Perelandra

Sad to say, but I've attended much more boring conferences. One of the talks was about the medical expedition that went up Everest. Was brilliant at its initial presentation but then the speakers gave same lecture with exact same slides and talk a 5-6 different conferences. Such a shame and even the 6th repeat lecture outing was not even the most dull conference story.

The council were probably young when the. Magna Carta was signed I'm prepared to brave another day at conference catch up tomorrow

ISU Congress Day 3 Figure Skating Branch - Summary Number of proposals 153 - 181 Proposals Passed - 155 Jump sequence / Combinations All jumps within combinations to receive 100% of BV score -156 Clarification about rule 515, pertains to adverse conditions related to skater and equipment - 160/161 New Format for World Championships. PASSED Currently there are not enough entries. Proposal to increase number of entries. Singles, both men's and ladies' : 54 entries allowed. 18 entries selected from members - 2 or 3 entries from countries. Skaters representing countries with direct entries, sent to Worlds based on minimum score, set from European Champ score(or 4CC). Skaters reaching these minimum scores take up the slots allocated to that member., which is based on number of places won from previous Worlds. There are ?6 other direct entry slots. Those skaters perform SP and Free programme. Same as current system New system to be put in place., because some countries do not have direct entries. Qualifying round will be part of World's comp. ?36? skaters would take part in this qualification event. Qualification round will be based on Free Programme score. Top 12 skaters from this qualification competition will progress into the World comp. World Championship competition = 36 skaters ( 24 from selection, 12 from qualification ) skate in SP. The best 24 progress to FP, hence, no change to competition proper. All skaters scores reset to zero at start of World Championship. Numbers slightly different for Pairs and Ice Dance - 24 and 30 competitive teams take part in Worlds SP/rhythm dance respectively with top 16 or 20 moving to free skate/ free dance There will be funding to support this change to the event, which is hoped to improve accessibility for countries, which currently do not automatically have representation at Worlds. Proposed start season 2024-2025 - 162 Minimum Technical Score for qualification to ISU competitions should be set and published at beginning of season. PASSED Small feds find it difficult to know what scores their skaters are aiming for in order to qualify for major comps. Minimum TES for the season, to be published by August 1st at start of each new season - 165 Judges for Pairs needs to be experienced judges. PASSED Judges need to have previously judged pairs competitions and have been assessed to have reached a satisfactory standard before judging high level comp like Worlds or Olys - 31, 166, 178, 179, 180, 181 For Technical Specialists to become Controllers. PASSED Currently tech controllers recruited from judges but not enough. Applies to Ice Dance and Synchronised comps only - 168, 172 Remove Unnecessary Requirements for Referrals. PASSED - ?169, 171,173,175,177, (181 see above ), 182, 183 Same wording but different categories of Officials - Seminar Requirements to be the same across all categories of officials. PASSED Currently different for different officials. Proposal to make seminar requirements 24 months for all, via online platform, easier to keep up with updates and ease of access, e- learning To set up Working group to create Olympic qualifying events to increase access for Olympic Qualification. Proposal withdrawn, turned into Resolution - 170 Requirements for judges who apply to be Referees. PASSED Judges may be sent to comp but are not drawn to sit on judging panel. Activity not valid. This is especially relevant for Ice Dance because less comps per season, therefore not possible for judges to gain enough experience at ISU Championship x3 or Olympic Games, which is required application for referee position. To provide enough experience judging at 3x ISU Grand Prix Senior/Junior events will now be sufficient. Even more problematic for synchro because less comps - 170 Withdrawn - 167 Increase term of Judging Officials from 1 to 5 or 10 seasons. Rejected Costs money and time to train officials. Inefficient to have only 1 term of service (and also set max age for new judges to be trained) ( Personal note: this could be a potential cause of lots of inconsistency if judges only work for 1 season and lack of accountability if judges can just leave after single season ) - 158 will be discussed once vote on moving to 3 PCS components from current 5 - 159 Pertains to removing factor adjustment from rule book into ISU communication. Rejected ( lots of votes yes, not majority ) Adjustment needed, but also needs careful study. Need this to reflect composition of technical part of programme. Corrections and adjustments can be made annually without having to wait for 2 yearly congress There is a move to review scale of value SOV for non jump elements, because some of these elements need higher value - 157 Balancing Technical vs Artistic aspects of Fig Skating. Rejected Really salient points made by New Zealand Figure Technical scores are evolving and increasing, but PCS still has a known maximum based on the 5 judged categories ( current ) Proposal to balance PCS by looking at highest TES so far and applying a factor (PCS x factor) to elevate PCS. Aim would be to ensure skaters are rewarded for PCS and encourage skating focus toward artistic elements. Mentioned that performance of artistic components not so prone to injuries. ( Alternative would be to adjust scale of values for technical elements ) What was really amazing when the PCS was multiplied by a factor of 2.5 for the mens OWG skater 1 and 4 the PCS and TES made up exactly 50% each - Nathan and Yuzu respectively. Not sure if this was the intention but it looked good on the graph % TES and PCS y axis vs placement 1-24 x axis Factorial adjustment of PCS score should improve balance between TES and PCS for the majority of the competitive field. There was a semi invitation to review and revisit this every two years and make further presentation to Technical Panel and then potentially to senior council There is a move to review scale of value SOV for non jump elements, because some of these elements need higher value Proposal 154, altered to Resolution with testing period and budget presentation. Moved to Friday for decision - To Split the judging panels into GOE and PCS. Judges randomly drawn to judge only GOE or PCS, minimum of 5 judges allocated to each in order to allow focus on judging these elements. 5 judges for the groups to ensure trimmed mean. Each panel drawn for each segment of comp, draw for SP then draw for FS, to avoid potential of collusion within group of judges. Draw just before each part of competition. Recommendation that judges seated PCS - GOE- PCS- GOE and so on, so that cannot see what neighbour is doing( i.e not influenced by neighbours scoring!!) This needs to be tested. Test likely to take place 2023 - 2024 season. Special mention at start of session Collaborative project with Canadian company Sportlogiq, tech company headed by former Pairs skater - Craig Bunting. Computer vision technology to evaluate jump rotations and other aspects of figure skating. The project is being currently being evaluated for use in competition The session dragged by so much, I thought that we were all stuck in some time dilation loop...This is what some of the debates were like because they just went round and round over the same material Looking ahead to tomorrow - even more proposals......

