Figure Skating!

Hi my name is Natasha, and I love to ice skate; it's my favorite sport! It gets so cold here in Russia during the winter, you can skate over frozen rivers or lakes! Of course, my mom won't let me, so I go to the outdoor skating rink. When I'm not practicing my figure skating, my friends and I play games like tag on the ice. I would never take my skates off if I didn't have to!

Although no one is sure where ice skating originated, archaeologists say that ice skating developed as a way of traveling over large, icy areas. But nowadays, it's hard to imagine people traveling by ice skates.

My coach tells me that the first ice skates looked nothing like those we wear now. She tells me that people used to grind down cattle bones giving them some shape and a flat gliding surface. They would then tie them to the bottom of their shoes, and use a stick to push off, kind of like a ski pole. Not only does that sound uncomfortable, but I don't think I could figure skate with a stick in my hand!

In the late 1200's, the Dutch are said to have redesigned the form of the ice skates by using steel for blades and giving them edges to help the movement on the ice. This design has remained almost unchanged to this day.

Figure skating is a sport that involves spins, jumps, and other moves on ice and is often to music. In many languages, figure skating means "artistic skating". Figure skating has grown in popularity throughout the world, but nowhere more than in my country of Russia. We have the longest winning streak in modern sports since the Winter Olympics in 1964. That's more than 40 years ago! I hope to one day be able to compete for a gold medal in figure skating for my country. My coach says I was born to skate!

Click here for a Natasha coloring page!

To read about Natasha's Circle of Friends, click here!

For more about Natasha:
Natasha's No Tearski Shampoo
Natasha's Raspberry Sudsy Sponge
Verry Berry Sampler