ISU Decisions of the Council from Nov 2025 | Page 2 | Golden Skate

ISU Decisions of the Council from Nov 2025

Mathman said:
I am intrigued by Synchro 9. The 16-20 version had difficulty breaking into Olympic consideration because of too many athletes. I wonder what the "simplified judging structure" will be.
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I assumed that meant something like it would be easier to judge with fewer skaters cluttering up the ice. Personally, I don't like the way synchro is going with so many paired elements, not always all the same ones, going on at different places on the ice. With some of the lower-ranked teams, at times the scene looks like a club's busy practice session of "do your own thing", where everyone just happens to be wearing the same dress. It must be very difficult to judge and easy to miss a fall or error in one corner while you're looking elsewhere in the mess.

In ballroom competitions, where all the competitors are on the floor at the same time, dancing to the same rhythm but doing different routines, the judges stand around the edge at intervals on all four sides. If you stumble, there's always a judge nearby who will catch that. And my daughter competed in rhythmic gymnastics with five-girl teams in the group events. They manage very well doing complex patterns and interchanges, and the judges can easily see who is off-balance or out of line with the others even if the apparatus isn't fumbled in an exchange.
 
Diana Delafield said:
I assumed that meant something like it would be easier to judge with fewer skaters cluttering up the ice. Personally, I don't like the way synchro is going with so many paired elements, not always all the same ones, going on at different places on the ice. With some of the lower-ranked teams, at times the scene looks like a club's busy practice session of "do your own thing", where everyone just happens to be wearing the same dress. It must be very difficult to judge and easy to miss a fall or error in one corner while you're looking elsewhere in the mess.

In ballroom competitions, where all the competitors are on the floor at the same time, dancing to the same rhythm but doing different routines, the judges stand around the edge at intervals on all four sides. If you stumble, there's always a judge nearby who will catch that. And my daughter competed in rhythmic gymnastics with five-girl teams in the group events. They manage very well doing complex patterns and interchanges, and the judges can easily see who is off-balance or out of line with the others even if the apparatus isn't fumbled in an exchange.
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I know that in ice dance, the tech panel has to dibby up the work load as there is alot to do....timing elements, for instance....I enjoy watching a bit of synchro so I talked with Sean Rabbitt's dad about attending an event. Very nice guy. He was positive but honest. I told him about a demo at nats where there was a women behind me that litterally stood up and screamed at her daughter...into my ear. Mr. Rabbitt told me to expect alot of female screaming at events during the skates. Not my style. I stayed home. But I did wonder how the heck judges can see all the action and judge everyone, basically. Ladies, please leave your screaming for after the performance.
 
I first skated Precision back in 92-93, and remember it was 24 skaters max on the ice competing. It was amazing to watch (the ends of the pinwheels would just barely make it past the boards). Precision did cut the numbers to 20 and then to 18. The discipline name was changed to Synchro and eventually the number of skaters was changed to 16 (can't remember if that happened before or after the precision/synchro change) and started to focus more and more on no holds, pair and dance elements to make it more exciting. The ISU and IOC said that 16 was still too many so they switched it to 12. The ISU and IOC don't seem to support the Elite 12 division they created for the Olympics.

Sure, one good thing about having less skaters will be the locker room space, off ice space at the arenas, and sharing practice ice at competitions. Currently locker rooms are one team (sometimes 2 depending on locker room size), teams need more room than pairs or ice dancers to do off ice practice runs, and there is only one team skating every 15 minutes for official practice ice. With the Olympic ice split between figure skating and short track speed skating, ice time is very valuable. It would be great to give short track their own ice, but that would cost the IOC and host more money for another venue. Also, those padded boards are really nice when falling into them. So that would be one thing in the Synchro 9 favor.

With 9 skaters many of the synchronized pair elements will be taken away. For safety reasons most lifts start and end with 3 skaters, but during the lift the 3rd lifter will sometimes let go. So are the lifts not going to be over the head anymore? What will the odd person do, a spin, maybe an axel (I digress).......

Synchro is not a cheap sport, heck ice skating in general. The reason ice skating has so many problems to begin with is the cost of it compared to other sports (more people can afford to send their kids to play soccer). Synchro membership fees pay for the ice time, coaches, travel for the coaches, sometimes the costumes, etc. When that is split among 16+ (alternates) individuals the costs will be lower than if it's now being split by 9+. In theory it is easier to find 9 skaters around the same age and quality of skating, but finding those that can afford the higher price tag will be the bigger issue. The money is what will probably turn folks away.

