Phil Hersh's article calls the Olys age limit the "Lipinsky rule" but there is a niggling feeling in my brain that the age rule was voted on and set to go in effect before Tara appeared at the Olys. Didn't the commentators say, repeatedly, that if she won she would be the youngest Oly champ in perpetuity because of the age ruling that would go into effect the following year?
Linny
I don't remember it that way. As I recall it, comments like that started coming after the new rule was announced. (?)
BTW, I am pretty sure that Hersh is wrong in his article when he says that Tara was 14 when she won in Nagono. Tara was born on June 10th, 1982, and turned 15 on June 10th, 1997.
The new rule says you must turn 15 by July 1st. So Tara would have been eligible, even under the new rule.
So a skater could still beat Tara's record if her birthday were between June 11 and June 30.
Is this right? I think so.
Mathman
I believe the new rule (15 by July 1) took effect for the 1996-1997 season. But since Tara had already skated at Worlds 1996 at 13, she was grandfathered in for Worlds 1997 even though she was still only 14.
The ISU allowed the Jr. Worlds-medalist loophole for underage skaters from the 1996-1997 season til the 2000-2001 season, when the loophole was permanently eliminated.
Tara won the Worlds at 15 and then won the Olympic gold just before she turn sixteen she even says that on Tara's offical Myspace.
If Tara was born June 10, 1982, then in MARCH 1996, in her first trip to Worlds, she was 13 years and 9.5 months old. In MARCH 1997, when she won Worlds, she was 14 years and 9.5 months old. In FEBRUARY 1998, when she won the Olympics, she was 15 years and 8.5 months old.
I believe the rule is that you must turn 15 before July 1 of the previous year
Since we are talking about age.Who was the oldest eligable skater?
Probably a male dancer.
I'm pretty sure Maria Butryskaya was the oldest Ladie's World Champion in 1999 at the ripe old age of 26 (or something).
Tara won 97 Worlds when she was still 14, and then won the Olympics when she was 15
If Tara was born 6/10/82, then she turned 15 three weeks before what would have been the July 1 1997 deadline. So even if the rule was in effect in 1998, Tara could still have gone to the Olympics.
If the rule was in effect in 1997 then Tara couldn't have skated at 1997 Worlds.
The rule may have been sparked by Tara's World Championship victory, but had nothing to do with her win at the Olympics.
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In addition this is an ISU rule, not an IOC rule. The IOC doesn't have any age restrictions on skaters or anyone else that I know of, so we may see an ISU reversal on this issue if Japan decides that they want to fight for Mao's right to skate in Turin. If the ISU refuses, the Japan Fed. might take the ISU/IOC to court to force the ISU to allow her entry, or order the IOC to accept her without the ISU's ok. Either way, thjis could be a battle between Japan and $peedy. And any defeat for $peedy would be a victory for skating in general.
They could argue that the ISU can set age requirements for their own competitions like Worlds, but that only the IOC has the right to do so for the Olympics.
For the overall good of skating, I'd like to see $peedy lose one and possibly make some long term enemies in Japan.
Besides, it would be interesting to see if Mao can derail Irina in Torino, although I think that the way Irina is scoring nothing is likely to stop her.
Last edited by tripleflutz; 11-28-2005 at 09:13 PM.
The rule was posted before Lipinski was in the Olympics, but she was exempt because she had already competed at a World Championships the year before (in Canada I believe)
Edit - actually the rule was implemented before she won Worlds - she should not have been at worlds in 97 but she was let in with the "grandfather" rule because she had been at the previous world championships, before the new rule was implemented.
I think she would have been old enough to go to the Olympics either way.
Last edited by FreeKatie; 11-29-2005 at 12:04 PM.
The IOC doesn't set the ground rules for any sport. It's the international association for each sport that sets the rules, and the ISU is the international association for figure skating and speed skating. The Japanese Federation can appeal to the Court of Appeals for Sport (CAS), but they aren't likely to win.Originally Posted by tripleflutz
In any case, the JF has already said they will not fight the ISU rules.
That's exactly how remember the rule - it was Lipinskis participation at 1996 that got her in to the next worlds.
Ant
I think that Butyrsakaya was 29 when she won worlds.
In terms of oldest skaters i think it would probably be Tikhonov who is something like 33, Zhao Hongbo is also over 30, is he around 31 or 32.
Ant
Tikhonov is 34 and Zhao is 32.
Well, Ulrich Salchow was born in Aug. 1877. He started competing at Worlds shortly after it started in the late 1890s, so about age 20, and won his first title at 24 in 1902. He then won the 1908 (summer) Olympics at age 31. More impressively, though he came back and competed (but didn't medal) at the 1920 Olympics, at which point he would have been 42 or 43 (that was also a summer Olympics, but I don't know what date it was held).Since we are talking about age.Who was the oldest eligable skater?
There were probably other middle-aged competitors in those days, when the sport was more technical and less athletic.
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