I wish I was an Olympic figure skater

Reader, you should know that I am not an ice skater. In fact, when I step onto any rink during the holiday season, I promptly hug the wall or slip right onto the smooth surface. I cannot even claim to be an athlete. I have not played a sport since my attempt at cheerleading way back in high school, and have not played in a sports game since I was on a soccer team in middle school. The point is, I am not a sports-inclined person and I never have been. Yet, I wish I was an Olympic figure skater. 

In case you have not heard, the 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off on Feb. 6 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and will conclude on Feb. 22. Personally, I have always favored the winter games because they are so impressive. The athletes come across as strong warriors for performing their craft in the freezing cold, while making their performance look so effortless. Along with my envy for that effortlessness, I am captivated by the athletes who wear flashy outfits and speed out onto the ice on their skates.

I absolutely adore figure skating and ice dancing. It is possibly one of the most beautiful pieces of art, or sport, I have ever seen. I am not a fanatic; I could not tell you what the dance moves or spins are called. I have no clue how the scoring system works, or what the rules for the sport are. In spite of my cluelessness, I am haunted by how beautiful the athletes make the sport seem to the point where I am kept up at night watching videos of past Olympians (shoutout to Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skating to “Moulin Rouge!” songs, their performance changed my life). As I observe, I find myself wishing that I were one of these athletes. 

I would love to don a pretty dress and ice dance. I am convinced it must be so freeing to zip across the ice when donning skates instead of slipping cartoonishly to the ground. I should be able to do a backflip on ice like the Quad God, Ilia Malinin on the U.S. team. I am 21 years old and I am not an Olympic gold medalist like the 20-year-old American figure skater Alysa Liu. In my mind, that must mean I am falling behind. 

Now obviously, I do not actually believe that not being an Olympic gold medalist somehow detracts from my successes. More so, I look at the absolute greatness these people have achieved and I wonder where that greatness is in my life. If I wanted to be an Olympic ice skater, why am I not competing now? 

Maybe I could have been an Olympic ice skater, but I could have been a lot of other things, too. I could have been the next big pop star, a CEO or even a world-renowned doctor. I have this expectation of myself that I should have achieved greatness in the form of a medal, but not all success shows in gold. 

I am not an Olympic ice skater, and I do not wish to be either. I am not an athlete. While I absolutely adore the art and beauty of ice skating, my beauty shows in other ways, though I will always be envious of those who look angelic dancing on ice compared to my shaky skating skills. I am a published writer (thanks, Her Campus), I have made a difference in people’s lives as a teacher and I am about to graduate college. These things may not seem as grand as gold, but they amount to so much. 

I am not a gold medalist, but that is not indicative of success. There is so much greatness in life, even if not achieved through the Olympic games.

• figure skating
• ice dancing
• life lessons
• olympics
• Winter Olympics 2026