Beware the Figure-Skating Tiger Mom!

Bending over backwards for their parents.

Obsessive skating parents are pushing their children toward eating disorders, mental-health problems, and joyless childhoods. How can they be made to chill out?

By Kelly Rissman

Sitting on the cold, hard bleachers in an even colder ice rink, one figure skater’s dad reached his breaking point. He’d been watching his nine-year-old repeatedly attempt to land an axel jump and decided he could do a better job, so he laced up his skates, glided onto the ice and leapt into the air. He broke his leg.

Although getting out on the ice is not a requirement of skater parents, they do have to dedicate a huge portion of their lives to the sport, and not everyone is cut out for it. Kori Ade, an Olympic figure skating coach, said: “If you don’t have a parent who’s extraordinarily invested, you won’t make it to the top.” READ ON