As I mentioned in my IG post, the two most watched Winter Olympic events are Figure Skating and Hockey. The IOC hasn't been supporting the Winter Olympics the same they do with the Summer. The Summer Olympics seems to continue to grow, whereas the Winter Olympics stays the same or shrinks. The main issue I have heard concerning the Winter Olympics is that only so many places in the world can accommodate, and the cost seems to be more. With that thinking to me the ISU should focus on the money that Synchro could bring in. If Figure Skating is already one of the top watched sports so all the advertisements/commercials, why not add another Figure Skating discipline. Especially add one where kids see multiple people so they see more of chance to make it to Olympics. Also, a little on the not pleasant side of syncrho, there are more chances of falls and accidents. Yes, we all like to see folks succeed and skate their best, but humans also are fascinated by disasters.

I really do think the ISU should support and push for the 12 at least instead of the 9.
 
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I wonder why they are combining figure skating, synchronised skating, short track all into one event. Surely they are going to cut out some disciplines.

They're cutting pairs from the 2028 Youth Olympics, so maybe that's what the long term plan is just to kill the pairs discipline (I know why they and many people don't like the pairs discipline but I won't say why :wink:), replace it with synchronised skating, maybe even streamline the figure skating event further so that a short program is not something that goes on for 4 hours keep it to a digestible 1.5 hours, maybe cutting out all those skaters from small nations scoring less than 50 points in a short program. It is the world championships after all it should be the best of the best. Maybe just have the best 18 in the world skate, and then have a preliminary event for the world championships like the Olympic qualifier we had in Beijing this past September (but every year for the world championships).
 
I am going to stick up for the poor old beleaguered ISU. They are trying. They are dipping and dodging trying to find a path forward for figure skating as a participatory and spectator sport, facing strong cultural headwinds in most countries. Let's run Synchro 9s up the flagpole and see in anyone salutes.💂‍♀️

In any case, I do not contribute to the ISU or to the IOC. I feel like I do not have any standing to offer my speculation or advice.
 
Mathman said:
In any case, I do not contribute to the ISU or to the IOC. I feel like I do not have any standing to offer my speculation or advice.
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I don't agree about your last sentence. Fans contribute in more ways than one.... for instance, buying tickets. Or even discussing the sport. I have started to be invested in synchro a few years ago... and now I feel that the ISU is pulling that synchro carpet from under my feet.

I am in a love/hate relationship with the sport at this point and it could tip one way or another in the next few years. I feel that the ISU is constantly trying to bring in some new fans... but the way they go about it is for sure alienating the long time fans. I have been watching the sport for over 3 decades... and been even more active since 2015, when I started attending events live. I am just one person...but I don't think the ISU can afford to lose anyone.
 
4everchan said:
I don't agree about your last sentence. Fans contribute in more ways than one.... for instance, buying tickets. Or even discussing the sport.
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I look at it this way.

Syncho 24, synchro 20, synchro 18 -- yay! very entertaining. But they are not Olympic sports.

Ice shows used to have a standard act where all the skaters in the cast would form a single line and cartwheel around so that the skaters at the ends had to skate so fast that they couldn't keep up. The last skater would struggle to go faster and faster, now falling behind, now putting on a burst of speed to almost catch up. Then on the final note of the music she triumphantly grabbed onto the hand of the next person in line, to the enthusiastic delight of the audience, especially children.

Back in the day, when winters were colder and lakes were frozen solid for months, teenagers would push an old jalopy out onto the ice, get it spinning and play crack the whip. This was free, and it was great sport.

It was not, however, a sport that was featured in the Olympic Games. I can't blame the ISU for trying to come up with a version of these largely participatory activities that might bring synchro to a wider audience. It probably won't work, but at least they tried.
 
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Mathman said:
I look at it this way.

Syncho 24, synchro 20, synchro 18 -- yay! very entertaining. But they are not Olympic sports.

Ice shows used to have a standard act where all the skaters in the cast would form a single line and cartwheel around so that the skaters at the ends had to skate so fast that they couldn't keep up. The last skater would struggle to go faster and faster, now falling behind, now putting on a burst of speed to almost catch up. Then on the final note of the music she triumphantly grabbed onto the hand of the next person in line, to the enthusiastic delight of the audience, especially children.

Back in the day, when winters were colder and lakes were frozen solid for months, teenagers would push an old jalopy out onto the ice, get it spinning and play crack the whip. Well, this was free, and it was great sport.

It was not, however, a sport that was featured in the Olympic Games. I can't blame the ISU for trying to come up with a version of these largely participatory activities that might bring synchro to a wider audience. It probably won't work, but at least they tried.
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how participatory do you really believe synchro is ? It's very expensive and it will be more costly with smaller teams.
 
4everchan said:
how participatory do you really believe synchro is ? It's very expensive and it will be more costly with smaller teams.
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Olympic sports are co-financed by IOC via national Olympic committees. Just saying.
 
Anna K. said:
Olympic sports are co-financed by IOC via national Olympic committees. Just saying.
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That's not quite the way it works. Yes, Olympic sports may get funding. But that would be only available for the very top athletes in some countries. It's not even guaranteed funding would be available in many countries as NOC often have very limited resources and fund only sports with medal chances... so most likely for synchro, that would be Finland, Sweden, Canada and the USA.

