2	0	4	6
10	Czech Republic (CZE)	1	2	2	5
10	Switzerland (SUI)	0	3	2	5
11	Japan (JPN)	0	0	3	3
12	Brazil (BRA)	0	2	0	2
12	Austria (AUT)	2	0	0	2
12	South Africa (RSA)	0	1	1	2
13	Serbia (SRB)	1	0	0	1
13	Netherlands (NED)	0	1	0	1
13	Slovenia (SLO)	0	0	1	1
13	Hungary (HUN)	1	0	0	1

Day 6 results: 

Oberstdorf 2014: Day five results

It's been a fantastic day five for GB adult skaters at the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition in Oberstdorf.

Topping five out of the 10 categories skated today, Team GB have taken the tally of gold medals so far throughout this competition to 12.

Taking home the gold medals today were: Jennifer Stewart in the

Oberstdorf 2014: Day four results

The results from day four of the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition in Oberstdorf are in. On a personal note, I did a little "yay" when I saw Stuart Bell had topped the leaderboard in the men's artistic event master (elite) II category. I don't personally know many of the skaters, but I did have the pleasure of being taught by Stuart at last year's NISA adult camp, and couldn't have had a lovelier coach, so congratulations Stuart.

Today's results also show GB skaters

Oberstdorf 2014: Day three results

The results from day three of the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition in Oberstdorf are in - and those who competed for Team GB has will be bringing home a bumper haul of seven medals from the day's events.

The successes mean British adult skaters have secured a total of 14 podium places over the last three days - five gold medals, five silver and four bronze.

In today's events, gold medals went to

Oberstdorf 2014: Day two results

It's been another action-packed day at the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition in Oberstdorf, with two gold medals for Team GB. Rowena Sirey took gold in the ladies' bronze IV artistic event, while Atsushi Arauchi placed first in the men's bronze II free skating.

There were also silver medals for Hana Connor in the ladies' silver IV free skating, and Roland Suckale in the men's bronze IV artistic, as well as a bronze for Monica Spalding Brown in the ladies' gold III + IV artistic event. Well done everyone who's competed so far!

Here are all the results from day two

Adults really can skate too!

It's a fantastic time of year for adult skating right now, with the ISU Adult Figure Skating Competition kicking off in Oberstdorf, Germany, yesterday, plus the British Adult Championships coming up in Sheffield in just a few weeks.

And Oberstdorf has really got off to a brilliant start, with Team GB securing some podium places on day one of the competition.

For team GB, Jenny Kasoumpi took the silver medal in the bronze ladies free skating category (class I), while Rachael Richards - a fellow north-east girl - placed third in the gold ladies artistic (class II). Well done ladies! Also notable was Roberta Wheeler who placed fourth in the bronze ladies artistic (class III).

For anyone who doesn't compete (like me!) and is wondering what the classes and bronze, silver, gold categories are all about, let me briefly explain, to the

The lost art of jumping

This week, Coach A, a friend and I were discussing "point scoring" for want of a better phrase - the changes to scoring in competition that means almost every program you watch these days is virtually the same. The need to include ever more rotations in jumps, and certain elements to rack up the points means you often feel you're watching the same routine over and over. With that in mind, is it any wonder figure skating no longer draws the audiences it used to?

Ryan Stevens, a blogger in Canada, has written a brilliant article looking at this very issue, which I really enjoyed reading this morning with my Frosties and cuppa. You can find it here: The Lost Art of Jumping on Skateguard Happy reading!