Will Sochi's Olympic team skating return in 2018?
- Thread starter ice coverage
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Ya, but the way the Olympics is broadcasted in the US is pretty different than the way it is broadcasted in most other countries. Most broadcasters show as much live events as possible on their main network.
Yes to the Team Event. But, the news of the synchronized skating event makes me uneasy if the competition doesn't get deeper by 2018. Therefore, this may be terrible. Frankly, I was extremely relieved of synchronized skating not being allowed in 2014.
Finland, Canada, USA/Sweden already locks for medals in synchro podium. :disapp: If they add the event to the 2018 program the competition better be deeper. I hope it will not be like the whining ski-jumping women from 2010 who whined and wasted court money and time filing lawsuits, using a nation's constitution to falsely claim 'gender discrimination' when in fact they were rejected due to the severe lack of competition. I don't even agree with allowing women to ski-jump at the Sochi Olympics, even though competition increased, I still did not think it was competitive enough. Oh well. I hope the IOC/ISU do not fold under pressure if something like this happens in 2018.
Ultimately I hope to see deeper competition by 2018; only in this case should Synchro Skating be allowed in the Olympic programme.
Finland, Canada, USA/Sweden already locks for medals in synchro podium. :disapp: If they add the event to the 2018 program the competition better be deeper. I hope it will not be like the whining ski-jumping women from 2010 who whined and wasted court money and time filing lawsuits, using a nation's constitution to falsely claim 'gender discrimination' when in fact they were rejected due to the severe lack of competition. I don't even agree with allowing women to ski-jump at the Sochi Olympics, even though competition increased, I still did not think it was competitive enough. Oh well. I hope the IOC/ISU do not fold under pressure if something like this happens in 2018.
Ultimately I hope to see deeper competition by 2018; only in this case should Synchro Skating be allowed in the Olympic programme.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2011
But your exact argument against synchro in the Olympics can be applied to the team event as well. Who really has a shot at a medal there, except Russia, Canada and the US? I can only think of maybe Japan and Italy, but against the 3 big guns they hardly have a chance.
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- Feb 27, 2012
Synchro (if accepted by the IOC for 2018) would not replace team figure skating, per a Hersh article today.
Turns out my supposition in the OP was wrong. (Sorry, and I have updated the OP.)
My hunch had been that if accepted for 2018, synchro would replace the team figure skating event.
But Hersh reports that Cinquanta "said that synchro would not replace the team event, which debuted at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and adding synchro would not require either an extra day of competition or an extra ice sheet."
More details about the synchro proposal for 2018 here:
via @EuropeOnIce
Turns out my supposition in the OP was wrong. (Sorry, and I have updated the OP.)
My hunch had been that if accepted for 2018, synchro would replace the team figure skating event.
But Hersh reports that Cinquanta "said that synchro would not replace the team event, which debuted at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and adding synchro would not require either an extra day of competition or an extra ice sheet."
More details about the synchro proposal for 2018 here:
Synchro figure skating, mass start speed race proposed for 2018 Olympics
ISU President tells Tribune of plans
By Philip Hersh
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...roposed-for-2018-olympics-20140929-story.html (Sep 29)
ISU President tells Tribune of plans
By Philip Hersh
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...roposed-for-2018-olympics-20140929-story.html (Sep 29)
via @EuropeOnIce
ETA, more from the Hersh article (unrelated to team figure skating and synchro):
... the ISU will ask the IOC to consider one from the Korean Skating Union that likely would expand the fields in ice dance and pairs by one entry each.
South Korea would like a 2018 entry in both disciplines, even though it never has had a pairs team qualify for the Olympics and has had just one ice dance entry, which finished last in 2002.
Cinquanta does not want to have South Korean teams replace one of those qualified in either event, so the IOC may have to increase the athlete quota to guarantee inclusion of the 2018 host country’s athletes.
