Only one US Judge at Worlds | Golden Skate

Only one US Judge at Worlds

KKonas

Medalist
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Just learned today that only one US judge was picked for Worlds. Don't know who it is, but the US will only have a judge for Pairs. Dance will have French, Canadian judges also China, Australia, no Russian judge, no American judge. Announcement not out yet. Am leaving for Skate America.
 

silverpond

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
So who exactly IS going to judge the singles competitions? Will the judges be from countries that have skaters who at least qualify for Worlds, or will the judges be from countries that cannot even send skaters to Worlds? This is ridiculous, in my humble opinion.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I think it's just the luck of the draw. All countries that have judges qualified to officiate for a particular discipline put their name in the hat. (The names of the countries, that is -- not the names of the judges.) Sometimes your country is chosen, sometimes someone else's. The U.S. is no more or less likely to get lucky than, say, Bulgaria is.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
As long as Russia continues to "lend" judges to former SSRs (BLR, KAZ, UZB, etc) that means that there can be multiple 'Russian' judges on a panel. That is just plain wrong, when other federations can't have more than one judge on a panel.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
well there has been little benefit to Russia in recent years in winning a worlds or olympics. Not a lot of benefit to european skaters either! Asia has dominated ladies and north america and asia has dominated mens and north america dominates ice dance and in pairs it has been china with S/Z and P/T but European skaters have been most successful in pairs where there is the longest history of success.
 

MoonlightSkater

On the Ice
Joined
May 17, 2011
well there has been little benefit to Russia in recent years in winning a worlds or olympics. Not a lot of benefit to european skaters either! Asia has dominated ladies and north america and asia has dominated mens and north america dominates ice dance and in pairs it has been china with S/Z and P/T but European skaters have been most successful in pairs where there is the longest history of success.

Yes, but I would point to that Olympic ice dancing bronze....

....especially the original dance portion. (ab-original dance portion?)
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Domnina/Shabalin won Worlds in 2009, just two years ago. Shabalin's bad knees kept them from dominating that Olympic cycle as Navka/Kostomarov had done the cycle before. And DomShabs still won an Olympic medal, which to many looked like an outright gift.

Russia has been very dominant on the Junior circuit the last few years. Look at this years' JGPF lineup: 3 Russian teams, two Ukrainian teams and one US team. It's interesting that in two of the JGP dance events, there were 4 judges from former SSRs on the panel, and 3 judges from former SSRs in another JGP dance event. And of the other 4 events, 3 of the 4 had both a Russian and a Ukrainian judge on the panel.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
I don't think they even deserved bronze. Only their compulsory was good.

But the gold and silver of VM and DW was such a landslide. I don't think they would have had any problems giving another team the bronze even Belbing and Agosto. The OD was what it was. They had to judge it fairly. The 1's and 2's people were talking about in PCS were not going to happen. The ropes were ruled legal because they were for transitiontal lifts - lots of lifts were done by hands except transitional lifts.

Domnina/Shabalin won Worlds in 2009, just two years ago. Shabalin's bad knees kept them from dominating that Olympic cycle as Navka/Kostomarov had done the cycle before. And DomShabs still won an Olympic medal, which to many looked like an outright gift.

Russia has been very dominant on the Junior circuit the last few years. Look at this years' JGPF lineup: 3 Russian teams, two Ukrainian teams and one US team. It's interesting that in two of the JGP dance events, there were 4 judges from former SSRs on the panel, and 3 judges from former SSRs in another JGP dance event. And of the other 4 events, 3 of the 4 had both a Russian and a Ukrainian judge on the panel.

Responded to first part above-a gift over a deserving of bronze belbin and agosto?? Or Failela and Scali?

Didn't think of juniors in this discussion just seniors.
 

ILoveFigures

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
As long as Russia continues to "lend" judges to former SSRs (BLR, KAZ, UZB, etc) that means that there can be multiple 'Russian' judges on a panel. That is just plain wrong, when other federations can't have more than one judge on a panel.

And how do you know that?

I don't think they even deserved bronze. Only their compulsory was good.

