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I love watching the Winter Olympics but I guess I am an outlier because I find figure skating very boring. The routines are way too long, and the skaters spend most of the time circling around backwards and doing a jump once in a while. I tried becoming more educated about the sport, but still can't tell one jump from another, they all look about the same.
There are two types of jumps, edge jumps and toe jumps. The type of jump depends on the edge that is used by the foot that is on the ice, and whether or not a toe is used for propulsion off of the ice. Skate blades have two edges, inside and outside, with a hollow in between. When school figures were a part of competition, the two edges were instrumental for executing proper technique, because you never skate with both edges on the ice at the same time.Even with the absence of figures as a competitive event, proper edge technique is still important for proper execution of spins and jumps.
The toe jumps use the toe picks of one foot as a pole vault to propel the skater into the air. The skater either lands on the same foot that was on the ice, or on the opposite foot.
Edge jumps do not use a toe, they use the strength of the leg muscles for propulsion. One reason Tara Lipinski had such a short amateur career was because she was the first skater to do a triple loop-triple loop combo, which involves taking off and landing an edge jump on the same foot, holding that edge and taking off that same leg for a second of the same jump. She badly injured her hip muscles from practicing that combo.
Axel - takes off from a forward inside edge, lands on a back outside edge on the opposite foot (FYI ALL jumps will land on a BOE)
Loop - takes off from a back outside edge, no toe used to vault, land on the same foot
Salchow - same as a Loop, only you take off from one foot on a BIE and land on the other foot
Lutz - takes off from a back outside edge, vaults off the toe of the free foot (the one not on the ice), lands on the opposite foot -
Flip - same as the Lutz, but takes off from a back inside edge
Toe Loop - takes off from a back outside edge, uses the toe of the free leg to vault, lands on the same foot
Toe Walley - same as the Toe Loop, only from a back inside edge - you don't see too many of this jump
There are also two terms you may hear mentioned:
a "Flutz" is a Lutz where the skater switches to the BIE right before takeoff, and a 'Lip" is a Flip jump where the skater switches to a BOE right before takeoff. You get marked down for those, although back in the old days of the 6.0 judging system and no technical caller or instant replay lots of skaters got away with cheating on Lutzes. You don't see too many "lips" because of the flip's less difficult takeoff. The Lutz and the Axel are the two hardest jumps.
Axel - takes off from a forward inside edge, lands on a back outside edge on the opposite foot (FYI ALL jumps will land on a BOE)
Loop - takes off from a back outside edge, no toe used to vault, land on the same foot
Salchow - same as a Loop, only you take off from one foot on a BIE and land on the other foot
Lutz - takes off from a back outside edge, vaults off the toe of the free foot (the one not on the ice), lands on the opposite foot -
Flip - same as the Lutz, but takes off from a back inside edge
Toe Loop - takes off from a back outside edge, uses the toe of the free leg to vault, lands on the same foot
Toe Walley - same as the Toe Loop, only from a back inside edge - you don't see too many of this jump
Thanks. I know that the jumps are all technically different to perform, and certainly difficult and I'm not dismissing that at all. Just saying that to a layman who is not really into paying attention to forward inside and backward outside edges and what not, they pretty much all look like similar spinning jumps. And most things that are not spinning jumps are other kinds of spinning moves.
I was a gymnast and then gymnastics coach and I can identify details of gymnastics skills that go right by the average viewer. So I know that I'm not fully appreciating the figure skating; that fault is in me. At the same time, there is definitely a limit to the number of different moves that can be performed on skates (there's a lot more variety in gymnastics). And I'm not particularly interested in costumes, music, and dancing, so those don't draw me either.
I don't hate figure skating, I just find it a little dull to watch. Especially the long program, which is WAY too long. I guess I have a short attention span and I would rather watch other events. Seems like the more prevalent opinion about the Winter Games is to be indifferent to everything else but love figure skating.
agree that the skating can seem too long, I have suggested to some of the IOC members that they consider putting 6 or 8 skaters/pairs out at one time to speed things up a bit but not implemented as of yet.
I was a gymnast and then gymnastics coach and I can identify details of gymnastics skills that go right by the average viewer. So I know that I'm not fully appreciating the figure skating; that fault is in me. At the same time, there is definitely a limit to the number of different moves that can be performed on skates (there's a lot more variety in gymnastics). And I'm not particularly interested in costumes, music, and dancing, so those don't draw me either.
Gymnastics is my sport fave for the Summer Games. I have taped coverage from every Games going back to 2000, and every Nationals and Olympic Trials going back to 1996.
I prefer the older style of gymnastics, before the end of the Perfect 10 system. Now IMO the sport has gotten to be too robotic and less artistic than in the past.
I think the revised scoring of both sports has removed a lot of the artistry, by quantifying every single move. I prefer to watch the older uneven bars routines, because there was more to the routine than giant swings and pirouettes on top of the high bar; the lower bar is such an afterthought now. I am not a fan of the contortionist positions on skating spins. There was a reason why Denise Biellmann (1981 World Champion) made a sensation when she pulled her free foot all the way behind her and above her head into a needle scale during a spin, because it had never been done before. Now everyone does it, and it gets old. Give me a classic layback a la Peggy Fleming any day!
Well, it's not like the US was going to contend for a medal. Pairs is the weakest discipline in the US at this time, that's why we only qualified one pair for the Olympics this year based on the results of last year's World Championships.
I was so happy that Shaun White won the gold. I read that he is not well liked in the snowboarding crowd which surprised me except I am sure there is jealousy there. The article I read said he is a loner and most of the guys hang out and snowboard together.
Chloe Kim and Red Gerard were excellent and both only 17! Wow!
Since the US wasn't in contention I was so pleased to see the German couple win pairs skating. She has been in 5 Olympics and they skated their fannies off! They absolutely deserved gold.
every four years, I forget how much of an expert I am at so many obscure sports
It's the same in our house. We don't skate or ski, but we're expert commentators on figure skating and ski jumping.
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I know that the jumps are all technically different to perform, and certainly difficult and I'm not dismissing that at all. Just saying that to a layman who is not really into paying attention to forward inside and backward outside edges and what not, they pretty much all look like similar spinning jumps. And most things that are not spinning jumps are other kinds of spinning moves. 
