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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Skating feels pinch of economy

Sport doing fine, but some skaters struggling

By NANCY ARMOUR Associated Press

Johnny Weir is one of the world’s top figure skaters, mobbed by fans from Seoul to St. Petersburg as he travels the globe for competitions and exhibitions. He loves fashion, and lists Louis Vuitton and Chanel among his favorite designers.

Yet Weir often finds himself facing the same hard economic choices as other Americans these days.

With his father unable to work because of an injury and his mother recently out of a job, the 24-year-old is helping support his family. Add the costs of coaching, choreography, costumes and everything else that goes with elite skating, and sometimes the numbers don’t add up.

“We don’t have huge contracts like in the late ’90s and early 2000s,” Weir said. “There are times when I can’t afford to pay my phone bill because I have to pay my coach or pay for costumes or pay for this and pay for that.”

And he doubts he’s the only one.

“Of course the federation helps how they can … but it’s not enough to where you can totally focus on skating,” Weir said. “I don’t know everyone’s financial situation, but I’m sure a lot of skaters, especially top-level skaters in America, go home at night and figure out how they’re going to pay their electric bill and telephone bill and go to practice the next day and pay for everything else they need to pay for.

“Right now, there just isn’t a lot of money in the country.”

As the Winter Olympics’ glamour sport, and with the Vancouver Games only a year away, figure skating is in better shape than most to weather the economic downtown. Ticket sales may be down for next week’s national championships in Cleveland and Smucker’s Stars on Ice is the only major tour again this year, but U.S. Figure Skating has not only kept its $11 million-plus budget intact, it managed to attract new major sponsors in a time when most companies are cutting back.

After not having a title sponsor for nationals last year, U.S. Figure Skating signed a two-year deal with AT&T.

State Farm, a longtime partner, is also still a major sponsor.

“It’s the most difficult marketplace out there,” said David Raith, U.S. Figure Skating’s executive director. “Not that we’re going to get some crazy numbers, but we believe we’re going to get sufficient revenues to make our budget.”

Expenses for an elite skater can run more than $60,000 a year. Besides coaching and costumes, many pay for ice time, a choreographer, a ballet coach and a massage therapist. Ice time can cost as much as $350 an hour.

But that doesn’t mean skaters are on the verge of returning to the days when Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval were dubbed “The Waitress and the Truck Driver” because of the part-time jobs they had while training for the 1992 Olympics.

“We’re very fortunate here in the United States that the skaters do receive considerable assistance,” said Charlene Wong, who coaches reigning national champion Mirai Nagasu.