Motivation Quote by Robin Cousins

“Skating is now retro and hip” lands like a small victory lap, delivered with the breezy certainty of someone who’s watched a sport cycle through fashion, funding, and public attention. Coming from Robin Cousins, a figure skater whose peak era was late-70s/early-80s TV spectacle, the line carries a knowing wink: what once felt current has been rebranded as cool precisely because it’s old enough to be rediscovered.

The intent is part observation, part pitch. Cousins isn’t arguing that skating improved overnight; he’s pointing to the way culture updates its taste without updating its memory. “Retro” signals nostalgia, a safely curated past: sequins, big melodies, larger-than-life personalities, the kind of mass-audience entertainment that pre-streaming television could still create. “Hip” is the crucial counterweight. It suggests skating isn’t just a museum piece for former fans; it’s being adopted by new ones who treat it like thrifted style or vinyl records: a choice that reads as taste.

The subtext is also defensive, in a gentle way. Skating has often been framed as niche, expensive, or overly “traditional,” especially when compared to faster, rougher, more obviously commercial sports. Cousins flips that liability into an asset. If the mainstream has moved on, fine - the sport can return as a subculture badge, something you’re “in on.”

Context matters: in periods when skating trends on TV again, or when social media clips turn athletic difficulty into shareable pop, the sport becomes less about institution and more about vibe. Cousins is naming that shift, and nudging it along.