I concur. There are huge societal pressures and potential all sorts of damage to young impressionable people, who may due to young age be at risk from manipulation by unscrupulous adults. These can be grouped together under Safeguarding issues. Unfortunately, for wider discussion, there are many over ambitious, pushy adults and organisations who are able to take advantage of other people's talents, not just limited to Figure Skating. Think - child models and celebrities of the past, lots of problems, in rehab for addiction, robbed of childhood etc etc. Tragic

I've tried to summarise the ISU congress discussion in the relevant thread. There were some very thought provoking speeches from Athletes rep and Medical Commission

You are welcome Woohoo Branch meetings tomorrow. Good job I've had plenty of practice attending Professional Interest conferences and governance meetings. Hours and hours of droning , with occasional ear pricking up moments!!!

Day 2 General Session Summary 40 Proposals Luckily quite a number of proposals were duplicates, so some were withdrawn or had already been discussed and voted with earlier proposal by number. Proposals passed pertaining to Figure Skating ( Some proposals for further discussion in Branch meetings Figure and Speed/Short Track respectively, some proposals for Speed/Short Track Skating which have not been included) -Olympic Qualification Event to be ISU sanctioned, with appropriate finding. Aim to give clarity about skaters competing for Olympic qualification and separate event for skaters not attempting to qualify for Olys. These 2 competitive events already occur during run up to Olys, it is not necessarily an additional event. There are still other criteria under which a skater may qualify the Olys, some will be set by skater's own fed ( who qualifies ) and others set by ISU ( how many spots each country has been allocated ) It is my understanding that this will not necessarily add to the ISU event calendar, unless a skater is aiming for Oly selection and has not been selected via National Championship or to gain Oly slot for country outside of WC. Please feel free to comment or correct if this is a misinterpretation* - Age for senior competitions to be raised to 17. There has been a great deal of discussion already, not least about the need to safeguard physical, mental, psychological well being of developing athletes, but also in terms of longevity of career. Raising age limit is only one method of achieving this because older age group athletes may be better at handling some of the pressures of senior competition. There was no discussion about limiting type of jumps or number in junior competition Mr Sergei Severedov ?sp? Rus Figure speaks about this - athletes retire after winning top level competitions, many do this to capitalise on commercial opportunities following their success. He singles out Yuzu for staying in competition despite OGM and WC gold. He asks about what sort of rewards/inducements could be offered to encourage champions to stay in amateur comp circuit. One option might be to provide and or fund higher education during or post career and also look at training methods, which should be aimed at minimising injury There were some very good discussions including recommendations from medical commissions, the findings may impact on types and number of jumps. Some countries were very resistant to raising age limits because they argued that it made their countries less viable in competition. ( I'm stunned that some countries put medal glory ahead of athlete well being, they gave the impression that the athletes are a rather a disposable commodity. Eric Radford from Athletes Commission spoke really well and presented research. ) I'm relieved that the proposal passed. * In the BBC i Player documentary series Freeze - Back on Thin Ice, some of the British skaters from various disciplines attend ISU comps. Ladies skaters are trying to gain a score of 169 points to gain a Oly spot. Team GB has 1 Ladies Oly spot, won at Worlds by Ladies British No1. If one if the other Ladies GB competitors gets to the 169 threshold she will will to Olys instead of the British No1. The Olympic Qualification Event might be used in this manner. Alternatively the Oly Qual Event might be for countries who have only very few skaters and need to score over a threshold mark to qualify for Olympic spot because they do not have enough skaters to hold a National Event

