"So the programs all start to all look the same. I watched one free skating competition, and I thought I was watching a short program. Everyone was doing exactly the same elements"
About this Quote
Boitano is diagnosing a problem every longtime fan feels in their gut: when a sport optimizes itself to win, it starts to eat its own personality. His complaint isn’t nostalgic whining about “the good old days.” It’s an athlete’s alarm bell that the incentive structure has gotten so rigid that it’s flattening the product. If a free skate can be mistaken for a short program, the event has lost its central promise: freedom, risk, surprise.
The intent is bluntly practical. Boitano is pointing at judging and scoring systems that reward certain high-value elements so reliably that skaters would be foolish not to chase them. The subtext is harsher: originality becomes a competitive disadvantage. When “everyone was doing exactly the same elements,” it’s not because skaters lack imagination; it’s because the rules quietly punish it. “Elements” becomes the key word - not choreography, not interpretation, not style. The sport is reduced to a checklist, and once you turn artistry into a ledger, you’ll get ledger-like skating.
Context matters because Boitano comes from an era when programs were judged more holistically and stars could differentiate themselves through line, musicality, and pacing, not just technical content. He’s also speaking as someone who understands the athlete’s dilemma: you can value expression and still be forced to build around whatever the code of points will reliably pay for. His observation lands as cultural critique: figure skating risks becoming a sport that looks fairer on paper while feeling less alive on ice.
The intent is bluntly practical. Boitano is pointing at judging and scoring systems that reward certain high-value elements so reliably that skaters would be foolish not to chase them. The subtext is harsher: originality becomes a competitive disadvantage. When “everyone was doing exactly the same elements,” it’s not because skaters lack imagination; it’s because the rules quietly punish it. “Elements” becomes the key word - not choreography, not interpretation, not style. The sport is reduced to a checklist, and once you turn artistry into a ledger, you’ll get ledger-like skating.
Context matters because Boitano comes from an era when programs were judged more holistically and stars could differentiate themselves through line, musicality, and pacing, not just technical content. He’s also speaking as someone who understands the athlete’s dilemma: you can value expression and still be forced to build around whatever the code of points will reliably pay for. His observation lands as cultural critique: figure skating risks becoming a sport that looks fairer on paper while feeling less alive on ice.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
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