Team Skating at Sochi | Golden Skate

Team Skating at Sochi

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
http://www.universalsports.com/news...+skating+team+event+added+sochi+2014+olympics

According to the IOC, the figure skating team event will feature teams made up of six skaters: one male, one female, one pairs team and one ice dancing couple. Points will be awarded to each skater/couple, and the team with the highest number of points will be the winner.



Interesting. I wonder what the criteria is....I can recall exhibitions with 2 pairs teams.

Here's a little bit more info

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com...nt-womens-ski-jumping-new-olympic-events.html

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com...ating-boss-on-team-event-something-spicy.html
 

ILoveFigures

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
Sorry, but IMO this sounds a bit stupid. The ISU has refused synchro a part in the Olympics citing there are not enough countries challenging for the medals. Seriously, in this team event the countries challenging for a medal spot will be Canada, Japan, Russia and the United States. Other countries will not stand a chance. Maybe The People's Republic of China can challenge, but that's about it. I'd ratter see all 5 disciplines in the Olympics instead of this. Besides, figure skating hasn't had this event for a very long time either.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Well, maybe France. Good dancers and men's, not so good ladies, but some up and coming ones, and the odd pair here and there.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I think the Winter Olympics finds itself in the position of grasping at straws. The big draws of the past -- ski jumping, downhill, toboggan, figure skating. etc. -- are fading. But the new "extreme" sports like half-pipe and moguls are not picking up the slack, in terms of broad fan interest and audience appeal. I think the modern Olympics will turn out to be by and large a twentieth century phenomenon.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Well, according to Heyang's post there will be 2 Singles and 2 x 2Couples.

I don't see anything like different skaters doing SPs only.

Mathman - There is some fading of the events in the Winter Olympics, but the Summer Olympics is still going strong.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Mathman - There is some fading of the events in the Winter Olympics, but the Summer Olympics is still going strong.
les than any othe
US viewership is down. NBC's lost more money on both Summer and Winter games in teh last two cycles.
 

FTnoona

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with this team skating thing so I this may be a stupid question. Does that mean that there will no longer be individual events for mens, ladies, pairs, and dance at Sochi 2014? I agree with the person that said that the commitee allows this but not synchro skating....
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
I'm not keen on this idea so far. It sounds like more of the same and figure skating competitions are already long with the standard disciplines. I wish they would "spice" it up by making it different - more technical and shorter and with sporty unitards instead of gauze and sequins. (Music - maybe.) Why not? Such ideas have been bandied about for years. I think it would show new audiences the real difficulty of skating, but we could all still enjoy the four traditional events. I would never propose this instead of the traditional disciplines, but as an addition it could be a lot of fun.
 

ImaginaryPogue

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
IP - what is the Fifth Medal? The majority of the segments or the highest points?

Team event (currently comprised of skates of one of the each disciplines, with the total number of points dictating the rank, as my understanding allows it)
Men
Ladies
Pairs
Dance
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I agree with others who this this is a dumb idea.

1) We are likely to see every top competitive program twice over a two week period, which is lame. If the ISU requires that skaters choreograph entirely new programs for the team competition, that would unfairly benefit a skater like Yuna Kim, who is her country's only top figure skater and therefore would not likely compete in the team event.
2) I don't like the idea of a subpar skater or team winning an OGM on the strength of their teammates' performances. While this happens in other team sports (such as basketball) or some individual sports (like gymnastics), at least there is some element of inherent "teamness" about those sports, whether it be performing as a team or at least training together.
3) The idea of substituting seems ridiculous as well. So if Flatt falls in the short do you put in Nagasu for the long? And if she knocks it out of the park and clinches gold for the US, does she still not get to skate in the individual event. In a sport like gymnastics, substitutions make more sense because one athlete may be better on beam while another may be better on floor. In skating the long program now is basically a long short program, so theoretically a good short program skater should also be a good long program skater.
4) There isn't any correlation between the team and individual events. Again using the example of gymnastics, performances in the team events qualifies you for the individual events so the team events preceding the individual competition makes perfect sense. Here it seems pointless.

I think this is a really bad idea, and I think what killed figure skating after Tonya/Nancy was that there were just too many pointless competitions with skaters few people cared about. This seems like somewhat of a ratings grab and I don't think the result will be positive.
 
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