Olympic Figure Skater Explains Dizziness on Fair Rides

With the State Fair of Texas coming to an end for another year, NBC 5's Eric King decided to try and answer a question he's had for a while: Why do many of us feel dizzy and nauseous after getting off a spinning fair ride, while dancers, divers, skaters and gymnasts can seemingly spin all day, and not be dizzy at all?

Hall of fame figure skater Todd Eldredge, a three-time Olympian, six-time national champion and 1996 world champion, explains.

"People always ask, 'Do you ever get dizzy doing all of those spins and twirls and stuff?" said Eldredge, who is now the director of all of the skating programs for the Dr. Pepper StarCenters in North Texas. "I tell them, 'Well, yes!' You still get dizzy, but you get accustomed to it and you learn how to deal with it, and you don't get as dizzy as perhaps someone who's never done it."

Dizziness is your body's way of telling your brain something weird is happening. But for Eldredge and others who do similar moves regularly, spinning isn't weird or abnormal. So, the short answer is, they get used to it.

"I had a hip replacement a few years ago," he said. "I didn't skate for a while. Once I got back out there, I felt like I was starting all over. I was getting dizzy. I was seeing stars, then I realized how everybody else feels."

For more information about Eldredge or other programs offered at the Dr. Pepper StarCenters, visit DallasStars.com/StarCenters or call 214-387-5602.

The 2015 State Fair of Texas at Fair Park in Dallas wraps up on Sunday.