Did we mention figure skaters are very competitive, to the tune of deliberate injury scandals?

Okay, so getting clubbed at practice by the psychotic boyfriend of your rival may be against the odds, but having your career ended by an injury isn't.

 

Though if you play your cards right, maybe you'll end up with a padded costume. (Source)

Figure skating is dangerous. Falling is part of the process—you learn how to do a new jump by throwing yourself into the air and falling until you're able to do it without falling. No matter how much padding you wear, you'll get hurt. Skaters at all levels will face injuries at some point. We're talking about sharp blades, high speeds, and hard ice. Cuts are common. Falling and smacking your head is common. Concussions, and other serious medical issues, are common. Some injuries are worse than others. 

In pairs, you have to worry about the other skater falling on top of you, or the girl skater being hurled in the air at an even greater speed than she could've propelled herself.

Torn labrums, torn Achilles, blown kneecaps, loss of cartilage, broken bones in general—all these injuries are downright ordinary in the figure skating world. At least hockey players get to wear protective gear. Skaters have nothing to protect them except hairspray and sequins—which, let's face it, don't do much. 

Plus, career-ending injuries can strike at any time: consider Evgeni Plushenko, who had to withdraw from the men's singles competition in Sochi due to back injuries. At age thirty-one, he'd endured too many years of falling.