The rink in ice shows is smaller, so for many skaters who need a long 'run up' in order to perform quads, there is not enough ice for them to realistically perform jumps. Some of the performers are ' retired' from amateur competition, they may have physical limitation to perform quads and /or if their career was kind of pre quad era, some may never have had a substantial quad experience. Then there may also be concerns about not risking injury during off season. So there are a variety of reasons that less quad jumps are seen during shows

You are welcome. Someone had to do it The music either side of the congress was a very bizarre choice, quite unsettling

One of the members from the Netherlands ( I think Jeroen ? ) motioned to split the judging panel during competitions. 5 judges allocated to TES and 5 to concentrate on PCS, in theory allowing each group to concentrate on either elements or the performance. I don't know for certain if this was in the planned agenda for this congress. However, the option has been voiced as a potential method of judging. The elephant in the room is how the scores will be allocated in terms of the PCS grades from poor to outstanding. imho even better, invest in high tech - lots of cameras with hi def, slo mo functions, 3D capture and suitable placements for 360 view. Then AI can be used to judge height and distance of jumps, edge recognition, check toe pick/blade take off and rotations + angle of landing for rotation calls then this would be objective and in theory scored as per the set criteria. (Not going to see it instituted before I lose patience and take Mjolnir and smash the whole corrupt system to Niflheim. I'll be able to wield it because I'm performing a worthy labour) Sorry, carried away for a moment

This is my understanding of the main proposals for scoring/judging, having subjected myself to several hours of this interminable congress Proposals to be finalised tomorrow Technical proposals Axel jumps - 3,2,1 revolution can be part of combination jump Combination jump - each element can be recognised for full base value - jump sequence may be 2 or 3 jumps, but only one combination may be 3 jump sequence in free skate Step sequence - unlisted jumps may be part of step sequence but will count towards jump passes, if greater than 2 rev, however, single revolution jump will not be judged as separate jump but will be seen as part of st sq Choreo - must contain at least 2 movements: spiral, Ina Bauer, hydro-blade, arabesques, 2 rev jump, spins. Steps and turns will not be rewarded tas part of choreo score ( not enough to gain score on their own, but will just be linking movements? ) This is likely to be postponed for one year Component Scores Reduction from 27 criteria Improve judging by enhancing accuracy, clarity, simplifying, avoiding overlap, reduce unconscious bias New categories Composition Performance Skating Skills Better guidance for judges Feedback for skaters Still very subjective, for example : blade and body control, unity of programme with music, engagement and commitment to performance. Very subjective Some council members spoke out about PCS scoring used by certain judges used with extreme bias. which effectively is (mis)used to allocate the placements. Judging corridor possibly removed as it is currently too wide to apply algorithm which would identify when a judge had given an outlying(biased) score, aka xxxxflation Unlikely that PCS will be adjusted to reflect high TES, (due to high BV of jumps?). This will not be addressed in this 2 year cycle GB member asked about education for judges, she is quite well known experienced official Some members don't want change or voiced there apprehension about the new judging scoring systems. Some Feds realise that the changes will give winners and losers and they may no longer be on the winning side. Watch and see, some proposals may be out voted, if big feds don't like a proposal and can get allies to vote their way. Really creeeeeeepy music before and after broadcast, weird I remember in Max Ambesi's lecture, he made a very salient comment that there are some skaters where the music could be changed but the programme layout and choreo was exactly same from season to season, same issues highlighting over scored skaters who never challenge themselves or the sport. I inferred from Max's statement that he feels some skaters have no investment or emotional engagement artistically with their programmes, because it's just a music and costume swap as opposed to a creative skate with mastery of the sport and artistry ISU finances are 4.5M CHF in deficit each year for last 3 years ( £3.7 )

