Amy Sancetta / AP

Nicole Bobek, 31, a former U.S. figure skating champion, was charged July 8, 2009 in New Jersey with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

"I think when Olympians get in trouble, it is definitely perceived differently," said Jerry Solomon, a longtime agent who is married to Kerrigan. "I think part of that is because they're sort of looked upon as the property, for lack of a better term, of the American public."

While most skaters make the transition between their competitive careers and the rest of their lives just fine, many said they can understand how some don't. Most skaters start so young they can barely remember a time they weren't on the ice. Those with ambitions of the Olympics or world championships often sacrifice "normal" teenage activities, trading parties and after-school activities for training and travel.

"It's such an adrenaline rush of being fit and being able to handle the pressure. It's empowering," Fleming said. "You want to get that feeling over and over again."

Yet skaters' competitive careers are usually done by the time other folks their age are finishing college. There's a whole lifetime still ahead of them, and they have to find something that will give them that same rush, that same sense of achievement they had as an athlete.

"I think there's a lot of problems with athletes like that, they can't find something else that can fill that void that they've focused on for so many years," Fleming said.

"The Olympics is a big responsibility," she added. "Some people carry that image well, and some fall off."

If they do, the public will be shocked and disappointed.

And utterly riveted.

"This doesn't make people think, 'Wow, all figure skaters end up being drug dealers.' Because that's not a realistic portrayal," said Michal Ann Strahilevitz, an associate professor of marketing at Golden Gate University.

"What I think it does is make you realize nobody's exempt from major pressure and possibly really bad deeds and bad people," she said. "No sport is exempt from it."