Product Details
On Edge: Backroom Dealing, Cocktail Scheming, Triple Axels, and How Top Skaters Get Screwed

On Edge: Backroom Dealing, Cocktail Scheming, Triple Axels, and How Top Skaters Get Screwed
By Jon Jackson

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Product Description

Figure skating is the second most watched sport on television after NFL football, commanding lucrative endorsements and fame for its stars. Yet, the real action of figure skating takes place off the ice, behind closed doors. Until now, no one in skating's inner circle has dared to expose the dirty little secrets of the seemingly pristine sport: it would have signaled an end to his or her career. Jon Jackson, a former Olympic level judge and competitive figure skater, has already ended his, and he is ready to talk. During the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the Russian gold medal debacle in the Pair Event publicly revealed the hidden world of bribery and collusion that is standard operating procedure across the sport. On Edge, takes readers on a twenty year journey through the private hotel rooms and hospitality suites where the culture thrives and multiplies, culminating in the days, weeks, and months following the Salt Lake City gold medal scandal. Rebelling against this covert culture, Jackson co-created the World Skating Federation in hopes of freeing the industry from the stranglehold of the seemingly omnipotent US Figure Skating Association (USFSA). Detailing his battle, Jackson reveals his reservations about the continued corruption.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #645672 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-12-17
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 304 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Not only the potential winner of a longest-subtitle contest, this revealing memoir delivers a scathing indictment of the sport of figure skating. Jackson, a former competitive skater and Olympic judge, lays bare the sport's double-dealing and corruption while simultaneously telling the genuinely inspiring story of a young man who tried to make his way through this cutthroat world without losing his way. With coauthor Pereira, Jackson writes about encountering bribery, manipulation, cowardice, substance abuse, sexual predation, and other sordid goings-on. It's not a pretty picture, and there might be a tendency to think the author's got an axe (or skate blade) to grind, except for the fact that he so clearly loves the sport. At some points, he seems almost heartbroken over the way the sport has been defiled by the very people who should be preserving its integrity (somewhat surprisingly, he argues that Tonya Harding was mistreated). Although the prose is a bit overenthusiastic (Jackson does like his exclamation points), the book offers a much-needed look behind the scenes. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Jon Jackson is a former competitive figure skater and Olympic level judge, and the founder of the World Skating Federation. A retired lawyer, he lives in Las Vegas.

Customer Reviews

It's all true!4
Unfortunately what he says is true. I am a USFSA Gold Medalist (Figures and Freestyle) and a USFSA judge (though I don't like to admit it). Judges who have little to no skating experience seem to prevail in this sport. The corruption is even in the lower levels of skating. This book rings so true that it's upsetting. I couldn't read it before going to sleep. With each page I hoped the judges that I liked and respected were not named. I'm glad someone had the nerve to speak out for the skaters.

OUT in the City Newspaper reviews "On Edge"4
It's ironic that my first book review chosen for OITC is coinciding with the 2006 Winter Olympics. "On Edge" written by Jon Jackson with James Pereira entails Mr. Jackson's life in figure skating. Beginning with his teenage years as a skater, and ending with the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Jackson's "Memoir" reveals the going on's of Olympic level and World level judging. Jackson, rose to the highest ranks in figure skating judging, only to be embroiled in the scandal of the pairs Figure Skating judging at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Jackson paints an interesting picture as he details the deal making and back room bargaining made between countries over placement of their skaters to put them on the winning podium. As an avid follower of figure skating, I often found myself surprised and sometimes bewildered as scores were revealed for skaters who performed poorly, yet somehow managed to come out on top. It should be pointed out that Jackson is a gay man and was involved in what is described as "the gayest sport in America". However, he does an admirable job in limiting his gay lifestyle and sticking to the purposes of his book.

Jackson does an excellent job in describing the judge's involved in the sport, allowing the reader to disseminate between those judges who were honest and enjoyed the sport and those who were obviously in it to advance their own personal lives. He does however go a little too far in using cartoon and movie character references to describe some of the judges (I.e. Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo, Witches of Eastwich). This has a tendency to make Jackson look at times bitter over the outcome of the skating scandal.

At a time when other "Memoirs" are the topic of discussion in the news, I asked myself was this just another author looking to profit from the sales of a fabricated story, but as finished reading Jackson's story I realized that his love for a sport that has dominated his life gave him an opportunity to shed light and perhaps some honesty to what has been questioned as a dishonest sport. When the skaters take the ice this year in Torino, I know I will be paying close attention.
z.urbanksi@oitcnewspaper.com

An Edgy "On Edge"4
If you think figure skating is crooked, this book comes close to absolutely proving it. It's no wonder that the author, an international judge, appears to have been booted out by the figure skating establishment over his attempt to set up a rival figure skating union. The book covers the author's not particularly distinguished skating career and his coming out, aspects of his life I somewhat surprisingly intereting. He declines to diss dirt about the skaters, but does rip the judging establishment into small pieces.