Beauty from the heart to shines out to the world through his face It is no wonder that Yuzu is so inspirational I can't think of any other individual skater or many athletes who have had exhibitions dedicated to their costumes, medals/awards combined with a substantial body of photos. Please, please if anyone visited the latest exhibitions, a first hand account would be highly appreciated. With a list of all of the merchandise goodies purchased ( That includes you Toshl, because your media showed you trying to get into the exhibition in stealth mode - just in case you are lurking )

Hello lovely Planetary satellites I was just thinking about how much joy Yuzu brings to the Planet with his skating. He has so many sporting accolades, world records, recognised for sport personality awards, People's Honour Award and had 2 parades attracting 100 000 plus well wishers, philanthropic endeavours. Yuzu is well known for being a kind, considerate, courageous and genuinely lovely person with integrity and many other superb qualities. Many people have found Yuzu's performances mesmerising and on another level to the competitive field Yuzu is a modern muse and inspires huge numbers of creative pieces Yuzu expresses beauty in his performances and there are countless artists and fans, who have painted, drawn, animated, sculpted, photographed him to try and capture those moments There are a multitude of fan made videos, with 1000's of views and positive comments Yuzu has inspired ballet tributes, skating tributes, costume tributes, music concerts Wonderful ice shows There is Hanyuconomy from travel, ticket sales, food and board costs, toys and gifts(Any commercial appearance sees the advertised goods have a massive uptick in sales) Yuzu has book shop sections full of magazines, books, posters, calenders Fans come from all over the world and all walks of life, Yuzu brings people together Yuzu is a quite literally a star around which celestial bodies revolve He is truly phenomenal It is such a privilege to be part of this journey ( albeit remotely for me ) Thank you for allowing me this little indulgence

Thank you, slowly recovering I have posted about the experience in the COVID thread

I would really like to see Yuzu skate irl. if he is maybe considering further competitions. Previously, I had work and family commitments, then pandemic..

Yes, the Nov 25-27 was originally Rostelecom/CoR ISU posted announcement on their site requesting applications from potential venues to take on that event, the earlier Nov 11-13 was CoC. Maybe it is other way around, but either way two GP stages are currently without venues When I last checked it was not clear which hosts had applied and I could not find anything to say that a decision had been made. These are spread sheet downloads so not easy to follow the relevant pages

Hi, Thank you for Planet hanyu Sent donation via paypal. £30 converts automatically to 33.69 euros Hope that's arrived ok

Hi I was looking on ISU site. The dates for the Grand Prix events have been published, but the event arenas have not yet been allocated. The Rostelecom/ COR is still listed for Nov, but due to international events there was a previous notice on ISU site asking for applications for replacement venue to host COR. Does anyone have any news about venues for each GP stage and which country/ venue might host alternate to CoR? https://www.isu.org/media-centre/press-releases/2022-4/26974-isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating-final-2022-allotted-to-torino-ita/file

Hi I was looking on ISU site. The dates for the Grand Prix events have been published, but the event arenas have not yet been allocated. The Rostelecom/ COR is still listed for Nov, but due to international events there was a previous notice on ISU site asking for applications for replacement venue to host COR. Does anyone have any news about venues for each GP stage and which country/ venue might host alternate to CoR? https://www.isu.org/media-centre/press-releases/2022-4/26974-isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating-final-2022-allotted-to-torino-ita/file

Thank for the translation It is so heartening to see Yuzu performing in FaOI Yuzu is clearly enjoying skating, the show atmosphere, experimenting with choreo and having some fun. This is extremely positive after all of the worry about Yuzu's injury and seeing him so downcast at Beijing. I hope that this is all part of the healing process and rehab. Healing is not just about the physical but also about being able to find a way to move forwards is an important aspect of that process. When Yuzu decides the time is right to resume competitive skating, I hope that Yuzu can put aside the burden of carrying Japan's skating hopes. He has always had to bear this weight pretty much on his own. Shoma and Yuma are the medal winners form Olympics and Worlds so maybe it will be a new chapter for Yuzu to focus on his own skating without having this additional responsibility and expectation weighing on his shoulders. I'm so looking forward to this new dawn for Yuzu

