ISU Congress 2026 | Page 2 | Golden Skate

ISU Congress 2026

Can it be included in pairs and count as a 2 jump combo?
I think yess, it is put in the the requierements for pairs update document in the same way as for singles. But pairs rarely use euler sequences, I remember Moore-Towers/Marinano were doing it but I thinks it's difficult to have a good synchro and get nice GOE.
 
I think so. I am assuming it would bring back the -EU+3S combos that very few people did as they are worth more points than the +2a combos. So happy the +2a+2a are nixed. They rarely looked good.
Yes, in theory it's more points but I doubt we will see a lot of them, very few pairs if any could do it and get nice GOE and it's way more risky. Maybe Nagaoka/Moriguchi or Izzo/Maierhoffer but even they I think will rather go for a more stable combo and aim for hight quality.
However, it may be a direction to try for some junior teams.
Anyway, I hope for some more variety than just everybody doing axel sequence.
 
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Yes, in theory it's more points but I doubt we will see a lot of them, very few pairs if any could do it and get nice GOE and it's way more risky. Maybe Nagaoka/Moriguchi or Izzo/Maierhoffer but even they I think will rather go for a more stable combo and aim for hight quality.
However, it may be a direction to try for some junior teams.
Anyway, I hope for some more variety than just everybody doing axel sequence.
Juniors can do the Eu+ doubles
Some pairs have done 3SEU3S. or 2aEU3S. The latter will not be done anymore because 3S+2A is much easier
 
I have a proposal. Skaters are deducted a -1 for late start or finish. Judges need to be timed, if they can't decide on an element, then the skater gets the benefit of the doubt. No skater should be in the kiss n cry for an extreme amount of time. The audience is a paying for the event and no one likes it.

The waiting for scores when the skaters are in the K&C is generally waiting for the tech panel to finish their reviews. And then after the tech panel authorizes the calls, then the judges need to update their scores if there were any edge or rotation calls added that the judge hadn't already caught on their own and already penalized. Or if there was a mistake that could change what the element actually counts as, that needs to be confirmed in review and then the judges can adjust their scores for that element after they see the authorized call.

The judges can't go any faster than the tech panel. They could be finished entering all their scores, and not have any changes to make after the calls are authorized, but no scores will be finalized and reported in the arena until after authorization.

So do you really want to complain about the tech panels not finishing their reviews fast enough? Should they rush and skip reviewing iffy elements just to speed things up? In which case, it would probably become more important to allow skaters/coaches to protest their own calls, which would lead to more changes of results after the fact.

Same type of jump max 3 times: Gone are the Shcherbakova programs with two 4Lzs and two 3Lzs, I guess it doesn't matter that much though with only 6 jumping passes. However, it will force weaker technical skaters who essentially only do Toeloops and Salchows to learn harder jumps.
Or to include more double jumps if they are not capable of mastering the triples. Better a clean double than a downgraded triple. However, if they are capable of rotating the triple no worse than < and not falling, then it might be worth trying a jumps they rarely if ever land cleanly.

For the stronger jumpers, this rule would force more variety, or at least offset the effect of losing one jump pass, since something like two 4Lz and two 3Lz would no longer be an option so the skater is more likely to include an easier triple that they didn't bother with when they could get more points by repeating a harder takeoff that they're also doing two quads of.

For skaters who had been repeating the 4T, they will no longer also be able to do 3T at the end of two combinations. So if they don't already have another triple they can put at the end of a combo, they'll need to develop that skill, or else do 2A sequence, or just do +2T or +2T+2Lo for their other combo.
 
The waiting for scores when the skaters are in the K&C is generally waiting for the tech panel to finish their reviews. And then after the tech panel authorizes the calls, then the judges need to update their scores if there were any edge or rotation calls added that the judge hadn't already caught on their own and already penalized. Or if there was a mistake that could change what the element actually counts as, that needs to be confirmed in review and then the judges can adjust their scores for that element after they see the authorized call.

The judges can't go any faster than the tech panel. They could be finished entering all their scores, and not have any changes to make after the calls are authorized, but no scores will be finalized and reported in the arena until after authorization.

So do you really want to complain about the tech panels not finishing their reviews fast enough? Should they rush and skip reviewing iffy elements just to speed things up? In which case, it would probably become more important to allow skaters/coaches to protest their own calls, which would lead to more changes of results after the fact.


Or to include more double jumps if they are not capable of mastering the triples. Better a clean double than a downgraded triple. However, if they are capable of rotating the triple no worse than < and not falling, then it might be worth trying a jumps they rarely if ever land cleanly.

For the stronger jumpers, this rule would force more variety, or at least offset the effect of losing one jump pass, since something like two 4Lz and two 3Lz would no longer be an option so the skater is more likely to include an easier triple that they didn't bother with when they could get more points by repeating a harder takeoff that they're also doing two quads of.

