Olympics/World Championships Skating Requirements

seniorita said:

now i think i have all in a crumble in my head..Why is it kind of stretch for Michell (or Plush) ??hadnt we said that these skaters fall in h category, and thats why Sasha got two invitations?
Did I do a wrong homework?

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Sasha has special considerations because she is so flexible. That is the reason why ISU had to also be so flexible with Sasha.
Flexibilty in skating

seniorita said:

now i think i have all in a crumble in my head..Why is it kind of stretch for Michell (or Plush) ??hadnt we said that these skaters fall in h category, and thats why Sasha got two invitations?
Did I do a wrong homework?

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Well, that's what the ISU decided.

I still don't buy it. Sasha was not injured. Michelle and Plushenko could have pushed themselves to come back last year if they had wanted to.

Mathman said:

Well, that's what the ISU decided.

I still don't buy it. Sasha was not injured. Michelle and Plushenko could have pushed themselves to come back last year if they had wanted to.

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Could it be that there was still big broadcasting money back in Todd and Michelle's era and ISU could be more of an enforcer? It appears now that they are not in any position to turn down Sasha or other returning skaters.
Beggars can't be choosers

seniorita said:

now i think i have all in a crumble in my head..Why is it kind of stretch for Michell (or Plush) ??hadnt we said that these skaters fall in h category, and thats why Sasha got two invitations?
Did I do a wrong homework?

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I think it just menas that Plushy himself doesn't want a second GP assignment, if he gets one he runs the risk of getting to the GPF which is close to russian nationals, which is close to Europeans, which is close to the Olympics...he doesn't really need to compete at the GPF.

Ant

antmanb said:

which is close to the Olympics...
Ant

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which is close to the Worlds...
Thanx ant, i know you wont believe me but i was not asking for plushy (he was just example), i know he is not interested for a second grand prix so why speculate It was general question to update my homework!

he runs the risk of getting to the GPF

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He is running the risk hmm? even me I would not be so optimistic, whats wrong with you today?

seniorita said:

...hadnt we said that these skaters fall in h category, and thats why Sasha got two invitations?

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I totally forgot about the h category! Yes, you are absolutel;y right and I was wrong.

(In case anyone forgot, the h category refers to "any skater whatsoever who gets the approval of the ISU events oversight committee, regardless of what any of the other rules say."

Mathman said:

I totally forgot about the h category! Yes, you are absolutel;y right and I was wrong.

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hehe,this is my 15 minutes of fame that I became wiser than you. I 've told you i remember your notes!
now i need to study how i wont be so much off topic when season begins

Mathman said:

I totally forgot about the h category! Yes, you are absolutel;y right and I was wrong.

(In case anyone forgot, the h category refers to "any skater whatsoever who gets the approval of the ISU events oversight committee, regardless of what any of the other rules say."

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How could you forget such a rule? It is probably the best rule they have and should be applied anytime it is good for skating :yes:

I I did not forget it because I didn't know about it

janetfan said:

I am not sure if I know what the moral of the story is either. I do see an injustice when girls who have practiced and worked so hard have to miss a competition full of so many skaters who are not close to being in their class. Japan is a good example. Should either Fumie or Yukari be watching a skater from "wherever" competing in Vancouver when this skater could not make the Jr team in Japan? It is ridiculous and I believe quite an injustice to leave skaters this good at home so a skater from India or wherever can skate at the Olympic festival. If India wants to have skaters at the Olympics they must do what China did. Build rinks and training facilities, bring in foreign coaches and work hard to get up to world standards. That is how figure skating gets better. Getting a free ticket because your federation paid it's dues is how you dilute a sport and punish some of it's best competitiors. Maybe the moral here is that life is not fair and Olympic Festivals are not about the best but about who paid for their spot in the competition. Sorry but I think it is wrong and I don't support it.

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I know a girl half Indian (father is indian citizen). She is 14, trains in Moscow and has doble Axel, triples - Toeloop, Salchow, Flip and working out Rittberger at the moment. Her Season Best in 2008-2009 was around 110,50 that is much more than all internationally known Indian skaters earned ever. Her parents applied to Indian Ice skating Association in order to represent India in ISU events, and keep trying to enroll the girl to the competitions, but officials ignore them until now.

I read back to the earlier postings in this thread, which concerned India in more detail. India actually presents a unique situation. Consider this: Know how many individual gold medals India has won in any Olympics, summer or winter?

One.

That's right. One medal, for marksmanship, won in the 2008 Beijing games. India regularly wins team golds for I think field hockey. But no golds for track, for swimming, for competitive walking, for long jump, for dressage, for gymnastics. Fascinating to compare India with the other rising economic giant in Asia, China, in terms of its approach to sports excellence. As several of you have said, becoming a sports power in even one sport generally takes a certain amount of elbow grease, national sponsorship, team building--or a lucky break with one talented and motivated athlete, who generally trains in a galaxy far, far away, as YuNa does.

Even so, I'm partial to the idea that skaters from tiny new federations should be welcome to the feast. As Mathman pointed out, that's how China got started. As far as letting the fourth and fifth skaters from a powerhouse country like Japan come instead of skaters from places like Turkey and Estonia, well, that's the age-old difficulty with sports. There's a lot of pecking order and resulting heartbreak involved. Just ask the Chicago Cubs. I don't know if we'll ever solve that one.