However, sorry to say, but I find your comment very simplistic. We are discussing how synchro has the potential to become more participatory. Well, it's not like NOCs are going to fund grassroots initiatives all that much. The NOCs will fund the highest level only. Who is going to pay for the athletes to get to the elite ? Before, with larger teams, the bill was split between 16 members (perhaps even 20 if we count reserve skaters)... well now, it will be split between 9 (let's say 12 to include some reserve skaters). So you can see how it's not going to be cheaper nor better funded at the grassroots level, nor easier to participate. Not at all.
Also, it coud completely change the structure of the way we know synchro making it centralized in some countries. I will give you the example of artistic swimming. The best swimmers are picked up from various clubs to try out for the national team. That team is then centralized in a national centre and that's it. This means that the best elements are taken away from their home clubs and put together with the only task at hand to secure that elusive olympic glory. In some ways, it makes it even harder for athletes who have to relocate. Even with funding that a national team member would get wouldn't be enough. Right now, teams are club based. Skaters are local. There is a community behind them. I am not sure that it will grow the sport if only a couple handfuls of athletes are taken to an elite national centre so they can train by themselves for the Olympics. It will not help local participation at all, quite the contrary. At least, with the strong synchro clubs, there is a tradition now growing. Some of the senior clubs also have their junior versions etc. And there is a sense of belonging to a community. All of this has been said to be lost from athletes who have had to relocate to be part of national teams. There are positives for centralization of national teams of course. However, if we are talking about funding and participation, well, guess who would get the money ? :)
 
4everchan said:
how participatory do you really believe synchro is ? It's very expensive and it will be more costly with smaller teams.
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Which is a pity, the way synchro has burgeoned, because originally precision skating was largely intended to give skaters without dance/pairs partners and without the money for individual training time, coaching, costumes etc, to participate in club shows and low level competitions. Even 30-40 years ago people were dismissing the idea of allowing precision teams in the bigger competitions because it was "the Rockettes on ice", and if that was allowed in serious competition then why not allow ballet into the summer Olympics. Ballet was every bit as athletic and technically difficult as figure skating.

I'd be interested to see what choreographers could make of a group of nine, and if judging is indeed easier without a kaleidoscope of 12 or 16 or 20 skaters doing beginner pairs moves scattered all over the ice at once. But I don't think adding the team event to the Olympics has inspired more people to take up the sport and countries to pay more money into it, and I doubt if adding synchro teams of any size will do that either.
 
Anna K. said:
Olympic sports are co-financed by IOC via national Olympic committees. Just saying.
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Money from OCs are not a guarantee for funding assistance. Yes, Olympic sports do receive some funding from their respective national Olympic Committee (OC), but it's not often enough to support an athlete or a team, which is where sponsors and memberships come into play (yay). Money usually received from national OCs is spread to several sport governing bodies, such as USFSA or USAGym, and they decide who and what to spend the money on. Some OCs also don't have a lot of funding for various reasons.
 
Well not all Olympic Sports get proper funding. In my country speed skating (both short and the long track variants) gets funded to a great extent, FS doesn't. Synchro probably wouldn't either. But then, FS is hardly watched in any case.

And I think it's a shame we will no longer get to see those endless ribbons of skaters. Just to make the sport Olympic? I liked to watch those rows of skaters.
 
Mathman said:
OK, so on the participatory front, here is what it costs to sign up for the Novice team at the Crystalettes (Dearborn, Michigan).

$300 registration fee + monthly fee of $450 to $465 depending on team size.

https://crystallettes.org/novice-skater-information-commitment-fee/

(Expenses grow for the Junior, Senior and Elite levels.)
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So you're looking for that one club around possbily $3700 for the reg fee and monthly fee. Teams start usually in July and will end Feb/Mar depending on making it to Nationals. Then lets tack on the cost of traveling to competitions because that is not included in that fee. Also the cost of the team jacket, team practice outfits, team shirts, your skates, your own ice time, etc etc. It all ends up adding up in the end. Also there fees are spread amongst 16 or more skaters per team. You decrease the size of the team and the cost will go up because there are less team members.
 
Here they are (the Chrystalette Novice team (16 skaters)) winning the silver medal at U.S. Nationals last year. :)

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How do the costs per skater compare to singles, pairs and ice dancers at a comparable level?
 
Mathman said:
How do the costs per skater compare to singles, pairs and ice dancers at a comparable level?
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Why compare apples and oranges? Kids will not necessarily participate in synchro because it may be cheaper than singles. If a kid wants to do singles but cannot afford it, there is a high chance that they will do something else like ballet or even music lessons. And on top of that, smaller teams will raise the costs of synchro, so for those who may have decided to do synchro because it may have been cheaper before, well, that ship is sinking
 
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