Sports Commentary
Since the beginning of the now iconic ABC reality show “Dancing With The Stars,” some of the world’s best athletes have taken some time off to partner up and compete in ballroom dancing.
Out of its 34 seasons, “Dancing with the Stars” has brought on 41 Olympians, two of whom were on the show twice after being brought back for season 15, the “All-Star” season. “Dancing With The Stars” is an almost 20 year old show featuring pairs of professional dancers and celebrities, or “stars.” The pairs dance a different type of ballroom dance each week and are rated out of 10 by a panel of three judges who are also professional dancers. Pairs get eliminated by a combination of lowest judge scores and lowest amount of fan votes.
They compete for the coveted Len Goodman mirrorball trophy named after the show’s late head judge Len Goodman. Celebrities range from actors to singers to social media influencers and professional athletes. There have been many athletes on the show including some of the world’s best Olympians. Though the show brings on stars of all ages and skill levels, some competitors are seen to have an advantage including those with a history of dancing as well as Olympians due to their pure athleticism.
There have been 3 olympians on the most recent season of “Dancing with the Stars” airing right now. Competing now is rugby player Ilona Maher and her partner Alan Bersten, gymnast and Stephen Nedoroscik and his partner Rylee Arnold. Basketball player Dwight Howard partnered with Daniella Karagach, also competed this season but was eliminated on the 500th episode special. Maher and Nedoroscik
It is difficult to say for sure if Olympians have an advantage, but historically, most of them seem to do pretty well for themselves on the show. Of the 41 who have competed, six Oympians have finished first in the competition and 14 have finished in the top five. Most of the Olympic top finishers were figure skaters and gymnasts who had a history of dance in some capacity.
However, “Dancing With The Stars” isn’t just about the stars’ skill. Many people attribute the success of stars on the show to their professional partners. The pros are the partners who choreograph and teach the stars how to dance. Part of the judging is based on the choreography itself, which is mostly up to the pros.
The chemistry between the pair of dancers is what really makes the dance believable and pulls in top scores from judges. Meryl Davis and Maks Chmerkovskiy highlighted this remarkably. Though the two never had a romantic relationship, fans and even judge Carrie Ann Inaba could feel the sparks when the pair danced, telling BBC, “The best part of this whole season was you two. I hope you get married,” after they won the trophy.
This was Chmerkovskiy’s first win, even though he is highly regarded as one of the best pro dancers. After winning he said, “It means so much…to do it with Meryl is a dream come true. There’s a reason it didn’t happen before because it was meant to happen with this one.” Meryl’s Ice dancing partner Charlie White also competed that season, placing fourth.
This season, there is no shortage of Olympic dancers and partnership chemistry with Maher and Bersten. With many fans “shipping” the pair, Maher addressed the fans after the Nov. 12 episode in an interview with ENEWS stating: “If ship means relationship, we are the besties. I think [he] and I get along truly so well, and we have a lot of fun together.”
Maher earned her first 10 from judge Carrie An Inaba after dancing the quickstep on the show’s 500th episode this season. She scored 28/30, redeeming her last place finish from the Halloween episode. As Maher continues her journey on “Dancing With The Stars,” fans continue to support her hoping for another Olympian to hold up the Mirrorball Trophy.
