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FWIW, Helsinki is a wonderful place to visit. It's a small country with a very strong culture, great natural beauty, and lots of English-speakers.
ISU Where Will Worlds BE (formerly) JAPAN QUAKE FOR WORLDS
- Thread starter russell30
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- Nov 3, 2006
OK, now that we know it will happen in a reasonable lenghth of time ,this is where I get selfish .Of the bids we know of, I'm hoping for the US , so we NA fans can (ideally) get to watch without losing too much sleep.My next most favoured is Helsinki because..why not ? It's been a while for them, hasn't it ?..and ( thinking of the skaters ) from all accounts by anyone I know who's ever been there , it's a lovely place to be.
Anyone , skater or fan, who can find the time should ,apparently , go to the baths and get pampered.Russia is fine if they can do the best job of it, but they probably will be getting some extra boons before the Olympics , anyway..( like Canada hosting the pre-Olympic 4CC. Good for the athletes , and others , to be able to check out the venue.. )
But whoever manages to save the day, they'll get a gold star from me .
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At least there are many European countries and federations. When the worlds are in North America there is only Canada and the US and they pop up most often in the history of where worlds were held - Now with Asia Japan is getting them more and more but that should change with South Korea and China likely to get worlds in the future. But if it is not going to be held in Europe because so many of the previous world championships have been held in "europe" well the recurrence of the US and Canada evey 3 to 4 years or smaller seems greater! US was in LA just in 2009 so I just think they might as well go with Russia because after all it is Eurasian really!
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- Nov 3, 2006
Oops! Well there's this ;
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...-figure-skating-championships/article1949704/
But it's probably not too likely that Canada would get it...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...-figure-skating-championships/article1949704/
But it's probably not too likely that Canada would get it...
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- Jan 7, 2011
Yay for ISU finally announcing a rational (and rather obvious) decision. Better late than never. Japan simply has too much to deal with right now to safely say that even October is feasible (the situation at Fukushima I alone precludes long term promises).
Mega eyeroll at Cinquanta saying that relocating Worlds from Japan to China or South Korea would be a slap in the face to Japan. Both China and South Korea are deeply involved in helping Japan through its current crisis. I mean, did Japan consider it a slap in the face to ask for and receive a shipment of boron from South Korea? Of course not. Is Speedy trying to instigate something? (Unless representatives from the JSF privately told him that, but I doubt it.)
I'm hoping Russia gets it. They haven't hosted a WC since 2005, and this would be their only chance to host a WC before the Sochi Olympics. Having Russia host a figure skating WC in the lead up to Sochi would do nicely to build up excitement and interest for both events. And I think Russia is more vested than most countries in hosting a great championships because it's a way of showing how good their Olympics hosting will be.
Mega eyeroll at Cinquanta saying that relocating Worlds from Japan to China or South Korea would be a slap in the face to Japan. Both China and South Korea are deeply involved in helping Japan through its current crisis. I mean, did Japan consider it a slap in the face to ask for and receive a shipment of boron from South Korea? Of course not. Is Speedy trying to instigate something? (Unless representatives from the JSF privately told him that, but I doubt it.)
I'm hoping Russia gets it. They haven't hosted a WC since 2005, and this would be their only chance to host a WC before the Sochi Olympics. Having Russia host a figure skating WC in the lead up to Sochi would do nicely to build up excitement and interest for both events. And I think Russia is more vested than most countries in hosting a great championships because it's a way of showing how good their Olympics hosting will be.
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- Nov 19, 2010
^^^^^
:agree: to everything.
:agree: to everything.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2006
YES. Advance cheers for whoever steps in!
More than likely Russia they have the infrastructure
But Finland has no rules on visas, so big plus for them, not sure if they have the hotels though:think:
Finland will be hosting the World Championship for Sync. Skating in early April so they will have the advantage of economy of scale. What they need is to make some minor tweaks in order to expand the existing event and prepare the site for Figure Skating Worlds a little bit later, otherwise, they already have a head start over other nations because of the preparation they have already done for something very similar. No cumbersome visa requirement is also a big plus in favor of Finland and many of the European fans would not need visa to go to Finland since it's a member of the EU but Russia is another story. So if turning the fan base out for this last minute event is important, then Finland will be more suitable to Russia. European fans will travel to Finland but they may think twice about Russia.
Russia will have advantage in infrastructure, a mega venue worthy of 1st Class event and most importantly, strong State support. If Russian Government wants this really badly, they will need to show the ISU a lot of money.
U.S. bid is frankly not a serious one. I think the only chance U.S. will get this is that all the European bids somehow falter and leave the ISU with no other alternative even though Speedy said that dormitory is fine and gave his own example back when he was a real Speedy
I don't think Canada is even interested given the 2013 World Championship.
