If you were entitled to write an official letter to ISU Congress, what would you ask them to do?

[Anna K.]

There are probably many things, but if I have to pick one...

Dear Congress,

please, drop the rhythm change requirement for Rhythm Dance! I'm badly tired of programs that are stitched together from thematically non-connected pieces that ruin each others impression. If you want skaters to show more skills, just bring the pattern dance back and judge the quality.

 

[4everchan]

Hello ISU

Please update the concept of short and long programs. Make them the same length. Make them 50-50 in scoring weight. However, make the first one a technical program with specific required elements, and the second a more artistic program removing a couple jumping passes and replacing them by step sequences and choreographic elements.

 

[mrrice]

Sadly, I'd ask them how they're going to address the problem of doping. I still think coaches need to be part of the investigation. I'll never believe that Eteri didn't know her skater was on something. These Olympics were tainted and I hope it never happens again.

 

[noskates]

I would ask them to make decisions quicker so that people can move on. I would ask that they continually monitor judges and their judging to ensure a fair playing field for all nations.

 

[yelyoh]

Yes regarding the doping. Make judging completely transparent (and give me wings while you're at it). And have two separate panels, one for tech and the other for PCS (oh and make those wings glow in the dark so I don't get struck by aircraft at night).

 

[mrrice]

Yes regarding the doping. Make judging completely transparent (and give me wings while you're at it). And have two separate panels, one for tech and the other for PCS (oh and make those wings glow in the dark so I don't get struck by aircraft at night).

I'm not sure if this is a serious comment. As a serious fan of our sport, I want to see it flourish. Most casual fans were not thrilled about the Olympic event. Personally, I was effected as well. The Olympics are the time when the whole country watches skating. I had several friends say they no longer enjoy the event as they see it as rigged. That hurts our sport.

 

[lariko]

Allow Russian junior skaters who were not a part of National Team in 2021-2022 season and are not coached by Tutberidze to participate in JGP as independent athletes not representing a country.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

There are probably many things, but if I have to pick one...

Dear Congress,

please, drop the rhythm change requirement for Rhythm Dance! I'm badly tired of programs that are stitched together from thematically non-connected pieces that ruin each others impression. If you want skaters to show more skills, just bring the pattern dance back and judge the quality.

I second this!!

 

[Skater Boy]

I'm not sure if this is a serious comment. As a serious fan of our sport, I want to see it flourish. Most casual fans were not thrilled about the Olympic event. Personally, I was effected as well. The Olympics are the time when the whole country watches skating. I had several friends say they no longer enjoy the event as they see it as rigged. That hurts our sport.

True but as my non skating friend pointed out if the hard core fans didn't scream yell and push their favourites so much the average olympic fan would not know how scandalous skating is. I have been having fun watching old clips and I think there ar many scandalou judging situations. In 1992 the Duchesnay were gifted marks left and right. I appreciat they had little time due to injuy ad redoing their free dance - their choice but they were rough. ARguably some of the great G and G wins were controversial. Perhaps Klimova and Ponomarenko sould have at times beaten Bestmianova and Bukin. The scoring of the ladies at the 1988 olympics left plenty of legit reasons to have Manley with gold and Ito move up and maybe Trenary for bronze. Even in 2022 there was good argument int he pairs for a gold for Tarasova and Morozov.

 

[Amei]

True but as my non skating friend pointed out if the hard core fans didn't scream yell and push their favourites so much the average olympic fan would not know how scandalous skating is. I have been having fun watching old clips and I think there ar many scandalou judging situations. In 1992 the Duchesnay were gifted marks left and right. I appreciat they had little time due to injuy ad redoing their free dance - their choice but they were rough. ARguably some of the great G and G wins were controversial. Perhaps Klimova and Ponomarenko sould have at times beaten Bestmianova and Bukin. The scoring of the ladies at the 1988 olympics left plenty of legit reasons to have Manley with gold and Ito move up and maybe Trenary for bronze. Even in 2022 there was good argument int he pairs for a gold for Tarasova and Morozov.

The issue surrounding the Beijing Games I don't think had anything to do with what happened on the ice, but because a skater with a positive doping test was allowed to compete. The fact that it was a skater that was advertised as being a 'once in a generation' talent and the gold medal favorite all season certainly couldn't have helped the appearances that she was allowed to skate. Plus on top of that the strange 'protected person' status which from how it was talked about played a factor in letting her compete - I can certainly understand a casual fan looking at the sport as rigged.

 

[mrrice]

True but as my non skating friend pointed out if the hard core fans didn't scream yell and push their favourites so much the average olympic fan would not know how scandalous skating is. I have been having fun watching old clips and I think there ar many scandalou judging situations. In 1992 the Duchesnay were gifted marks left and right. I appreciat they had little time due to injuy ad redoing their free dance - their choice but they were rough. ARguably some of the great G and G wins were controversial. Perhaps Klimova and Ponomarenko sould have at times beaten Bestmianova and Bukin. The scoring of the ladies at the 1988 olympics left plenty of legit reasons to have Manley with gold and Ito move up and maybe Trenary for bronze. Even in 2022 there was good argument int he pairs for a gold for Tarasova and Morozov.

