These Pictures of Olympic Athletes Show Just How Intense Figure Skating Really Is

1. Figure skating isn’t all that graceful as it seems…

Cha Jun-hwan

 

2. They take a lot of muscle work in all parts of your body.

Kim Kyu-eun and Alex Kang-chan Kam (Photo: Harry How)

 

4. Sometimes it’s a little too much to handle!

Cha Jun-hwan (Photo: Harry How)

 

5. So much power goes into making their performance graceful.

Choi Da-bin (Picture: Jamie Squire)

 

6. The chaos behind the fluidity.

Cha Jun-hwan (Photo: Harry How)

 

7. Impressive work, my good ladies and gent!

Kim Kyu-eun and Alex Kang-chan Kam (Photo: Harry How)

 

8. You can only catch these spurts of energy with quick shots.

Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin (Photo: Yahoo!Sports)

 

9. They hide their struggles so well in their expressions.

Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin (Photo: Yonhap News)

 

11. You’d never guess it actually takes blood, sweat, and tears…

Cha Jun-hwan (Photo: Harry How)

 

12. They make it seem so easy!

Kim Ha-neul (Photo: Yonhap News)

 

13. But literally, their faces say it all.

Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin (Photo: Reuters/Phil Noble)

 

14. It’s the beauty of hard work that builds a graceful performance!

 

15. It’s truly a magnificent photo…

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani

 

16. That shows what these athletes go through…

Nathan Chen

 

17. To amaze us with the performances of a lifetime!

Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao