Hoffman & Elek

[ukicefan]

Hoffman & Elek had a bad collission with the Japanese dancers during warmup. The story is on the Eurosport site at
http://www.eurosport.com/figureskating/world-championships/2006/sport_sto856145.shtml

The Hungarians were due to skate first in their group, so they asked officials if they could later but were told they couldn't.
I saw this on Eurosport, Nora looked very shaken and upset. They did well to get through the programme but she was obviously in pain.

I'd like to know what other forum members thought of this? Should the referee have allowed Hoffman and Elek to skate later? Does anyone know what the rules are?

I think Tonya Harding was allowed to skate later at the 94 Olympics when her boot lace snapped.

 

[Engwaciriel]

The japanese team was prepared to skate first instead, they were out on the ice and about to start, but then it was announced that Hoffman & Elek were to skate instead. I think they could have skated last instead, don't think it'd made that big difference...

 

[JonnyCoop]

I'm not sure what the rules are (and based on the Zhangs controversy in Torino they might be fairly flexible anyway), but IMO, the referee was right. Hoffmann & Elek hadn't even skated yet; had they been bumped to the last slot in the group before any of the group actually skated, that would have thrown off not only the couple that was originally supposed to skate after them, but all the rest of the couples in the group, too, if Hoffman & Elek were then allowed to skate last.

On a related note, I think one of the reasons why the Zhangs were given so much leeway (at least according to some, I'm still not sure if I personally feel the same way) was because they were the last pair to skate that night anyway so it wasn't going to screw anyone else up if they were given some extra time to get it together.

 

[Engwaciriel]

I'm not sure what the rules are (and based on the Zhangs controversy in Torino they might be fairly flexible anyway), but IMO, the referee was right. Hoffmann & Elek hadn't even skated yet; had they been bumped to the last slot in the group before any of the group actually skated, that would have thrown off not only the couple that was originally supposed to skate after them, but all the rest of the couples in the group, too, if Hoffman & Elek were then allowed to skate last.

On a related note, I think one of the reasons why the Zhangs were given so much leeway (at least according to some, I'm still not sure if I personally feel the same way) was because they were the last pair to skate that night anyway so it wasn't going to screw anyone else up if they were given some extra time to get it together.

But as I said in the previous post, the pair that were to skate after them, the japanese team, didn't seem to have any problem with going first. They looked happy and ready to go out and skate..

 

[Jasper]

I thought the rules were too strict, but Hoffman/Elek perservered and still skated great. I was especially impressed by their twizzles, some of the top teams could take lessons. And props to ESPN for even showing them!

 

[JonnyCoop]

But as I said in the previous post, the pair that were to skate after them, the japanese team, didn't seem to have any problem with going first. They looked happy and ready to go out and skate..

Yes, you did mention that, actually. (I spaced again!) That's pretty unusual, actually; most skaters seem to freak a bit.

Perhaps they left the order alone because of all the Zhang fallout*; maybe they're afraid to start some sort of trend where the order gets all out of whack for various reasons.

*pun, which I noticed after posting originally, was NOT intended.