2014/2015 National results - ISU communication 1953

[Nirti]

As every year, the 5 best skaters by category from each country are published by the ISU : http://static.isu.org/media/210944/1953-best-national-results-2014-15.pdf

Some countries have sent results from their senior national championship's, other from all categories (for example, if there is 2 senior ladies, 1 junior and 2 novices, they are placed 1-2, 3 and 4-5), other from a "national ranking".
So the only real interest of this publication is to learn more from countries which didn't publish online their national results.

So we learn that :
- Armenia has some new junior/novice skaters, 2 "local" ice dance teams (and Tina Garabedian is now listed with Simon Proulx-Sénécal)
- Israel lists Katarina Kulgeyko as national champion, Netta Schreiber 2nd and Aimee Buchanan 3rd. Daniel Samohin seems to have won the nationals against Aleksei Bychenko.
- There's still figure skating in North Korea, Yong Min Han (sometimes seen at international events) won the championships, and there's a new ladies event winner, Hyang Mi Ro. I don't know if they plan to take part in Pyeongchang Olympics qualifications (I think not)
- Full results for Lithuania too, Inga Januleviciute still champion

 

[Mathman]

Cool. Thanks for the post.

 

[dorispulaski]

Synchronized
1. Seoul Angels
2. Daegu Jeonghwa Middle School
3. Daegu United
4. Jeollabukdo Inhoo Elementary School
5. Seoul Rira Elementary School

South Korea has 5 synchro teams

Lukas Kaugars is listed for Latvia

but Zahorski/Guerreiro are not listed for Russia

 

[ice coverage]

... Lukas Kaugars is listed for Latvia ...

FWIW, Lukas was listed under Latvia on the 2013-14 ISU document although he competed at 2014 U.S. Nats.

So until proven otherwise, my hunch is that he will continue skating for the U.S.

He competed at the 2015 Santa Fe SkateFest in May, and was entered in the 2015 Broadmoor Open (but did not compete). In both cases, his affiliation was given as the Broadmoor Skating Club.

Do you think it's possible that Latvia grants him some kind of ceremonial status for no reason other than his Latvian heritage?
Lukas got injured very early in the 2014-15 season, and was out of commission thereafter. Did not have any 2014-15 results on which Latvia could have based his #1 standing.

 

[Nirti]

Do you think it's possible that Latvia grants him some kind of ceremonial status for no reason other than his Latvian heritage?
Lukas got injured very early in the 2014-15 season, and was out of commission thereafter. Did not have any 2014-15 results on which Latvia could have based his #1 standing.

Maybe he tried to compete for Latvia but because of injury could not last season and as the only senior man in the country, Latvia considered he's the national 1st ranked...
But he can continue to be affiliated at the Broadmoor SC and skate for another country. Only thing I wonder is if he has latvian citizenship, because usually Baltic countries' citizenship is really hard to get.

I've no precise exemple in my mind but I think I've already seen some kind of "ceremonial status". Greek-canadian Carl-Zeus Issariotis was listed as greek champion many years after his last official competition, and after the last ice rink in Athens was closed...

 

[Nirti]

Just found a video from Anna GALSTYAN / Narek BARSEGYAN, 2nd armenian ice dancers : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVmRjLsxi0g
It looks like they are senior competitors.

 

[AlexRus]

Lukas Kaugars is listed for Latvia

Katerina Kulgeyko http://web.icenetwork.com/skaters/profile/katarina_kulgeyko
now is champion of Israel.

but Zahorski/Guerreiro are not listed for Russia

Yes. They are 5th in Final Protocols of Russian Senior Nationals.

 

[ice coverage]

... But he can continue to be affiliated at the Broadmoor SC and skate for another country. ...

Edited: My doubts were not warranted (see my post below), but my logic (which proved to be unreliable) was that if Lukas has official membership on Team Latvia, it was not documented in analogous fashion to the two examples below:

- "Jamie Wright, Foreign skater" - listed on the Santa Fe SkateFest results. (He trains at the World Arena at least part of the year.)
- "Miyu Nakashio, Japanese Federation" - listed on the Broadmoor Open results.​

... I've no precise exemple in my mind but I think I've already seen some kind of "ceremonial status". Greek-canadian Carl-Zeus Issariotis was listed as greek champion many years after his last official competition, and after the last ice rink in Athens was closed...

Thanks ... your knowledge is amazing.

 

[ice coverage]

... Lukas Kaugars is listed for Latvia ...

Maybe he tried to compete for Latvia but because of injury could not last season and as the only senior man in the country, Latvia considered he's the national 1st ranked......

Duh ... apologies for my skepticism.

