Alright, so I'm 17 years old and have decided now (after watching the ice skating) that ice skating in the Olympics would be amazing. I've always been drawn to the Olympics, but now I think that I'd want to ice skate if I were to go to them.

The only problem is, is that in my 17 years of life, I've never so much as touched a pair of ice skates. As you know, most, if not all, of the ice skaters in the Olympics have been doing this since they were little kids. If I were to start lessons now and really train, would I be able to even come close to their skill?

I would say go for it! Semi-related, but Natasha Wang, who is a world champion pole dancer, didn't start pole dance until she was about 30 and had no prior gymnastics or dance experience and she is absolutely amazing! (Here is one of her performances in case you're curious about how much flexibility, strength, and grace is required.) I'm not quite sure what kind of training you would have to do, but I assume flexibility and strength would play major roles. But I think if you train hard and work at it, you could definitely become really awesome at it! c:

It's never too late to learn something that you might want to do. The whole point to life is to find something you are passionate about and go for it. At 17, you still have so much time to learn something you might enjoy doing and then decide how good you are. The whole thing is that if you try and find out you love it, take that chance and enjoy the experience. You don't have to worry to actually impressing anyone yet. Have fun with it first. If you find that it's something that you enjoy, pursue it and don't give up. I think that once you start to enjoy something, it doesn't become just training and such. Make it unique and you'll be up where major ice skaters are.

Starting figure skating lessons is great. However, I'm not going to bullshit you. Getting to an Olympic level in that particular sport is extremely time-consuming and expensive. 17 isn't considered "old" in ice skating but it's certainly not "young" either, especially for women. (I'm not sure if you're talking about women's or men's skating since I don't know you.)

If you want to learn to figure skate, go for it. However, if you want to compete in the Olympics there are other sports that would be better choices.

Are you an athlete? What are your strengths and what do you think you'd be suited for?

I don't think you'll ever get close to Olympic level, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't learn to skate. Go to your local rink - they'll have open public sessions to practice on, you can sign up for lessons etc. I've been regularly skating since I was about 14 and started playing ice hockey when I was around 25. I'll never be amazing, but I can always improve and get better that I was the year before. It's great fun, I've made loads of new friends, it's improved my fitness... There are loads of reasons to start skating. :)

Each person is different and if you're devoted enough to something, putting your mind to it you can do anything.

Average Olympic athlete's age is 26, while the average ice skater is about 22 or 23. Its not like all people are young, though the gymnasts are.

But the majority of the highly skilled skaters were skating since before puberty. That being said, You're still young enough that your body is still able to learn things quickly. (if you were early 20s i'd say it wasn't so easy). Shoot for Olympics and be able to accept settling in adult ice skating competitions.