I agree, during my Maria Butyrskaya phase, I was constantly forcing my US friends to watch her programs. All they ever said was, Michelle smiles more. It drove me crazy but, it was all in good fun. This event was different. Maybe because the press made a huge deal out of it but, it just wasn't the same and that was quite sad to me.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Yes regarding the doping. Make judging completely transparent (and give me wings while you're at it). And have two separate panels, one for tech and the other for PCS (oh and make those wings glow in the dark so I don't get struck by aircraft at night).

Navigation light - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[CoyoteChris]

I agree, during my Maria Butyrskaya phase, I was constantly forcing my US friends to watch her programs. All they ever said was, Michelle smiles more. It drove me crazy but, it was all in good fun. This event was different. Maybe because the press made a huge deal out of it but, it just wasn't the same and that was quite sad to me.

I LIKED Maria! And not only cause she skated to POTO and Kitaro. Just wish she would do a few more lighter hearted programs. I dont have the courage to tell Fumie that yet and anyway she did a beautiful gala to "Dont cry for me Argentina"
Dear Congress and SCOTUS. Dump the politics. Don't ask what skating and the law can do for YOU and your special interest groups, ask what YOU can do for skating and the law.

 

[McBibus]

The issue surrounding the Beijing Games I don't think had anything to do with what happened on the ice, but because a skater with a positive doping test was allowed to compete. The fact that it was a skater that was advertised as being a 'once in a generation' talent and the gold medal favorite all season certainly couldn't have helped the appearances that she was allowed to skate. Plus on top of that the strange 'protected person' status which from how it was talked about played a factor in letting her compete - I can certainly understand a casual fan looking at the sport as rigged.

The greatest part of the issue is dropping the bomb during the olympcs with big time to do your homework before.
A bomb, by the way, that had no effect except destroying the image of figure skating.
I will NEVER believe the timing just after the team event (so that no skater could be replaced and that both the team event and the single lady event were poisoned) is a coincidence.
I'm absolutely convinced that someone got the information and set up the board to do that... and failed because instead of a clean strike ended up with a dirty bomb in the center of the city

no sense in blaming the "bad girl": even assuming she is a crazy girl that dopes herself while being light years above the rivals (naive in my opinion) every sport has doping issues from time to time.
The difference is they don't make a flying circus out of it the once in 4 year event, that of course is so important because skating is a minor sport that revolved around olympics (thanks ISU)

 

[flanker]

The greatest part of the issue is dropping the bomb during the olympcs with big time to do your homework before.
A bomb, by the way, that had no effect except destroying the image of figure skating.
I will NEVER believe the timing just after the team event (so that no skater could be replaced and that both the team event and the single lady event were poisoned) is a coincidence.
I'm absolutely convinced that someone got the information and set up the board to do that... and failed because instead of a clean strike ended up with a dirty bomb in the center of the city

no sense in blaming the "bad girl": even assuming she is a crazy girl that dopes herself while being light years above the rivals (naive in my opinion) every sport has doping issues from time to time.
The difference is they don't make a flying circus out of it the once in 4 year event, that of course is so important because skating is a minor sport that revolved around olympics (thanks ISU)

Athletics is a major sport at the summer olympics, yet Jerome Young, a US runner, was allowed to participate at the Sydney Games by the US authorities despite they were fully aware about his positive doping test and there was no "flying circus" around it. And he was not a "protected person" and the positive doping test was known for a long time before.

 

[flanker]

Allow Russian junior skaters who were not a part of National Team in 2021-2022 season and are not coached by Tutberidze to participate in JGP as independent athletes not representing a country.

If you have to sanction an athlete you need a reason why to sanction a particular athlete based on his own personal violation of the rules/code.

 

[lariko]

If you have to sanction an athlete you need a reason why to sanction a particular athlete based on his own personal violation of the rules/code.

In case of junior athletes, the responsibility lies with a coach, or it is now sought to be officially made that way (correctly). Because if nobody is responcible, then any junior athlete can be supplemented with banned substances.

Rather than wait for this resolution, I’d want to remove all objections to participation of the junior Russian athletes as in:

As persons under 18 years of age, they didn’t chose Russian government
As not being members of a National Team previously, they did not benefit from any alleged efforts by the Russian government to unduly support the athletes giving them unfair advantage.
As not being on national team and not representing Russia, their value in propaganda is minimized.
And by not being with Tutberidze’s camp, they were not supplemented with the same mix containing forbidden substance as another junior athlete was found to be supplemented under supervision of that coach.