My guess is this is coming down between Russia and Finland.
Though I think any member who can have the event ready starting April 18 as opposed to a week later as currently outlined by Russia and Finland will be look upon very favorably because it would be least disruptive to potential show arrangements that skaters already have and this will likely be one of the main considerations at the end in my view. So if either of these two can push the dates earlier by one week, then they will likely be the winning bid.
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- Nov 3, 2006
Wallylutz... was it you who mentioned the synchro piggyback possibility a couple of days ago ? At the time , I thought that was an interesting possibility, but hadn't heard of any offer from Finland. I really like it more , the more I think of it and as a side benefit, it could also boost awareness of and support synchro . Kind of a win-win , don't you think ?
I dont know what have changed since last year Cup of Russia, but the prices are nothing like that, plus my initial Easter trip was to be in Japan and I had done lots of research about hotels, trains and metro. I compared Moscow to Brussels, Paris and London and I didnt find it such expensive as I was told to expect..as a tourist of course, if I was to buy a house there ..I dont know. I remember commenting it here when i had come back from Cor. As a tourist metro ticket is too cheap for european standars, the 20 tickets around 12 euros(in brussels 10 rides cost 12+ euros, one ride 2 euros) , food and drinks a normal price 10-20 euros unless you go to 5 star Michelen restaurants, and there is always great food on the street! Museums ok, arena tickets were maybe the least expensive I have paid for gp and food and the goodies in the arena were cheap price, taxi (official ones) were around 20 euros from Bellarus (?) train station to arena. Aerostar hotel we had stayed -which is usually the official of megastar arena was around 150-180 twin room, and this was the most expensive in the arena vicinity, there was 4 star hotels with 80-100 euros per double. My highlight: Aerostar coffee and cheesecake 4-5 euros.
Visa costed for me 100 euros because I had a passport delay of last minute but normally up to a week before the visa costs 30 euros.
The best thing to avoid exchange fraud ιis to pay by card or use your bankcard in local atm machines, all in all the last day I had more money that I thought I would have and I spent my rest of budjet in Bosco boutique, that was expensive though!
What else a skating fan wants?
Here is a very recent and reliable report on Moscow being the most expensive city in the World courtesy of google search engine. I think a scientific study is more trustworthy than anecdotal experiences, no offense towards you in any way. http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/map-expensivecities/
Prices of GP event is not comparable to a World Championship and Torino 2010 being a post-Olympic WC is also out of norm. If you are judging the cost of World Championship based on CoR and Torino 2010, you will very likely be misled about the actual cost of a high demand event. Likewise, if someone were to judge the cost of attending ISU Figure Skating Championships based on their experience in Taipei recently, then they would think most of those tickets are free, which of course, is not true. For comparison purpose, the 2009 World Championship in Los Angeles, an all event package for all 4 events ranged between about $300 to almost $2000. Somewhere in the middle, that is not the front-road seats but not up in the 3rd Level of Staples Center either, expect to pay around $1000 for all the entry tickets for the week. Vancouver Olympics was a completely different story, even a prime seat for the Compulsory Dance went for $425 in face value, and many paid more than face value. An estimated cost to attend all Figure Skating events in Vancouver for Class A seats would cost approximately $4,500 in face value but because very few people can get ticket at face value, many of those ended up selling at bundles in super high end packages for about 2~3 times the face value. In other words, expect to pay upward of $10,000 for good seats for all 9 events together, excluding exhibition, which you need to add another $500~$1000. Ladies FS tickets in the A class seating were selling for approximately $2,000~$3,000 a piece on the official Vancouver Olympics exchange site.
Regarding the hotel prices you quoted, neither of those hotels were ever the official hotels for a World Figure Skating Championship event and their quality would never be chosen as the official hotels anyway and are not a minimum of 4 Stars. I don't think you have a grasp of the type of hotels typically retained by this level of championship. Fans can of course choose wherever they want to stay but those are not the official hotels. Here are some of the likely choices of 4 star hotels that will likely be the official hotels should Moscow land the deal:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mowdt-moscow-marriott-royal-aurora-hotel/
http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hot.../en/hi/&xch=856003292,3GVQMEHYNTXVQCSGBIX2VCQ
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mowgr-moscow-marriott-grand-hotel/
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=137
Any day you look in April, prices will range from 7000 rubles to 15,000 rubles a night, another 18% in taxes. So effectively, the minimum price is $350 USD / night.
I do hope that the tickets for 2011 Worlds whether in Russia or Finland will be more reasonable given the last minute nature since it would allow more fans to attend and support this sport during a difficult time.
