The Olympic Games arehere.
If youmightsay that, this cheat sheet to catching up on figure skating might help.
First of all, the figure skating team events concluded Sunday night.
Things started off a bit rough.
And there have been a lot of spills.
Aliona Savchenko, skating for Germany fell in the team competition.
Thats why its so fun!
The costumes, the music, the personality.
Theres even a dance portion, for goodness sake.
Theyre then added together for the Total Segment Score (TSS).
The Elements
You basically need a B.A.
in Math Sciences to understand the scoring for TES.
Every element of a routine has a base value.
Its assigned a number, and that number can go up down depending on its Grade of Execution orGOE.
A fall is negative one point, for instance.
PCS is judged overall on a score of one to ten, with five being considered average.
But an average Olympian would probably still blow you away if you saw them messing around at Chelsea Piers.
But Wheres The DRAMA?
Team USA has two figures on their skating team who have attracted a lot of attention.
The first one is 18-year-old Nathan Chen.
It was a huge shock when Chen fell on Friday; its something he rarely does.
Hes also beloved for being a cutie with a heart-warming smile:
But back to the Americans.
Rippon is openly gay and outspoken in general.
He gained someattentionjust before the Olympics by sparring with Vice President Mike Pence.
You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?
Im not buying it.
His routine was basically flawless, butaccording toUSA Today, he lost points for not doing a quad.
And yes, his competitors fell on their asses.
This is a bummer!
(Tonya Harding was famously the first American woman to land the jump in competition back in 1991).
Just remember, your after-work viewing will be the crack of dawn for the competitors actually doing the skating.
