ISU World Team Trophy, April 2012, Tokyo

[dorispulaski]

I'm just waiting for Spanish pairs

 

[enlight78]

The even sounds like Track and field meets and the college and high school level. Lots of athletes participate in different individual events earning points based on placement. Team with the most points win. Sounds like a team sport to me. Each athlete has to pull his or her weight so the team can win as a whole. And the idea of have different skaters for the short and long program makes it more interesting and easier for the athletes and olympic venue schedule wise. Since we wont have to what for skater to rest between the short and long we can hold the team event in two days instead of four. I personally think it will be cool to see Adam skate his short program receive his scores then have Jeremy go right after him and skate his long program and see his scores added to Adam and their final placement. This was each team division can be down in under two ours. It is also a great way to promote depth in all disciplines so federation wont play favourites with their funds. Winning team gold or individual gold. Anyway you earned the gold by going on the ice. Stop the hate people.

 

[Violet Bliss]

^^^ We won't have a LP right after a SP because the SP results will determine which 5 teams continue to LP. Depth in each discipline is very important here. E.g. US and Russian have an advantage over Canada where other than Dance, we have pretty even but lower tier Pairs and Ladies, and one Man over inconsistent rest of the field, so one or two SP bombs may take Canada out of contention. Should Canada risk tiring out Patrick Chan having him skate both SP and LP and then trying to do the same for the individual event, or should we gamble on Kevin Reynolds bringing his quads to win the SP but with the possibility of him bombing it as well? Should Kevin focus on being the Team SP specialist foregoing LP and unlikely individual glory?

Japan, OTOH, can hardly come up with a Pairs or Dance team, let alone tag teams in these disciplines. And who will skate Pairs for France? I can't even remember. China may actually be a podium contender comes Sochi time with their young ones coming up in all disciplines.

All in all, very interesting to watch the development and strategies from different federations.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I think those decisions will be tough only if the team event occurs first. If the team event happens after the individual events, I am certain that every country is going to put their best skaters in regardless of other considerations. A tired Chan, who has already finished the individual competition, is always going to outscore any other Canadian man. Medals are VERY important for the federations and the national Olympic committees and they are going to want to put their very best people out there on the ice. Particularly for countries that will be in medal contention, I would think that every top skater would want to get out there and have two shots at an Olympic medal. These are people who have trained their entire lives for Olympic glory and I can't see any of them turning down a second chance to medal when (a) they are already there in Sochi and (b) they have less pressure than the individual event because one error won't be as costly.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I think the problem is that figure skating is just not a team sport.

To remedy this, they could have a relay event. Jeremy Abbott leads off with a triple Axel, then deftly passes the baton to Alissa Czisny for a combination layback spin. On the last revolution Davis and White whiz by, grabbing the baton and speeding down center ice a-twizzle. All within the timing and character of the music, of course.

Wai, wait! Give it a chance!

 

[Violet Bliss]

All in all, a Team event after the individual competitions offers bonuses and fun for all whereas having it before causes much stress, uncertainties, complications, and difficult decisions.

I really really hope the IOC and ISU can work it out to schedule these events properly to the benefits and enjoyment of all.

One possibility may be to use the SP or total results in individual competitions to decide on the 5 finalists federations to skate off for Team medals with just LP if time is tight.

 

[micnow]

One possibility may be to use the SP or total results in individual competitions to decide on the 5 finalists federations to skate off for Team medals with just LP if time is tight.

This could be favourable. But according to the team event rules it might not be possible because there will be most likely qualified teams, who do not have qualified (or eligible) skaters for an individual event. These teams can nominate skaters only for the team event. Thats why there have to be seperate events.

 

[Nadine]

Like I said at the beginning, in all honesty it's the Olympic Team Event I'm most looking forward to, which imho might even overshadow the individual events in the coming years.

Just the discussion we're having now whets my appetite for the future. :thumbsup:

 

[bigsisjiejie]

Count me a non-fan of the team skating concept, at least in the incarnations I've seen described. For better or worse, all the cheesefests, Pro-Am, and "fun" competitions from years ago, (mis?)appropriated the concept to the point where most of the general public views team skating events as primarily entertainment rather than a serious sporting competition. I really don't think Speedy and the ISU really thought this one through.

 

[Skater Boy]

I think who is the fave depends on the rules if it is 2 men, 2 women and a pairs and dance team I would suggest the USA is most competitive the maybe Russia. The bronze is a toss up with Japan have a strong men's and women's contingent duking it out with perhaps France, Italy, China and Canada. All these countries have strengths but also some extreme deficiencies.