The headline on LK's home page:

It's a season of change.......representing Latvia!
http://www.lukaskaugars.com/​

And on his "About" page:

Starting this season, I will compete internationally representing Latvia.
http://www.lukaskaugars.com/about.html​

 

[noskates]

Perhaps someone can explain to me why someone who can't quite keep up with the big dogs in one country thinks their chances are better in another country. Granted they'll probably win their Nationals and make it to Worlds but then they're right back up against the same guys they couldn't beat to start with. I'm probably assuming that the goal is to win Worlds and/or be on an Olympic team but the conclusion is almost foregone, isn't it?

 

[ice coverage]

More re Lukas Kaugars, from his "Donate" page:

My goal for this season is to compete at the European Championships (Jan 25-31, 2016 in Bratislava, Slovakia) and the World Championships (March 28-April 3, 2016 in Boston, MA). However, the process to get there is long and expensive. On top of training expenses, I have to travel to multiple competitions throughout the year, including some in Europe.
http://www.lukaskaugars.com/services.html​

Interesting that his Donate page has information for helping him with his expenses via a donation to the New England Amateur Skating Foundation. Does NEASF handle donations for skaters not representing Team USA?

Anyway, Lukas says also that he is in the process of setting up a GoFundMe page.

Good luck to Lukas this season .

 

[Nirti]

Duh ... apologies for my skepticism.

You're right to be sceptical ;-) Last year it was announced that David Kranjec (AUS) will compete for Slovenia, Nicholas Vrdoljak (USA) for Croatia, Christoper Wan (USA) for Serbia and Igor Reznichenko (UKR) for Azerbaijan and for the moment, none of these changes happened ^^

Perhaps someone can explain to me why someone who can't quite keep up with the big dogs in one country thinks their chances are better in another country. Granted they'll probably win their Nationals and make it to Worlds but then they're right back up against the same guys they couldn't beat to start with. I'm probably assuming that the goal is to win Worlds and/or be on an Olympic team but the conclusion is almost foregone, isn't it?

Win Nationals and make it to Worlds/4CC is an accomplishment for many skaters! For Kaugars, if he stays in USA he probably would never reach any international assignments more. And with luck, this kind of skaters could qualify for Olympics (cf Paul Parkinson, Nicole Rajicova or Isadora Williams)
But the biggest problem for Lukas Kaugars will be Deniss Vassiljevs, who can skate senior now. There will be a fight for European ticket.

 

[gkelly]

Perhaps someone can explain to me why someone who can't quite keep up with the big dogs in one country thinks their chances are better in another country. Granted they'll probably win their Nationals and make it to Worlds but then they're right back up against the same guys they couldn't beat to start with. I'm probably assuming that the goal is to win Worlds and/or be on an Olympic team but the conclusion is almost foregone, isn't it?

Winning Worlds may be an unrealistic goal for most skaters . . . although it's always nice to dream big. And sometimes a skater who chooses the smaller country path early in a career does end up getting that good: cf. Dianne DeLeeuw.

But getting to compete at Worlds, or Olympics, or just any international competitions at all can be a dream in itself, and that's usually more achievable for skaters representing smaller federations.

Depending on who else skates for that smaller country, it can also allow the skaters to put their attention on aiming to peak at those international events rather than making nationals the deciding factor of their seasons with implications for the following season's opportunities as well.

 

[alexinga]

Keegan Messing who now skates for Canada, also has funding options through New England Amateur Skating Association, same as Kaugars. Maybe because they have dual citizenship and maintain some sort of membership with USFS- maintain a USFS number?

At any rate, best of luck to all skaters! They are some of the hardest workers out there and deserve support and respect!

 

[karne]

Here is Lukas' Gofundme page

I was always a bit surprised that Lukas didn't skate for Latvia already, given that his pride in his Latvian heritage has always been evident, but I'm glad things are working out for him. He remained so positive and upbeat during his long layoff through injury last year. And of course there was always the famous moment of the happy little Lukas skating so perfectly in the Group of Death.

 

[LRK]

Winning Worlds may be an unrealistic goal for most skaters . . . although it's always nice to dream big. And sometimes a skater who chooses the smaller country path early in a career does end up getting that good: cf. Dianne DeLeeuw.

But getting to compete at Worlds, or Olympics, or just any international competitions at all can be a dream in itself, and that's usually more achievable for skaters representing smaller federations.

Depending on who else skates for that smaller country, it can also allow the skaters to put their attention on aiming to peak at those international events rather than making nationals the deciding factor of their seasons with implications for the following season's opportunities as well.

Yes, I think different skaters have different goals - for some even getting the minimum TES for Worlds can be difficult, for some qualifying for the free skate is an achievement, for some a top ten finish would be a dream come true &c. The truth is that many skaters who are very good will never win a Worlds' medal, let alone gold.