Hence, everyone who needs to be punished for wrongdoings, is punished. And the innocent kids are not.

Plus, while it’s too much to hope for, maybe if one of those athletes raises high in the standing or medals, there will be less averse reactions.

 

[flanker]

In case of junior athletes, the responsibility lies with a coach, or it is now sought to be officially made that way (correctly). Because if nobody is responcible, then any junior athlete can be supplemented with banned substances.

Rather than wait for this resolution, I’d want to remove all objections to participation of the junior Russian athletes as in:

As persons under 18 years of age, they didn’t chose Russian government
As not being members of a National Team previously, they did not benefit from any alleged efforts by the Russian government to unduly support the athletes giving them unfair advantage.
As not being on national team and not representing Russia, their value in propaganda is minimized.
And by not being with Tutberidze’s camp, they were not supplemented with the same mix containing forbidden substance as another junior athlete was found to be supplemented under supervision of that coach.

Hence, everyone who needs to be punished for wrongdoings, is punished. And the innocent kids are not.

Plus, while it’s too much to hope for, maybe if one of those athletes raises high in the standing or medals, there will be less averse reactions.

In other words, it is a waste of time and space. It is not a crime nor violation of any rule just to be born as Russian, no matter what age you are, just like it is not a crime to be born American or Canadian. You can disagree with the action of either of those countries or any other, but you can hardly impose a rule stating a kind of "evaluation" of "how much you were used for propaganda purposes" (by whom should that level of "being used" be even evaluated? You?). Same with "supplements", it is interesting with what amount of blind hatred the "mix containing forbidden substances" (BTW I thought this topic is stricly restricted to particular threads) is thrown without that being even concluded.

Be honest, this is nonsense.

 

[lariko]

In other words, you pursue a pure delusion. It is not a crime nor violation of any rule just to be born as Russian, no matter what age you are, just like it is not a crime to be born American or Canadian. You can disagree with the action of either of those countries or any other, but you can hardly impose a rule stating a kind of "evaluation" of "how much you were used for propaganda purposes" (by whom should that level of "being used" be even evaluated? You?). Same with "supplements", it is interesting with what amount of blind hatred the "mix containing forbidden substances" (BTW I thought this topic is stricly restricted to particular threads) is thrown without that being even concluded.

Be honest, this is nonsense.

I am looking for way to address very specific concerns. Thankfully, Russia has lot of junior figure skaters, and I want at least some of them to participate in JGP, because they will be suggesting the most from the international ban. They already lost JGPF and JWC. Losing one more season would suck. Personally, I would love to remove any barriers and objections vs hoping for the impossible, when everyone will just get up and say, oh, boy, Russians were right all along! It had never happened before no matter what Russians did, so I doubt it will happen in my lifetime. At this point in time, in a narrow sense that is of interest here, being born a Russian citizen and representing Russia prevents access to international competitions in figure skating. People can complain about Russophobia till the cows come home and it doesn't get anyone anything. But something has to be done to ease the positions for at least someone. So, I'd pick junior figure skaters to root for if I could appeal to the ISU. Plus, I really would love to see non-Tutberidze kids get a spotlight, because after the Olympics I have become very negatively set against her team/methods. So, sue me.

 

[flanker]

I am looking for way to address very specific concerns. Thankfully, Russia has lot of junior figure skaters, and I want at least some of them to participate in JGP, because they will be suggesting the most from the international ban. They already lost JGPF and JWC. Losing one more season would suck. Personally, I would love to remove any barriers and objections vs hoping for the impossible, when everyone will just get up and say, oh, boy, Russians were right all along! It had never happened before no matter what Russians did, so I doubt it will happen in my lifetime. At this point in time, in a narrow sense that is of interest here, being born a Russian citizen and representing Russia prevents access to international competitions in figure skating. People can complain about Russophobia till the cows come home and it doesn't get anyone anything. But something has to be done to ease the positions for at least someone. So, I'd pick junior figure skaters to root for if I could appeal to the ISU. Plus, I really would love to see non-Tutberidze kids get a spotlight, because after the Olympics I have become very negatively set against her team/methods. So, sue me.

"They are right all along". And in what exactly they should be wrong? That no other country faced such measures precisely in sport for the very same actions? Yes, they are completely right in that, the standards are obviously different based on the country, that's the reality we live in.

Being set negatively towards someone's methods, (which is a perfectly subjective matter, because no real guilt by the standards of law - I mean the real law, not the rules set ad hoc, based on those different standards mentioned above - is on the table), should not be aimed at those who are not accountable for existing or alleged offence. Back to the beginning, "you need a reason why to sanction a particular athlete based on his own personal violation of the rules/code." This is the only way how the law works and always has to work. You can't sanction an athlete just because you hate his/her coach to the grave.

Which makes me to formulate my own appeal to ISU:

Judge and decide only with using the essential legal and lawful standards with the respect towards the integrity and rights of every athlete.