 

[Mathman]

Like I said at the beginning, in all honesty it's the Olympic Team Event I'm most looking forward to, which imho might even overshadow the individual events in the coming years.

I agree. The world championships are about which individual skater can skate the best. The spirit of the Olympics, on the other hand, is about which country can wave its flag most vigorously. We cheer for our national team even in sports that we hardly knew existed.

 

[koatcue]

Tukt is preparing for this event, told Mishin...Russia will ask ISU to let her compete there

 

[Nadine]

N-O, if she's not age eligible to compete at Worlds, then she is not age eligible to compete at the World Team Trophy right after Worlds either. :disagree:

This goes for EVERYONE! I've already voiced my opinion on age limits in another thread and I do so here once again. If one hasn't turned 15 before July 1st of the previous year, too bad, I don't care who you are, BOOM, you're not age eligible. Finito.

 

[DianaSelene]

However, it is not for us to decide whether Liza goes or not. It is the decision of ISU. If they let her, she will go.

 

[Nadine]

Duh, obviously, but in the meantime we can voice our opinions.

 

[DianaSelene]

Then I will voice mine. Although I think it would be wrong for them to let her, the world team trophy is not the same as world championships so they might make different rules for it. It seems plausible. And I'd love to see her compete again.

 

[Skater Boy]

Does anyone know how the team event is being run???? Really who wins will be determined on what format is used or at least influenced. Canada for example looking to the Olympics is not a threat if they need to have 2 singles skaters in men's and women's and all scores count. However, if they just need one entry in each event and Joannie comes back in top ten form they have a reasonable shot at a medal with Patrick and Virtue and Moir leading, a top eight pairs team probably (which gets stronger since Russian and China and heck the usa can only have one entry - Canada has a reasonable shot at beating the Americans). On the other hand if it is two singles skaters for the men and women Japan's chances increase monumentally. I would warn all you skating fans about one thing. I am going to be hated here, but if you, we start whining too loud about this new event I fear just as the backlash of 2002 the effect just hurts skating more and its reputation to the non skating or athletic world. I am sure some will argue that justice needs to be served or whatever but sometimes we can be our own worse enemy.

 

[sky_fly20]

Tukt is preparing for this event, told Mishin...Russia will ask ISU to let her compete there

yes I know, apparently her 3A preparation is for world team trophy
hen Mishin meant to win at seniors one must increase the difficulty and Mishin has already asked the russian fed to the ask the ISU and let Tukt compete

 

[Mathman]

Does anyone know how the team event is being run?

We have been going back and forth on this thread between two separate events, the World Team Trophy competition scheduled for April of this year, and the new Olympic team competition that has been approved in principle for the Sochi Olympics.

For the World team Trophy there are six teams chosen according to standings on the ISU ranking lists. (Japan is automatically included as host and sponsor.)

Each team has two ladies, two men, one pairs team and one dance team. Each person does both a short and a long. CoP points are converted into rankings. Of the twelve men and the twelve ladies, first place gets 12 points, second place gets 11 points, etc. (Pairs and dance are scored the same, so the last-place pairs and dance teams still get 7 points.)

These ranking points (not the CoP points) are then added up to determine the winning team.

-------------

The proposed Olympic team event is still in the planning stages, but the preliminary announcements have suggested something like this. There is some sort of qualifying procedure, after which (I think) eight national teams will compete. The team competition will take place near the beginning of the games, before the individual skating.

There will be one men's short program, one men's long program, and similarly for the other three disciplines. Mr. Cinquanta's plan is to allow for a maximum amount of strategizing on the part of national federations. The details have not yet been approved, but Cinquanta's idea is that it would be up to each federation to decide how they want to play it. One federation might decide to take their top horse, ride him hard ,and put him away wet. For instance, Patrick Chan could do the men's team SP, the men's team LP, and then go on to do the individual competition later in the games.

Another federation could do the opposite, and throw in as many fresh bodies as possible. Alissa Czisny could do the ladies' team short, Ashley Wagner the ladies' team long, and then send Gracie Gold, Mirai Nagasu, and Caroline Zhang as the three ladies competing for individual gold.

Some countries will have the luxury of having many different strategies to choose from, others not so much. That will be part of the fun (says Cinquanta), to try to second guess the national federations as to what strategy will give them the best chance of winning the most medals.

 

[dorispulaski]

What I like is the possibility that like the swimming relays, that good competitors who are not the top 3, could go to the Olympics and get a medal.