Between all the people that have posted so far, I think we have managed to hit pretty much every reason why people skip Four Continents.
Personally, I do think the main reason is the scheduling. But, without extending the figure skating season, there is not much that can be done about that.
Let's be blunt, the big four nations in figure skating are Russia, Japan, America and Canada. And the majority of skaters that compete in the Senior grand Prix Series are from these four countries.
So, whereas other countries can afford to hold their National Championships during the GP Series, these countries cannot. They have to hold their Nationals later. Russia and Japan can get away with holding their National Championships during Christmas week, because it is not a holiday there. But, in North America, they have to wait until the holiday period is over.
The problem is that Europeans are held in mid to late January, and because they are so prestigious and have so many top skaters competing, the North American fans want to see them. So, American and Canadian National Championships are arranged around them. And, to give the American and Canadian skaters a chance to rest and then prepare, Four Continents have to be held later. Which means that the skaters that go there have less time to rest and prepare for Worlds than their European counterparts.
Do you remember the time I attempted to make out a calendar where the figure skating events would be better distributed both throughout the calendar and throughout the world? (See
this post onwards). And in the end I gave up, because it was next to impossible to achieve.
Well, I do still think that starting the Junior and Senior GP's earlier in the calendar year could help. Hold all the Junior GP's during the school holidays in July and August, and then start the Senior GP's in September. Depending on how things are arranged, this might enable the GP Final to be held earlier.
But the main thing is that American and Canadian Championships need to be held near the start of January. That way, it will not be too long after the Japanese have their National Championships, so the American and Canadian skaters would be at less of a disadvantage. But, more importantly, it would enable Four Continents to be held earlier, perhaps even the week after Europeans.
This would undoubtedly make Four Continents more attractive to the top American and Canadian skaters.
Four Continents was a good idea in principle, to give skaters outside of Europe a chance to compete at a major international Championships before the World Championships. However, I do think
mawamasha has hit the nail on the head.
The term “Four Continents” does not mean anything to people who are not die-hard figure skating fans. Being pedantic, there are 7 continents in total. And if you take away Europe, that leaves 6. So, it would not be unreasonable for the layman to be confused. Of course, the number four is arrived at by counting the Americas together, and discounting Antarctica, which is pretty much uninhabited. But, you have to think about it. It is not an instant answer.
Same with “Four Nationals”. Like, how many people in the street would be able to work out that that refers to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary?!
Personally, I would be more in favour of getting rid of Four Continents and replacing it with three championships which are based on more specific geographic areas:
Pan-American Championships
Asia-Pacific Championships
All African Championships
Admittedly, there are not a great number of skaters in Africa. But, what could be done is to have the All-African Championships work like Four Nationals. Essentially, it would be all the National Championships in Africa held within a single competition. It would enable to skaters to have more opposition, and allow them to gauge themselves against skaters from other countries.
Again, the problem with having 3 championships would be where to fit them into the calendar.
I don’t know about other African countries, but South Africa normally holds their National Championships in May. Now, I am not too keen on having Championships that decide who goes to Worlds that far in advance. Like a lot of things can happen in 10 months. For example, a whole pregnancy!
But, given that we have never had African skaters compete in the Senior GP Series, the All-African Championships could be held any time between September and February.
My proposal would be to hold the remaining international championships on consecutive weeks at the end of January / start of February, with the order determined by when the countries involved traditionally hold their Nationals.
Last week of January: European Championships
First week of February: Asia-Pacific Championships
Second week of February: Pan-American Championships
Even with holding Europeans on the same week and 2 new championships on the subsequent weeks, they would all be over by the time Four Continents traditionally starts.
And, if they were all held a week earlier, it would be even better!
Oh, and if you are wondering where I got the idea of these sorts of championships from, it is derived from
a thread that I started back in July, but which nobody was interested in. :disapp:
Anyway, those are just my thoughts.
CaroLiza_fan
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), and I got mixed up in what I was saying. 
:
. Sometimes France and Italy have strong teams (ie medal potential in 2 events) but the depth is just not the same. Germany and the UK have one strong skater here and there.
. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan skaters can come skate at Europeans 
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