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In the realm of speed skating and hockey, on-ice cameras are a familiar sight. However, a former U.S. figure skater is carving out a unique space for this technology in the world of figure skating.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — As competitors warm up and later take their bows on the Olympic rink, Jordan Cowan, dressed in an ice-white tuxedo, glides seamlessly across the ice with his camera mount. His goal is to remain as unobtrusive as possible while capturing the moment.
Jordan Cowan, a former U.S. competitive ice dancer, has become the pioneering camera operator to film on figure skating ice in Olympic history. Unlike traditional overhead or sideboard cameras, Cowan’s perspective provides intimate close-ups not seen before. Although he is not on the ice during the performances, after each program, Cowan skates backward to film skaters’ raw emotions of joy or disappointment, delivering these moments to viewers worldwide and to audiences on arena screens.
“Being the first to step onto the ice at the end of a skater’s performance is a true honor,” Cowan shared in an interview before the pairs’ short program on Sunday. “I want them to fully experience their emotions because the ice is a sacred space for them.”
These Olympic Games have highlighted the contrasting emotions of skaters, with Cowan’s task being particularly sensitive during American skater Ilia Malinin’s two free program performances.
The 21-year-old punched excitedly at Cowan’s camera after he aced his long program in the team competition, helping Team USA clinch the gold medal. After Malinin botched his final free in the singles competition, Cowan kept his distance as the skater crumbled into a grimace of abject disappointment.
“I’m there to tell the audience, ‘It’s going to be OK, he’s still here.’ You know, you finish a program, you’re still alive. There’ll be another day. To see Ilia’s emotion really is just part of his story,” Cowan said.
While on-ice cameras have long been part of speed skating and hockey, Cowan has helped create the niche for figure skating.
After retiring from competitive skating in 2011, he worked in ballroom dancing and was inspired by how television motivated amateurs to learn new dances. He wanted the same for skating and so in 2018 he started his company, On Ice Perspectives, since when he has since been creating viral video moments from all levels of figure skating across his social media platforms.
At the Milan Cortina Winter Games he is working for the Olympic Broadcasting Services, which provides footage to national broadcasting rights holders. He has filmed three U.S. Championships, the 2021 world exhibition gala, and ice shows internationally.
Cowan loves when skaters engage with him as they leave the ice. Many realize he has a microphone and send messages to loved ones. They regularly make heart signs with their hands.
“For that brief window at the end of the program, when you get to take in the audience by yourself, by having this silent camera slowly available to you, it gives a special moment that we have never been able to capture before,” he said.
Cowan trains with Pilates and yoga to handle the camera while matching athletes’ speed. He has designed his own rig, starting with a light-weight steady camera mounted on an electronic stabilized gimbal, maintaining a level horizon no matter how much wind he catches. He’s added manual focus, cinema zoom and wireless transmission.
Besides the skate-on and skate-off moments during competition, he is also on the ice for the medals ceremonies and will be there for the closing gala when the top competitors perform their crowd-pleasing signature moves.
The gala is a unique challenge, as he will have to read their moves to both stay out of their way and capture the moment. It’s a skill that competitive skaters pick up from training alongside teammates and competitors.
His skating abilities and familiarity with the athletes and their programs make it work. And to blend into the icy background as much as possible, Cowan has been experimenting with both gray and white skating looks.
“I’ve trained myself to be able to follow skaters without knowing the choreography,” he said. “They know they don’t have to look out for me, and I’m going to do everything I can to stay out of their way because safety is my number one priority. The perfect compliment I get is when the skaters say they didn’t even realize I was out there.”
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