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

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.