Top figure skaters spin at such unbelievably fast speeds — as many as six revolutions per second — that it can make even spectators feel a little woozy, reports CNN.
Do figure skaters get dizzy?
Although they occasionally tumble upon landing, figure skaters mostly spin through the air without losing their balance. That’s because they have conditioned their bodies and brains to quash that dizzying feeling, experts say.
American figure skater Mirai Nagasu, who won a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018, says she feels the rotations but has learned how to recenter her focus over the years.
Kathleen Cullen, a professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, has a more scientific answer. She studies the vestibular system, which is responsible for our sense of balance and motion, and says spinning without stumbling from dizziness is an art perfected over time.
At the start of their careers, skaters and other athletes feel dizzy when they spin around, Cullen says. But ultimately, they train their brains to better interpret that feeling.
“When you spin around, you’re activating the semicircular canals, rotation sensors. They’re filled with fluid and they’re sensing your rotation. But when you stop, the fluid has inertia and it tends to continue to move. They actually get a false sensation of movement.”
Over years of training, figure skaters’ brains have adapted and learned to ignore this error, she says.
“This is done over time with each practice session, day by day, as the brain compares its expectations with what it is actually pulling in from its sensory receptors.”
Athletes also learn ways to reduce their dizziness. For example, focusing on a fixed reference or stationary object minimizes dizziness and loss of balance.
The brain and the inner ear are in constant communication with the body and one another to achieve balance, says Brigid Dwyer, an assistant professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine.
Why do some figure skaters wear tights over their boots?
Nagasu says it all comes down to personal choice.
Some people wear tights over their boots if their boots are scuffed up, she says. Others, like Courtney Hicks, a gold medalist at the 2013 US International Figure Skating Classic, say wearing tights over boots helps elongate the look of their legs.
But trends have changed in recent years, with a lot of skaters opting to wear tights that show off their boots, Nagasu says.
Why do some figure skaters wear gloves?
Skaters can easily take a tumble. And slapping the ice at high velocity is no fun.
“Ice can be rough when you’re falling, especially when you’re factoring the height at which we fall from and the momentum from our rotations,” Nagasu says.
Gloves also keep the skaters’ hands warm during the competition.
In a highly competitive sport where the tiniest advantage can make a difference, many athletes are leaving nothing to chance.
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Source: CNN
