I sense an opportunity for France in Dance! I'll lay 10-1 odds Didier is scheming already.
Just kidding. I think......
Sounds purposeful in advance, not coincidental after-the-fact. In other words:
Men: No panelists from Canada, Kazahkstan, Spain, or Japan (another Canada was #5).
Women: No panelists from Korea, Italy, Japan or the USA (another Japan was #4).
Pairs: No panelists from Russia, Germany, Canada, or China (another Canada was #4)
Dance: No panelists from USA, Canada, Russia, or Italy (another Canada was #5)
Is this correct interpretation? Now trying to figure out which skaters this affects either beneficially or negatively.
Re: Technical Panel Only: None of the Technical Panel at the individual events (not the team events), will have members from the countries whose skaters have placed in the top 5 at the 2013 World Championships.
Could someone provide the news source?
I believe the source is our own KKonas, longtime member of the professional media covering figure skating, who sometimes shares inside scoop with us before it is published elsewhere. Thanks to KKonas' original reporting, "you heard it here first" on none other than GS.
I hope whoever is on the ladies panels isn't a stickler for URs. I want to see some big scores and tough jumps rewarded!
I'm amazed by the amount of wishful/apprehensive thinking going on in this thread. No wonder figure skating is fast losing its popularity and credibility as a fairly judged/ruled sport, when the very fans of the sport are taking it for granted the anomalies/irregularities of judging in the sport. Another case of influenced or unfair judging in the Olympics in distorting the winning orders, it would be the nails on the coffin.
I hope we don't get to worry about a favorite panel composition, and us be alert, vigilant and outspoken againt influenced judging and rule making. People generally aren't worried about that kind of things in MLB, NBA, UEFA Champions League, and so forth. They've learned their lessons on what to do and what not to, to save their sports/events.