Women's figure skating is one of the more popular, and controversial, of the Winter Olympic sports. It's been around longer than the Olympic Winter Games themselves, having first been included on the program at the 1908 games in London, since it can be done indoors.
A lot of women like to watch it because of the grace, beauty, and artistry of the skaters.
Guy will watch it because a fair number of these chicks are hot.
It's controversial because it's an event where success is determined by a panel of judges, as opposed to most other sports where success is quantitative. It's hard to argue that you should have won when the other person was faster than you, or the other team scored more goals. It's a bit easier to say "the judges were biased."
Oh, and of course there was that whole thing with Nancy Kerrigan, and that crazy bitch Tonya Harding
Medal Count by Country:
Gold Silver Bronze
United States 7 7 8
Austria 2 4 1
Germany 3 2 2
Great Britain 2 1 3
Norway 3 0 0
Canada 1 2 1
Netherlands 1 2 0
Sweden 1 1 1
Ukraine 1 0 0
Russia 0 1 1
Japan 0 1 0
China 0 0 2
France 0 0 1
Czechoslovakia 0 0 1
Winners by year:
Nagano, Japan. 1998
Lillehammer, Norway. 1994
Albertville, France. 1992
Calgary, Canada. 1988
Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. 1984
Lake Placid, United States. 1980
Innsbruck, Austria. 1976
Sapporo, Japan. 1972
Grenoble, France. 1968
Innsbruck, Austria. 1964
Squaw Valley, United States. 1960
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. 1956
Oslo, Norway. 1952
St. Moritz, Switzerland. 1948
The 1940 and 1944 Winter Olympics, planned for Sapporo, Japan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, where canceled due to this little thing called World War II.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. 1936
Lake Placid, United States. 1932
St. Moritz, Switzerland. 1928
Chamonix, France. 1924
Antwerp, Belgium. 1920
London, England. 1908