I'm not sure how she can bemoan the loss of artistry, and then come up with the idea of elements-only competitions? (I thought the point was that a skater has to have both? Would skaters then have to choose one or the other?)
And, I was a bit weirded out by what she said when she described her injury as a kid-- While we’re still young, we’re forced to decide whether we want to continue with a sport we know we’ll never truly win or give up on a lifetime of training, which also might mean losing friends, a routine, or a sense of purpose.
I mean, I think I know what she meant-- someone who's really into skating who gives that up is losing a sense of purpose-- but it almost made me kind of want to retort, "Yeah, how do those of us who don't spend our time training hard for competitive skating even stand to live?" I'm sure that's not what she meant, but still. (And what does she figure the kids do who train, or train hard, but will never be really great? They're faced with that same conundrum, just without a definitive skating-career-ending event, and somehow they manage to go on.)
Also, do we (who are in the U.S.) need to see "American dominance on international podiums" to get interested in and excited about skating? Do we really need to be able to be in the mindset of "our country is the best!" to think skating is worth it? (I mean, I guess take it with a grain of salt, because like her, I grew up in the Kerrigan-Harding-Yamaguchi-Hamilton-Boitano-etc. era. But we also liked watching Baiul, Petrenko, Gordeeva/Grinkov, Stojko, Witt, etc. I remember looking at everyone and saying "I want to do that!" regardless of the flag they were skating under, and I don't remember thinking "I want to do that!" because *Americans* were doing it.)
But yes, of course she's right-- skating should embrace everyone. And not just those on a fast-track to the Olympics. But I would also argue that skating may be on the way out just because... that's what happens with things. It's not the 90s anymore. There are many things people were more interested in in {pick one: the 40s, 60s, 80s} that people aren't as into now. Trends come and go.