2010 Games In Crisis | Golden Skate

2010 Games In Crisis

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Vancouver may be headed down the same road as Torino...but with one major difference which will affect the figure skating event:

Olympic organizers managed to get the IOC to agree to downsize the Games' arenas to NHLsized rinks instead of the larger European surfaces that are the Olympic standard, as the report suggested. But a curling arena is still up for grabs -- if it can't be built on the original $28-million budget it should simply be scuttled. The speed skating in oval in Richmond is also facing a scheduling crunch.

Full article here (not sure what to think of that change):

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=01fc5dbe-9e38-4573-9b07-696fd3144d3f
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
If everyone has to schlep to Whistler for mountain sports, then they can schlep to Victoria to see curling. The Men's World Championships were held there quite comfortably in March 2005, and it's a beautiful new rink.
 
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attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Would it really matter if they used a different sized rink for the Olys, as long as all the skaters knew about it far in advance, so they could practice on appropriately sized rinks?

Also -- yes, they are worried that the building is going too slowly. They were worried that everything wouldn't get built in time for the Athens games, too.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I think it is unfair to expect skaters to "find" ice time on hockey-sized rinks. This is just not possible in every country. In some countries, hockey rinks are exclusively used by hockey players and figure skaters can't get ice time on hockey rinks. It is especially unfair to the Pairs teams who need the full rink size for their throw jumps.

The only skaters/teams who benefit from this are the ones from countries where hockey is very popular AND who allow figure skaters to use the hockey rinks for practice. Obviously Canada has a huge advantage in that regard---no wonder they pushed so hard to get the IOC to agree.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Scuttle plans for the new curling arena? That's an outrage. They should have known in advance that you can't build a decent curling arena for a paltry $25,000,000 (I assume that's Canadian).
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
About hockey sized rinks, I think this is how it will be in the future. I'm not sure how it is in Europe, but in the U.S. as well as Canada there are hardly any full sized Olympic rinks at all -- certainly not compared to the number of hockey rinks.

The reason is quite simple. The only way to make a profit -- or at least to break even -- in the ice rink business is to rent out your facility for hockey leagues. Even Michelle Kwan's rink, the East-West Ice Palace, has only a hockey-sized rink. There just aren't enough Olympic class figure skaters out there to pay the bills.
 

Jhar55

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Is Olympic size used for all comps or just the Olympics?
Because aren't msot comps held where Hockey is played anyway?
 

Lanie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
My rink has an NHL sized and an Olympic sized ice sheet, and they're not planning to get rid of either one, thank God...
 

Lanie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Is Olympic size used for all comps or just the Olympics?
Because aren't msot comps held where Hockey is played anyway?

AFAIK in Torino the Palavela was used for speedskating and figure skating. I'm not sure about hockey.
 

backspin

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Rink size makes a huge difference for the ice dancers too, esp. for the compulsories where they come in close to the wall a lot & have set their patterns accordingly. I skate on both an Olympic sized rink & a hockey rink, & I have a very hard time changing my patterns to fit the smaller rink. Basically, you lose 15 feet of width. That's a lot!
 

nitsansh

Spectator
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
In Europe, most rinks are built to Olympic size, IE 30X60m. That's also the standart for hockey rinks.
 

lotusland

On the Ice
Joined
May 5, 2004
I don't see the problem with down-sizing the ice surfaces to NHL size.

Yes, skaters who train in Canada and the United States will have more familiarity, or as some have called it, an advantage, competing on the smaller ice surface, but that in itself doesn't mean the advantage only goes to N.A. competitors. Nor does it mean, now that every Federation has been given "3 years notice" as to the change in ice size, that skaters who have never competed on NHL size ice can't be given an opportunity to either skate/compete on, or simulate skating on, the smaller surface. It is extremely simple to shrink an ice surface ... put out a few pilons or lay down a few practice gloves to make a new outline for the reduced size. Its just that simple. Changing an ice surface from NHL to Olympic size however, isn't nearly as simple a task ;)

Many, many competitors from countries other than Canada or the U.S., such as: Singles: Nobunari Oda, Daisuke Takahasi, Min Zhang, Jamal Othman, Roman Serov, Yoshie Onda, Fumie Suguri, Mao Asada, Miki Ando, Julia Sebestyean, Annette Dytrt, Tugba Karademir, Carolina Kostner, Dance: Chait & Sakhnovski, Zaretski & Zaretski, Faiella & Scali, Fraser & Lukanin, Kauc & Zych, Golovina & Voiko, Pairs: Shen & Zhao, Zhang & Zhang, Zagorska & Zuidek, Spassova & Todorov to name just a few, either train somewhere in N.A., if not all year long, they train for at least for a portion of their year, or they come to N.A. to have their choreography set by Lori Nicol, David Wilson, Lea Ann Miller, Sara Kawahara, Joanne McLeod, Nikolai Morosov, Alexander Shulin, etc. etc. Or, in the case of the world's best or most decorated skaters, such as Irina Slutskya, Evgeny Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel, they have the opportunity to perform for months in North American touring ice shows such as SOI or COI; very nearly without exception, on smaller ice surfaces. These skaters have all had ample opportunity to familiarize themselves with the non-Olympic size venue. As for future stars who might be Olympic competitors in 2010, their Federations will just have to ensure they are sent out to JGP or SGP competitions in N.A., or are able to train on a smaller ice surface in Europe etc. or buy a big supply of practice gloves ;) and make sure their coaches' are routinely having their skaters simulate skating on the NHL ice size.

