Ice skating science research to be featured

Ice skating science research being conducted by James Richards, professor of health and exercise sciences at UD, will be featured during a segment scheduled to air at 10 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23, on the Discovery Channel.

Richard will analyze videotape of two different quadruple jumps–a toe wally and a salchow–by 2002 U.S. figure skating silver medalist Timothy Goebel.

Goebel, who won the 2001 national title, is well known for his powerful quadruple jumps. He joins 2002 champion Todd Eldredge and Michael Weiss on the U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in the Salt Lake City Winter Games beginning Feb. 8. Narrowly missing a spot on the Olympic team was Johnny Weir of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club, who finished fifth in the national competition.

Richards said Discovery also shot footage of UD’s on-ice biomechanical analysis system, in which a skater’s movements are electronically captured and fed into a computer. Skaters and coaches can then monitor movements to correct even the smallest flaws that could mean the difference between a gold or silver medal.

Richards also discussed properties of the figure skating boot for the Discovery crew.

The Discovery Channel can be found on channel 34 on both the campus television system and the Comcast cable system in the area.

Also preparing a story on Richards’ work is “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,” which will return to campus Jan. 22 to shoot footage. Richards said that the “Nightly News” story will focus on the biomechanics of spin jumps.