General Skating Chat

[Melodie]

 

So these are some of the nasty things fans have been telling Satomi-san. The level of self-entitlement is incredible. I hope she will continue to not be bothered by all of these (she pretty much told a fan who went way over the line that "I have my job to do and I don't give a darn about your opinion")

[Melodie]

 

 

Things are not looking good across a couple of other sports. Hoh boy...

[Paskud]

27 minutes ago, Melodie said:

 

 

Things are not looking good across a couple of other sports. Hoh boy...

But isn't that the point? To stay negative all the time? 
Besides, if someone catches covid now, then I don't think they will be in condition to compete in a bit over a month anyway.

[Melodie]

3 hours ago, Paskud said:

But isn't that the point? To stay negative all the time? 
Besides, if someone catches covid now, then I don't think they will be in condition to compete in a bit over a month anyway.

It is. All athletes should try staying negative at all times. Anyway, these tightened rules seem to be new tho. 

 

Given the rate of infection in Europe right now, I don't know if keeping the comps in Tallinn is a good idea. The risk seems incredibly high esp for European countries because they pretty much send their Olys teams to EC

 

On a related note, Canada is in big trouble now, given that athletes across 3 winter sports (not FS) are in quarantine. Similar things are happening to athletes from some European countries. 

 

PS: Do you think countries might hide test results?

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

On 12/3/2021 at 3:44 PM, turquoiseblue said:

RT article:
Threat to Russian figure skating prodigies as Norway makes push for new limit again

 

Some skaters have commented on the age minimum:

 

Loena Hendrickx

Quote

What is your opinion on the age minimum for women’s single skating?

 

Loena Hendrickx: I think it would be great to start skating in seniors at 18 years old. By this age, you become a woman, not a child. I don’t want to say that Russian figure skaters are children on the ice because they perform well, but I think it’s important to be in figure skating for many years, and at the age of 18 there comes a moment that you can stay in the sport.

 

Source: Loena Hendrickx: "I think it would be great to start skating in seniors at 18 years old. By this age, you become a woman, not a child"

Quote

Is there anything you don’t like about modern women’s single skating?

 

Loena Hendrickx: Well, here we have to talk about the age to compete in seniors. Of course, it should be raised. I think this is a very good option, because it’s very cool when you have a long, eventful career. Well, you know, like Liza Tuktamysheva’s. I cheer for her. She skates for so many years and never gives up. Do you know how inspiring is that?

 

I heard you offered to raise it to 18 years old. Why exactly this age?

 

Loena Hendrickx: From my own perspective, I can say that this is really a very good age. You have already gone through puberty, through the phase of growing up … I think that at the age of 18 you can already call yourself a real woman. Well, at least in terms of the body.

 

Many people believe that age minimum will help reduce injuries in figure skating. Do you agree?

 

Loena Hendrickx: Maybe yes. Because when you don’t need to rush anywhere, there is more time to distribute the loads in training properly and not to force it. And, of course, you start to monitor your health more carefully. There is also time for this.

 

Source: Loena Hendrickx: "Of course, age minimum should be raised. It’s very cool when you have a long career like Liza Tuktamysheva. Do you know how inspiring is it?"

 

Sofia Samodelkina

Quote

But this is if the age minimum is not raised. By the way, how do you feel about it?

 

Sofia Samodelkina: Well, it is clear that when you are younger, you treat it very negatively. And when you grow up, you start to understand that with age it is all much more difficult. Rather, I am also for a raise.

 

For example, like Zhenya (Medvedeva) and Alina (Zagitova) did it at the Olympics. If there was an aga minimum, Zhenya would be beyond competition. But then it was possible to get to the Olympics from the age of 15, and Alina was smaller … Although, of course, Alina’s victory is entirely her merit. She worked a lot, overcame difficulties, did all the jumps in the bonus zone. But the fact that Alina was younger still somehow affected, in my opinion.
 

But the age minimum of 17 years old will leave many without the Olympics-2026.

 

Sofia Samodelkina: There will simply be less choice. Let’s say, not like now, when five people are competing for the Olympics spots, but two or three. And there will be no doubts. Perhaps this will make it easier to select the national team.

 

On the other hand, the age minimum will force you to skate in juniors till 17 years old. Where do to get motivation?

 

Sofia Samodelkina: The juniors also have the Grand Prix Final, and stages, junior “Worlds”, “Russian Nationals”. You can become, for example, a five-time world champion among juniors and move up to seniors. By that time, you will have an international rating – and quite a large one. Although junior one. I think this will create some balance.

 

What about international competition? There is an opinion that the age minimum will allow foreign skaters to catch up with our team.

 

Sofia Samodelkina: I think Russia will stay ahead anyway. We just have the strongest coaches, they build tactics faster and more flexible. Abroad, it seems to me, everything happens a little later. In a lighter mode.

