Articles
Why Figure Skating fans should watch Acrobatic Gymnastics
18 Apr 2012
The Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships finals will be televized today on ESPN3 at 4:00 PM EST and also on Sport.tv3(Portugal 9:00 PM GMT), this is the perfect opportunity to show figure skating fans why they should consider watching this non-olympic sport in the off-season, well, and during the figure skating season as well.
You should watch Acrobatic Gymnastics if…
… you like jawdropping acrobatic skills and miss the art in artistic gymnastics;
… your favorite discipline is pairs;
… you like musical diversity, from circus music to movie soundtracks, from techno versions of Carmen to instrumental versions of “Join me in Death” by HIM, you’ll get a little bit of everything;
… you get bored easily or have a short attention span, since each exercise lasts approximately 2 minutes;
… you like to watch competitions where most exercises are a hit and not a miss, in acro the mistakes are not as disruptive as falls are in figure skating, complete meltdowns are extremely rare. The exercises have their faults obviously, but from the perspective of someone watching they are still enjoyable;
… you like athletes who look like they are enjoying themselves and enjoy an upbeat atmosphere;
… you like a sport where newcoming countries are actually represented by natives instead of americans/russians who naturalized;
… you like the occasional snark about outfits;
… you don’t understand why same sex pairs are relegated to LGBT championships in figure skating, in acro you get all kinds of pairings and groups and no one gives it a second thought;
… you like Cirque du Soleil.
You shouldn’t watch if …
… you like to listen to tinkly piano music for hours;
… you think a fun routine should be done only in shows and exhibitions;
… you don’t like the concept of a routine that requires dance moves in-between the acrobatic skills;
… you don’t like sports where most of the athletes are in their teens or very early twenties, even figure skating has a higher age average;
… you don’t like sports that are mostly practiced by girls, at the club level at least (this doesn’t really apply to figure skating fans though).
But perhaps it's best if you take a peek at some videos of the qualifications and decide for yourself. We don't have comments installed here so let us know what you think by email or on our Facebook Page.
Two members of the Spelbound group who rose to fame in Britain's got Talent. It's Upcott's last competition.
Writer
Isabel S.
Photographer
Isabel S.
Mixed Pair
Women's Pair
Men's Pair