Rae-Annas Podcast #1

Synchronized figure skating is a lesser-known discipline in figure skating, consisting of teams of 16-20 skaters. The speaker believes it should be included in the Olympics, as it is similar to hockey in terms of being a team sport. They question why synchro has not been added to the Olympics, despite being around since 1956. They argue that the team size should not be reduced, as it is reasonable and hockey teams do not face such restrictions. In conclusion, the speaker believes synchro should be included in the Olympics without reducing the team size. Synchronized figure skating is one of the disciplines in figure skating, a sport that is not well known by a lot of people. Figure skating is made up of 4 different disciplines, singles, pairs, ice dance and synchro, which all occur out on an ice surface but all require different yet the same type of skills. What sets all the disciplines apart is the amount of people slash skaters out on the ice. Singles are all by yourself, pairs and ice dance is usually one male, one female and synchro is usually a team made up of around 16-20 men and women. I think that synchronized figure skating should be in the Olympics, it is the only discipline in skating that is not. Synchro is really no different than hockey, it is a team and we do the same thing maybe just a little differently. And when synchro is included in the Olympics, why should the size of the team need to be decreased from 16-20 skaters down to 12? Synchro is the only discipline not in the Olympics to this day. Now they are trying to get it into the Olympics, but why has it been around since 1956 and still hasn't been added to the Olympics when the first Winter Olympics was in 1924? My second point is that synchro is no different than hockey, it is a team out on the ice competing against other teams from all over. They could be from all over Canada, they could be from all over the world or they could even just be from in the province. Now the only difference is that hockey you are just competing with one other team during a game and synchro you could be competing against 10 plus teams at one time. But I still believe that if hockey can be in the Olympics, so should synchro. My last point that I am making is that the team size for synchro should not be reduced just to be in the Olympics. The size of the team being from around 16-20 skaters is reasonable. I don't see Hockey Canada putting a restriction on their hockey teams that are in the Olympics, so why should figure skating put a restriction on the number of skaters allowed on a synchro team for the Olympics? To conclude, I think that synchronized figure skating should be in the Olympics along with the other disciplines and that it is no different than hockey and the number of skaters shouldn't need to be reduced just to go in the Olympics.