Not me
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- Dec 16, 2006
LoL It was me, during one of my rants on the ISU. However, I didn't think Finland would even think of bidding, because although they've hosted Worlds, and they have Finlandia every year, I do not look at Finland as a wealthy federation. Of course, to me, Finland not being a wealthy federation is all the more reason why they should host WC--this could help grow the sport even more in that country, where FS is starting to bloom again. And, as Colleen suggested, joining Synchros and the other disciplines could lead to a greater exposure for synchros, and, perhaps, a precedence for the future, where synchros and other disciplines will be held together.
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- Jul 11, 2003
Super news, IP - although I do not know his source, he lists some of the needs for running a Worlds which many posters would not believe the logistics are plentiful early on, and Hirsch didn't list them all.
So, we can expect Bids to end Tuesday (tomorrow) and a selection to be made on Friday. Let's hope a date is set for end April or early May.
Although I would select Russia, having been in Moscow, 2005 Worlds, the arena did not look as though it would hold 8,000 people. The seats were also narrow and uncomfortable. Maybe a city other than Moscow would be better. Dunno.
If Hersch is right, things should be looking up for a venue selection this Friday.
Does it really matter what continent is hosting the Worlds? Most of the avid fans of figure kating watch it on TV as a freebee, so that is not a problem.
Depending on where it is held the arena will focus on the skaters and the local TV will do its job of selling a stream to the international media, if the int'l media is interested. Isn't that the way it goes? dunno.
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- Jun 27, 2003
the "rules" or logistics that Hirsch posted are the ones that ISU has determined to be what they are looking for. His source is the ISU's press release that is on their website. The time frame is also one that was released to teh public by the ISU this morning.
I can't decide between Finland and Russia. There are both pros and cons. My biggest concern about Russia is what kind of political paybacks the Russian Fed would expect from the ISU? Does that mean ISU wouldn't be able to turn down Plushenko's reinstatement request among others? I am a little concerned giving Russia the Championship will mean tremendous expectation of goodwill in return, whatever they may be. But in my mind, there is no doubt that Russia is more capable than Finland to host a grand event at the proposed venue: Moscow megasport arena, which can sit 14,000 people. I don't think Finland can match the Russian's offer on the infrastructure but the Finnish offer seems to be more neutral.
At the end of the day, either one is fine by me. There is a very good chance I will be going whether it's Russia or Finland, I should know fairly quickly as soon as a site is officially named this week.
That's because the proposed venue for the 2011 Worlds in Moscow hadn't been built yet when you were at the 2005 Worlds. This is the proposed venue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megasport_Arena
It can sit 14,000 people. So no, definitely not the same venue and you shouldn't assume they would use the same venue as 2005 either.
At the end of the day, either one is fine by me. There is a very good chance I will be going whether it's Russia or Finland, I should know fairly quickly as soon as a site is officially named this week.
That's because the proposed venue for the 2011 Worlds in Moscow hadn't been built yet when you were at the 2005 Worlds. This is the proposed venue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megasport_Arena
It can sit 14,000 people. So no, definitely not the same venue and you shouldn't assume they would use the same venue as 2005 either.
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- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
My guess is ISU will go with Moscow.
Russia said it should be either late April or after May 15 - they do not want FS Worlds to coincide with some kind of important hockey championships.
Yup, that's pretty ridiculous.
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- Feb 17, 2010
I think Cinquanta's concerns regarding moving it to South Korea, China, etc. make some sense. I had thought the same thing actually. You want to be especially careful about feelings after such a tragedy. He shouldn't have said it publicly though.
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There are two official hotels, located near the main rink (Megasport Arena). Russian sport minister offered them into his first letter to ISU:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mowbr-renaissance-moscow-monarch-centre-hotel/
http://www.moscow-hotels.net/aerostar-hotel/
But there are a lot of good and cheaper hotels in Moscow, so I think every fan will find affordable housing.
The list of official hotels will likely grow since two are clearly not enough. Usually, the list is at least 5 or more. Undoubtedly, the information currently available is merely preliminary since Moscow hasn't won the bid yet but I have a gut feeling that they will win. As for cheaper options at non-official hotels, I can't really comment because Moscow in general is so much more expensive than New York city, which is regarded as the benchmark for a lot of comparison purposes in the U.S. And it can also be a little daunting for foreign tourists who don't speak Russian and who are not there on a guided tour to manage all this by themselves and to discern which ones are good quality and which ones are not or whether the price paid is good value or not. The point is Moscow is a very expensive city no matter how you look at it because your money, when translated into purchasing power = less than other cities, for the same amount of money paid.
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