South Korea would like a 2018 entry in both disciplines, even though it never has had a pairs team qualify for the Olympics and has had just one ice dance entry, which finished last in 2002.
Cinquanta does not want to have South Korean teams replace one of those qualified in either event, so the IOC may have to increase the athlete quota to guarantee inclusion of the 2018 host country’s athletes.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
Since 2009, World Team Trophy has been the non-Olympic counterpart. WTT returns 16 - 19 Apr 2015.
No, not the same. Quite different, actually. Synchro skating is a completely new & different discipline (different skaters, different skills, different judging, different performances etc.) than that of individual/pairs skating. The team event is merely a conglomeration of individual/pairs skating teams (containing very deep fields in their respective individual disciplines, might I add, unlike that of synchronized skating). In the team events, for example the ladies, all witnessed the performances of Kostner, Lipnitskaia, Asada, Suzuki, Gold, Wagner, Osmond ... And even that field didn't include the individual gold medalist, Sotnikova.
So no, synchro skating is nowhere similar to the Team Event in this regard. I mean, not even Machida was asked to skate in the Team Event. And Reynolds, who bombed his individual event and nowhere a threat to medal there, scored something like 167.xx in the Team Event free skate, higher than Machida and Brown.
My point in using Machida and Sotnikova in the examples is to provide example of the depth of these countries, and thus, the depth of their respective disciplines.
And the team event rewards the countries with the combination of most DEPTH on their team (which, I may add again, is composed from their respective individual/pairs disciplines).
Synchronized skating is very different. It is a separate discipline in itself. Unlike the team event, synchro does not conglomerate the deep individual/pairs fields into one team. Quite simply, the competition in synchronized skating is just not deep. After Finland and Canada, there is a significant drop off. And after third place, there is another drop off.
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- Jul 9, 2014
I say, having Synchro would be awesome. I think the best way to deepen the field, is to have Finland and the other top teams go out there and show the world how beautiful this "New" Sport can be.
Remember how weak the US used to be in Gymnastics. Now, we're always in mix. Maria B. The first to Russian Woman to become World Champion and now look at Russia.
We have to start somewhere. Why not now.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2011
I get what you mean, but that is not what you argued for in your original post. Yes, the competition within the categories can be deeper overall, but the medals are already locked. Who is going to really compete against Russia, Canada and USA for the TEAM medals? Maybe Japan only. All in all, the team competition isn't any deeper than synchro because there are barely any countries competing for the medals.
But don't get me wrong, I hope the team event stays and I hope synchro is added.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2012
That's how I feel also. Personally, I have zero interest in synchro - but I'd be happy for the fans of the sport, and for those who may become fans. The more the merrier.
I think Italy also has a chance. France and China have potential, but so far it's just... potential. Hopefully the Team Event can convince them to develop that potential. I think, as the Team Event sticks around longer, countries will start caring about it and fighting for it, instead of just doing China's "Oh, we calculated the points, we have no chance, let's give zero effort" in Sochi.
I'm less worried about whether any country can challenge the big three for medals... and more worried about whether anyone can challenge Russia for gold. I made a brief calculation in my head, and concluded that in Vancouver, where Russia was at their lowest point, they still likely would've won. Are there any Olympics in recent memory where Canada or USA were likely to beat Russia? (Btw, I'm not saying this is a reason to remove the Team Event. We could say the exact same thing about pairs outside of the incredible Shen/Zhao, and no one is saying pairs should be removed).
The team skating event was awesome! It may have been a far-gone conclusion as to who would win in Sochi by the end of the first day, but it was compelling viewing. It was fun to see the competitors mixing even in a high-pressure environment, and also provided previews as to what to expect by the individual disciplines.
How would that work out of curiosity?
SP from Person/Team A, LP from B, EX from C, add up the marks? :scratch: (This doesn't sound as fun as the current Team Event to me).
I hope not. Skaters would just phone in their performances at that point.
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