As for the hockey teams ... they have been coming to N.A., for years and years, from both the Junior and the Senior ranks, it hasn't affected the competition one bit. If North American teams can adjust and play European style hockey in the World Cup(s), surely the non-N.A. teams can adjust their game and play on an NHL size ice surface.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
The skaters who have the largest problem skating on rinks that are 15' narrower than an Olympic rink are Pairs and Ice Dancers. Maybe singles skaters can adapt their programs to a smaller rink, but it is very difficult for skaters who do lifts and throws.

2010 is the Olympics and it calls for an Olympic-sized rink. Why should the competitors have to scale back their programs for the biggest event of the quadrennial? That is absurd. If Vancouver is too poor to provide proper Olympic venues, then the city shouldn't have bid for the Olympics.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
In Seattle, when anything is underfunded or someone needs money for something, they grumble, "Why doesn't Bill Gates pay for it?" (when the voters then turn around and vote for public funding for a football stadium for Paul Allen...)
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
The news media keeps telling us these reports weekly about the costs of the games and construction problems, then some high mucky muck from the Olympic committee - including our Premier - the illustrious Gordon Campbell gets on tv and tells us everything will be done on time and pretty much at cost. They don't seem to worried about anything.

As for the Hockey - I heard the teams don't mind playing on a regular NHL size rink - Olympic rinks are too big for the game. The figure skating will be held at the Pacific Coliseum and there are plenty of ice rinks in and around Vancouver for all to practice on. And as someone said a trip over to Vancouver Island for extra practice would be a nice break for the skaters. It's not that far away.

The average lower mainland citizen likely won't be attending the games -at least the venues at Whistler - too far to go and too expensive. However, figure skating will be easier to get to and some of the other events - like speed skating. I am sure the rich and famous will be heading up to Whistler for the big events like the downhill skiing.

We always face slow construction problems here in BC for different reasons - strikes, protesters, you name it. I am sure the Olympic committee is prepared for these usual BC construction problems. They want the games to be successful. We had similar problems when preparing for Expo 86 and hey it turned out to be a world class event. Even the weather cooperated - it did not rain until after Expo ended.

I was not in favour of the games in the first place, but it is a done deal now - so on with the Games.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
If Vancouver is too poor to provide proper Olympic venues, then the city shouldn't have bid for the Olympics.


ITA!!!! :rock: To cut back now, I would think, is cutting back on their contract... and shouldn't be allowed... period.
 

Fredegunda

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 4, 2006
When worlds is held in North America, are the rinks Olympic-size? What about the rinks for Skate Canada and Skate America? I remember that at SC 1993 (?) in Ottawa, Katia Gordeeva appeared to hit the boards coming out of a throw jump in the LP and Scott Hamilton said that the Ottawa rink is one of the narrowest in the world, but is the use of such a rink an anomaly? (Although, the fact that Gordeeva came so close to the boards indicates that some skaters, at least, are not accustomed to the narrowness of NA rinks.)

Why isn't it possible for the place where the 2010 skating will be held to take out a few rows of seats and thereby enlarge the rink?

When worlds were held in Vancouver, what was the size of the ice? If it was NA-size, then why is there an outcry only now? If it was Olympic-size, why can't skating be held there without any trouble? Argh ;-)
 
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Mafke

Medalist
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
When worlds is held in North America, are the rinks Olympic-size? QUOTE]

I don't know, but IIRC when worlds was in Nova Scotia(?) Scott Hamilton said the unusually small rink there was causing problems for a lot of skaters.

My position: I'm no olympic fan, but if people are going to pay that much attention to the games, the least the organizers can do is supply proper venues and not skimp on quality.
 

Jhar55

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Ok this is just my thought about the Olympics in whole. Yes all countries / cities want the Olympics but why put your country / city in debt for millions of dollars that you will never make back. So why doesn't the Olympic organizers start choosing places that all ready have the facilites or most so they host don't have to go so far in debt to host the games. Whats going to happen if the day comes and the host just can't get it done due to cost. No one wants to see a downsize or canceling events due to the fact they have to were to hold it.
I wouldn't like to see that.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree with the above- but is there a way to tell ahead of time? I think an event like the Olympics seems to require resources that most cities just plain don't have (already). It seems like a money thing.
 
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