Arakawa withdraws From Trophee Eric Bompard

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/news/20041108ie01.htm
This newspaper article has described. Arakawa withdraws from Triphee
Eric Bompard for adjustment of shoes.

I couldn't read the article in Japanese, but I am not surprised at her withdrawal. Shizuka was scheduled for 2 GP assignments, plus the GP finals, plus Marshalls, plus Japanese Nationals. Like Michelle and Sasha, she probably decided that was too much.

Mathman

It is good that she is limiting her competition so that she can practice more. Tell you what, It is going to be a great showdown at worlds.

When you think of the top tier skaters declining on the GPs, the question has to arise: Are they going to keep the series in the future? or will they rethink the series? Skate America, for instance, did not have a sold out crowd without the two top skaters.

Joe

I can understand why skater are withdrawing, but I think they should take the GP more seriously, or like Joe said, it might be cancelled. Maybe the prize money should be more? So the skaters would be more inclined to compete?

The elite skaters either can make great living on their own or come from wealthy families, or have strong federations to support them. They don't depend on the GP to make living. I guess nowadays the international competitiors prefer Dorothy Hamill and Peggy Flemming's time, each year only do two competitions, nationals and worlds.

The problem is that the top tier skaters, the ones who bring in the tickets sales, have other venues for making money. The skaters who woud kill for the prize money GP offers don't have much of a chance to get it. If you doubt how serious the money problems are for some skaters, check out the Klimkin interview in The Edge.

I am talking about the skaters who got invited. They wouldn't invite someone just because he/she is relatively good and needs doing GP to make living.

Shizuka 　appeared in 'Who wants to be a millionaire'(Japanese version) last month.and got the prize maney 5million yen(about 50000dallers)
Of course, she earned more prize money than the prize money of the Grand Prix series(hahaha)

tukinowaguma said:

Shizuka appeared in 'Who wants to be a millionaire' (Japanese version) last month.and got the prize money 5 million yen (about 50000 dollars). Of course, she earned more prize money than the prize money of the Grand Prix series (hahaha)

Click to expand...

:agree: Really? Wow, that's great! What question did she answer to win 5 miilion yen?

No wonder she didn't care about winning the Eric Lombard prize, LOL.

Mathman

Good for her. First, I'm glad that Shizuka besides skating practice still manages to have some fun; second; $50000 is significant amount of money to pay her living and training in USA. After the worlds she did COI tour, but I know she hasn't reached the earning power that Michelle and Sasha have. I respect her keep skating for so many years even at 98 Olympics she was portraied as the talented. Scott Hamilton commented then " Shizuka is just a novice level skater in US..." Actually she is very talented.

Are the lines getting blurred....

....between event participation that is part of the competitive season, and event participation to make money? I think it's great that participation in many types of events, GP included, allows the skaters the chance to earn money to offset training expenses, living expenses, etc.

BUT....we talk about the waning interest in Figure Skating as a sport. I suggest that the sport will get even less interesting and draw less attention if the entire competitive season starts boiling down to only two competitions (nationals in the home country, and worlds). Following an actual competitive season is a big part of the fun for me. My intrerest would wane if all I had to look forward to competitively was 2 hours of TV coverage of nats, and maybe 3 hours for worlds.

I also wonder about the overall quality of skating under a limited competitive season. We all talk about programs put out there early in the season - we've come to expect more mistakes, and programs that have potential, but aren't fully "there" yet. Can the evolution of these programs progress solely on practice ice? I think it is a very different experience for the skaters to put a program out there in front of audiences and judges than to evolve a program at "home."

Going back to a thread I started under the Edge this morning, how much of the lack of filled arenas for GP has to do with the effectiveness (or not) of marketing?? Us die hard fans will know when / where events are taking place, and have interest in attending just because we stay engaged in the sport as more serious fans. But the key to local participation (fill the rest of the seats) has everything to do with event marketing, planning, etc. in my opinion.

Thoughts??

DG

The US economy plays a huge role for the skating market here. Jobless, high cost for gas, many skating families were willing to travel far and pay more for lessons and ice time before, now cut back. The kids compete less to save entry fees, coach expenses, and traveling expenses. Skating families and fans are also cut back on attending shows and watching the competitions. At some major rinks, there are no more waitlists for afternoon ice time anymore. Less and less kids start ice skating nowadays. For elite skaters, competing less may not be a negative thing. When Dorothy Hamill and Peggy Flemming were amature, they indeed competed twice a year, this did not affect them to get great artistry, and finally the Olympics gold medals. Last year, Sasha competed few times, I feel she did only one best performance which is the first Cheesefest at Madison garden when she debut TT version's Swan Lake.