What do skiing, bright neon 80s colors, ballet, 90 seconds of music, and figure skating have in common? It was all part of ski ballet.
That's right, choreographed ballet-like dancing on skis was a thing and it was in the Olympics from 1988 to 1992, and people are just now finding out about it.
idc abt the reasons why this stopped being a competitive sport but bring ski ballet backpic.twitter.com/PvfcxlQiX6— violet (@violet) 1641987918
Just discovered that Ski Ballet was once an Olympic sport. \n\nAnd it\u2019s so glorious:pic.twitter.com/sAKDSL1J5d— Trung Phan \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 (@Trung Phan \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6) 1644345858
Ski ballet was never an official Olympic sport, it was only a demonstration. But it was a professional sport that included a National Championship and several notable athletes like Rune Kristiansen who won gold at the World Championship and model Suzy Chaffee.
Unfortunately, it was outshined by snowboarding which was introduced to the Olympics in 1998. Ski ballet did not produce a high volume fanbase so it was never inducted officially, and eventually, the International Ski Federation stopped all formal competitions after 2000.
Sign up for our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
if ice dancing is a thing i simply do not understand why ski ballet is not. who do i have to speak to about this— ash\ud83e\udd95 (@ash\ud83e\udd95) 1644811179
But it seems people are quite interested in the sport being re-introduced on a professional level. While it may not have seemed impressive at the time, now it does.
Skiers did jumps, flips, spins, crossed their skis, and showcased their flexibility while skiing on smooth snow. They were judged on style, artistic display, and technical execution.
We have rhythm dance in the Olympics (which is v cool), why not ski ballet? Just sayin\u2019— Lydia Tomkiw (@Lydia Tomkiw) 1644718026
Just remembered that ski ballet used to exist as an #Olympic sport and now I am beyond disappointed in no longer exists. #Olympics #Bejing2022— LucyEllery (@LucyEllery) 1644693745
Bring back ski ballet 2k26.
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.