 

Here you go to practice and the jumps fly back and forth. And there he did one, he stopped, stood at the board, talked to someone. Went on the second jump – popped it, talked again. This is impossible for us.

 

In Russia, every minute counts. Sometimes literally. We have such an exercise – we turn on the stopwatch and see, for example, how much triple axels I can jump in two minutes. I think I had a maximum of four. You need to do everything much faster in order to do more.

 

Source: Sofia Samodelkina: "Every night I’m praying that the Olympics are postponed to 2023. I think this will be my only chance."

 

Mariah Bell

Quote

What would you change about your sport? 

 

I do wish that there was an age separation. I think that young girls who have not gone through puberty should compete against their own age group and possibly 18, or even 17, and up would be a different age group. When taking into account jumps, it's very different to jump with an adolescent body.

 

Source: Meet the Athletes: Mariah Bell

 

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

Quote

Almost simultaneously with the cancellation of the Final, news came that the ISU Congress will consider raising the minimum age for athletes. What do you think about it?

 

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: I think that for me as an active athlete, it would be not right to comment on such topics. The International Skating Union will make a decision which it considers right.

 

Source: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: "Russian Nationals is the most psychologically difficult competition for me. Even the World Championships is easier."

 

Evgenia Medvedeva

Quote

Athletes have no impact on this decision anyway. All the more, my opinion cannot influence it, so let ISU decide. That’s how it has been from year to year. The only thing an athlete can do is play according to the established rules. I do not consider it necessary to express my opinion, because it would have no impact. Nothing will change if I say in an interview whether I think this is right or wrong.

 

Source: Evgenia Medvedeva: "Anyway athletes have no impact on the decision about age minimum. My opinion also cannot influence it."

 

[Yuzurella]

I watch ski jumping on a regular basis. A few days ago, I heard a commentator on German TV talk about the scoring of the jump landings.

In ski jumping, the distance of the jumps is the most decisive factor. But apart from that, the quality of the landings gets scored, which also makes quite a difference in the total amount of points an athlete gets.

The commentator said that after every competition, a committee of experts meet and talk about the scoring of the jumps. They look at how each judge scored the jumps and whether there were judges who scored in an inappropriate way. This then decides if a judge will be allowed to judge future competitions.

 

When I heard that, my jaw dropped. A group of experts reviewing scores after a competition and deciding whether they were appropriate or not? Excluding judges who did a poor job and not letting them judge anymore? Figure skating could never!

[Paskud]

15 minutes ago, Yuzurella said:

A group of experts reviewing scores after a competition and deciding whether they were appropriate or not?

Quote

- How is the work of the referee team organized?

- Before the start of the competition, the referee (senior referee) holds a closed meeting of the judges, where he recalls the basic rules, focuses on some important points. The Referee never mentions the names of specific athletes, but can allow himself to be hinted when referring to certain trends promoted by individual athletes. These hints are easily picked up by the judges. Coming to the consoles in the competition arena, they cannot exchange words, objects, and even glances. Any such communication during judging may result in disqualification. After the tournament - a meeting of the referee panel, where the referees discuss acute points and differences of opinion. If the assessments of a judge differ greatly from the others, he must convincingly argue his position.

https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/matchtvnews_NI1398130_Svergli_s_pjedestala_gimnastok_Na_ocheredi__figurnoje_katanije_i_sinkhronnoje_plavanije_Sudja__o_tom_kak_vybirajut_chempionov

[Yuzurella]

9 minutes ago, Paskud said:

https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/matchtvnews_NI1398130_Svergli_s_pjedestala_gimnastok_Na_ocheredi__figurnoje_katanije_i_sinkhronnoje_plavanije_Sudja__o_tom_kak_vybirajut_chempionov

 

Thank you for the info.

But considering the scoring issues in figure skating, this seems to be a mere theoretical approach to fair judging.

[Paskud]

24 minutes ago, Yuzurella said:

Thank you for the info.

But considering the scoring issues in figure skating, this seems to be a mere theoretical approach to fair judging.

There is also this thing.

https://www.isu.org/inside-isu/isu-communications/communications/26068-isu-communication-2423/file

[Whoopiewoop]

That's all nice in good on paper, but pointless if everyone involved is in the same bag like it seems to be in figure skating. They can all easily say they are holding meetings to discuss the scores to ensure fairness but behind closed doors it can just as easily be all a lie. Only a 3rd party, unrelated to federations and figure skating itself, doing these revisions can bring some bit of fairness into the game but I'm not holding my breath here either.

 

Is there a renowned entity out there that does this sort of thing? 

[Paskud]

Also, notice how it always is about standing out from the rest of judges. Not what is actually correct.

[yuzuangel]

hoping for a fast recovery for Mama Tracy! 

 

[ralucutzagy]