Hi, Sorry to respond to your comment so late, I was too raw to think straight for a while. You are correct, people cannot be forced to 'make nice' if the don't want to and any statements will inevitably be perceived as the falsehood that it is. However, these two skaters are adults and they must be aware that all appearances in a public setting are open to public scrutiny and judgement. Behaviour and speech needs to be very measured in such situations. Sadly, there is a well known phrase "everyone loves a winner", an indictment on insincere, fawning admirers who are all too ready to make use of another person's greatness but will quickly find someone else, when they think that association with the first person no longer has benefit to them. Now it seems that some people feel that they can behave in a dismissive manner towards Yuzu, to their own discredit. Yuzuru has worked so hard to reach the pinnacle of his sport and has achieved every accolade within the sport and more. We all know his back story, so even more remarkable that he has not only remained humble and hard working but also has demonstrated respect and kindness to everyone he encounters. The JSF president has threatened him in the past 'perform well, or you are on your own" before the FP at Sochi and shockingly Yuzu has been the subject to death curses (the white towel thrown on his head). Yuzu somehow overcame all of his detractors and somehow moved ever forward to great success, and yet he never failed to treat others with consideration and kindness. Over the years from junior days, Yuzu took Shoma and other juniors under his wing. Even if Shoma does not wish to pay Yuzu compliments now, he should reflect on how thoughtfully Yuzu treated him when he was a newcomer. Incidentally, to Nathan's credit, he cites in an interview, after World's 2019 that Yuzu was very kind and nice to him when he was a newcomer having moved up to senior events. The demonstration of support from Team China skaters has been incredible. Not just with the gifts that they gave to Yuzu, but the consideration they showed him, at a difficult time. Shiyue and Xinyu queueing up for several hour to get Yuzu a limited edition Bing Dwen Dwen and Boyang wanting to be 'panda hat buddies'. The show of kindness and support were really thoughtful. Some people clearly do not forget true friendship. I hope that Yuzu derived a great deal of comfort from Boyang, Xinyu, Shiyue Sorry to whinge about this

Oh no. Dear George, many apologies to you. No dispersions on your part whatsoever. You mentioned having reservations about Senor Fernadez' with regards to various vacillating comments about the hole in the ice and whether it was being used as an excuse for the popped 4S. Yuzuru has a well earned reputation for never making excuses for poor performance. I have seen several posts on various social media that Spanish speakers actually translated Javi as having said " maybe this was a little lie" whenJavi was speaking about Yuzu's comment that there was a hole into which his take off blade slipped. Javi received a considerable amount of criticism for his comment. Although, he should have been somewhat more measured in giving essentially an opinion in a public forum, his comment was ill advised. Thereafter he wrote an apology, which may have contributed to him appearing rather disingenuous. I recall that your profession is a trial lawyer, now retired, so I thought that your comment about Javi was particularly relevant because I thought similarly. Hence my comment about the importance of not casting aspersions on the veracity of someone's word, without proof. I did not make it clear enough that it was Javi who was the object of my criticism. I really enjoy your insightful comments and posts and apologise unreservedly about the miscommunication, whereby you had the impression that my comment was aiming to be critical of you. It was intended to compliment your insight. I am glad that you made contact, I do hope that this is cleared up. So sorry. Perelandra is the title of a novel by CS Lewis, Sci Fi story about Venus. Personification of that planet as female, so Mdm

Good sign that off ice training is paying off. I'm sure that Yuzuru can lift a partner. ( There was footage from an ice show where the female partner in one of the pairs or ice dance couples skated around the rink carrying her male partner. Anything is possible )

Thank for reposting. Always joy to watch Sorry to respond so late to both this and something you wrote back in Feb. Yuzu has always behaved with integrity and has never used any public interview/forum opportunity to say anything derogatory or critical about any person or organisation. When a well known figure is requested to make a public comment, the widely held view is that it is incorrect to throw doubt upon the word of another, unless there is irrefutable proof. Yuzu would never behave in this way and has rightly garnered world wide respect for his conduct

Looking at Yuzu in short sleeve costume, the arms are slim but he has well defined muscles. It has been discussed before about Yuzu doing Ice Dance in the future, I love the photos/footage of him being lifted. With the muscles he has currently, it would not be too difficult for hime to increase muscle strength to lift a Ice Dance partner. After all Dai Takahashi has commented in interviews that he has done a lot of training to be able to manage lifts. He has returned from retirement numerous times and in his latest incarnation has been rejuvenated to find career with Ice Dance. Yuzu has amazing musicality his transitions, steps and choreo are perfect for this discipline, no jumps required and there would be a huge queue of female skaters wishing to be auditioned to accompany him. This is only my very humblest of opinions/wishful thinking, but personally speaking it would be a way to carry on competing without risk to the already delicate ankle. pretty please Yuzu, just a tiny something to think about before you hang up the skates for good