For skaters who had been repeating the 4T, they will no longer also be able to do 3T at the end of two combinations. So if they don't already have another triple they can put at the end of a combo, they'll need to develop that skill, or else do 2A sequence, or just do +2T or +2T+2Lo for their other combo.
This being said there was a pattern when Yuzuru Hanyu's skates' scoring took very often about twice as much time to come than other skaters' some of whom had plenty of uncalled errors... He clearly noticed it, from a remark he did to Brian Orser in the Kiss & Cry at 2020 Four Continents, comparing to the delay to score Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron at 2020 European Championships, who seemed to have been underscored (but later, it leaked that at these European Championships, the camera had gone out of order during their program and the Technical Panel and that alone may have affected the final result).
I don't think that any pattern would be researched, and I agree with you that it wouldn't be productive to have a call on Technical Panels and Judges having occasional delays.
I don't think that allowing Skaters and their teams to claim against their own calls would lead to significant changes, because I think that the biggest distorsion between Skates and Technical Element Scores comes from NOT calling some Skaters' errors, and I know only Kaori Sakamoto to protest in such circumstances (she's an heroin!)
I would like anyone to be able to protest against a big pattern of uncalled errors...
 
Election Day

1st vote is on ISU Vice-President - Figure Skating

Benoit Lavoie (Canada) was the incumbent but lost out to Grigory Elek (Hungary).
80 votes to 40 in the final round

Round 1
Elek 61 votes
Lavoie 34
Bianchetti 23
Novakovic 1

Round 2
Elek 65 votes
Lavoie 35
Bianchetti 19

Round 3
Elek 80 votes
Lavoie 40
 

Jackie Wong has interviewed ISU President, Jae Youl Kim. It was largely a p.r. type interview putting a positive face on some of the plans being proposed. While change is necessary and can be a good thing, I personally remain neutral and skeptical because of the ISU's poor history in leading figure skating. I still think it's problematic for figure skating to be tied at the hip to speedskating since the organizational beginnings of figure skating as a competitive sport. At the same time, it does appear that Kim is trying to move in a positive direction. Yet, I am not sure how much power he actually wields as ISU president. He may be a front guy spokesperson for others who wield the major power bts. I say this based on the fraught political powermongering and infighting history of the ISU. Read Sonia Bianchetti Garbato's book, Cracked Ice: Figure Skating's Inner World (not to say that Bianchetti herself wasn't also problematic and her book isn't the be-all end all, nor a definitive account, but it offers some interesting historical background); and check out Ryan Steven's Skate Guard Blog re the skating community's discomfort with Ottavio Cinquanta's leadership circa early to mid-2010 era.

In any case, perhaps there have been some leadership changes that are positive. Kim does exude a sincerity and an earnestness about desiring to make changes for the better, and being eager to listen to input from skaters and coaches. In practice, I am not sure how well that is actually working bts in a productive or beneficial, results-driven way. I worry about the actual motivation for some of the proposed changes. In other words, are these changes actually originating from a deep understanding of figure skating and the pressing needs of skaters? I do feel it is a good thing for any changes to be properly tested and carefully adjusted or abandoned if unworkable, before simply being implemented without full agreement of the skating community.

Also, two main concerns:

1. Good to hear that they want to help skaters financially and desire to focus on athlete development. I am not sure how this can happen without examining the sport's antiquated competitive structure. As usual, skaters require more competitive opportunities in order to fulfill talent and promise. I am not sure this need is being fully recognized or understood. The focus seems to be on top and middle tier senior skaters (and top juniors). A big complexity that I have not heard addressed is the imbalance between federations. In other words, there are powerful feds with depth, but this is not truly accounted for in how competitions are run, which leads to many talented skaters having to sit at home twiddling their thumbs while less accomplished skaters go to Worlds every year gaining valuable experience. I have no definitive answers on how to resolve this, aside from completely rethinking competitions. There should be more competitions made available, even if not broadcast, for lower to mid-tier skaters. And there has to be a way to find equitable competitive balance for talented skaters with limited opportunities in depth-heavy federations! The proposed changes to the GP, with a semi-finals, seems designed to provide more chances for mid-tier talent. But there needs to be a comprehensive approach to finding ways to rework the entire competitive structure, not just the GP. As it stands now, senior Bs usually were for developing skaters, until top stars began overtaking for tune-ups. It's notable that the ISU does not want to be involved in developing pro competitions and shows. They are in support of such efforts, but Kim clearly passed it off as something other concerned entities should explore and organize.

2. The big plan to have Worlds 2028 in Beijing, combining figure skating with synchro, and the totally different sport of speedskating (including short track) is interesting. However, it sounds like an effort to get more diehard fs fans on board with supporting synchro and above all trying to popularize and bring more revenue to speed skating (and short track) via figure skating fans. The ISU has been attempting to widen speedskating's fan base among fs fans for some time. Personally, I am not a candidate for becoming a fan of speedskating and short track. Even synchro, while it can be entertaining to watch, I'm not hugely interested in following it the way I follow fs. (Also, why is it always Beijing where big fs events are scheduled? 🤔)
 
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Well, the interview with Kim did not provide any more information than we already got. He, as face of ISU, tries to present himself as available and open to conversation, yet all the answers were general, avoiding any details or giving a solutions to a specific issues.

As for combined all-skating worlds, I'm not against the idea of trying new formats of events, let's see how it works, how it's perceived by athletes and fans. I think it's sth that can be tested and organized once in a while (e.g. every 4 years) if it's successful.
However, I do have some reservations about how many skating events are currently being organized in China. I would prefer not to give too much power to one federation and keep the diversity, it is just so much more interesting when competitions are held in different places, cultures and with different crowds. Not to even mention homecooking factor in a judged sport. I get there are only few venues that can handle this format of event and federations nowadays are reluctant to hold big events because of finanacial burdens but if ISU wants to push for that format, they need to address this issue at first.
 
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