Am I the only one here who actually thinks they deserved their medal. I'm not even Russian. :p

Russia has been very dominant on the Junior circuit the last few years. Look at this years' JGPF lineup: 3 Russian teams, two Ukrainian teams and one US team. It's interesting that in two of the JGP dance events, there were 4 judges from former SSRs on the panel, and 3 judges from former SSRs in another JGP dance event. And of the other 4 events, 3 of the 4 had both a Russian and a Ukrainian judge on the panel.

Seriously chuckm? You have to calm down with the conspiracy theories, specially when there is none. If you actually watched the skating at the junior circuit, you would have seen that their teams are the best, and therefore they are the one's who have qualified for the final. Simple as that!
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Actually, the announcement was made on October 17th. Here is the relevant ISU communication. You will note that the sneaky Brits and Hungarians get three judges each! I'm sure the Kerrs and Julia Sebestyen are planning their comebacks already. Also China has judges in all four disciplines, which surely means something. :rolleye:

And who was present at this draw and should be held responsible for the grave injustice? Glad you asked!
... the draw for Judges by number for the above-mentioned Championships was held on October 12, 2011, at the Hotel Hilton in Zürich in the presence of Mr. David Dore, ISU, Vice-President Figure Skating, Mr. Peter Krick, Chair Sports Directorate, Ms. Patricia Mayor, ISU, Sports Coordinator Figure Skating, Mr. Roland Wehinger, President of the Schweizer Eislauf Verband, and Mr. Philippe Dünner, auditor from BDO Visura.
I blame David Dore, myself. :p

As long as Russia continues to "lend" judges to former SSRs (BLR, KAZ, UZB, etc) that means that there can be multiple 'Russian' judges on a panel. That is just plain wrong, when other federations can't have more than one judge on a panel.
I think there will always be political stuff going on with the judging, regardless of the makeup of the panels. Let's not pretend it stops on one side of the Atlantic. Also, I would imagine that at least part of what is perceived as bloc judging is linked to cultural preferences rather than pure politics. And finally, yes, there are more Eastern European countries (they are not all the same, BTW) than NA ones. Unless some states secede from the Union or Quebec becomes independent, I don't see that changing.

Does Kazakhstan even have ISU judges? I didn't see any assigned to this season's events in the communication.

Yes, but I would point to that Olympic ice dancing bronze....

....especially the original dance portion. (ab-original dance portion?)

Am I the only one here who actually thinks they deserved their medal. I'm not even Russian. :p
I've stated before that DomShabs were overmarked in the OD - to a ridiculous degree - and that I'd have given the bronze to F/S. However, I also believe that DomShabs should have led by more coming out of the CD, and that they were clearly the superior team in that segment. So it evens out to some degree. And again, contrary to what some of this forum's NA members suggest at times, political maneuvering is not limited to Russia.
 
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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
It is not shocking that lots of European countries get chosen in the random draw. There are lots of countries in Europe.

There is not really anything to be done about past world history, the cold war and all that. Moldova is a country; they are allowed to join the ISU like everyone else.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
I think D/S free dance should have been scored higher. And maybe they should have won bronze with a closer score silver or even silver. They should have knocked D/W to third in the FD.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Seriously chuckm? You have to calm down with the conspiracy theories, specially when there is none. If you actually watched the skating at the junior circuit, you would have seen that their teams are the best, and therefore they are the one's who have qualified for the final. Simple as that!

I DID watch the junior circuit on ISU YouTube. Some of the Russian teams were top notch, but not all of them, and it didn't seem to matter when it came to giving out medals. And the Ukrainian gold medal in the first event was puzzling to say the least.

As for DomShabs' Olympic medal, their OD was terrible and their FD not much better. They were agonizingly slow because of Shabalin's bad knees. Without the straps to help him lift Domnina, Shabalin couldn't have made it all the way through the FD. It's interesting that the following season, the use of straps or other devices in lifts was banned.
 
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gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
but their base value on technical elements was not lower than other teams that they beat. It was not that they were lower on tech and than all the corrupt judges gave them PCS to make up for technical shortcomings. If they were so corrupt why not just give them gold. Why bronze? They were world champions bronze was a defeat anyway you look at it. they were skating for gold. Changing their OD with no prep time would have really dropped them out of the medals. I can't see any team changing a program a month before the olympics and winning anything.
 
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