Competition warm up etiquette | Golden Skate

Competition warm up etiquette

Skating91

Medalist
Joined
Sep 16, 2023
There was a near miss just an hour ago at the JGP in Ankara.
kick.jpg



The skater in white had just completed a 2A and maintaining a constant speed and trajectory down the middle of the rink, the skater in red sees the skater in white, sees that the white skater will potentially be in the way, yet continues with her entry to the jump before abruptly bringing her blade down close to the skater in white before then completing a jump.

Since the skater in white can't suddenly disappear, is the onus on the skater in red to simply pull out of the jump, rather than abruptly bring the blade down close to another person? I feel quite aggrieved by it because I felt like the skater in white was put at unnecessary risk of horrific injury or worse, and likely put a scare though her as well. Can the ISU do something to discourage this kind of thing?

Just what is the etiquette here? And if someone violates such etiquette unapologetically, should there be some kind of penalty system in place?
 

TallyT

Unblushingly Biased
Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
Accidents and near-accidents happen in the warmup. You appear to have carefully picked your freeze frames to make it look a lot worse than it does on the video at full speed, and your posts on the competition thread make it clear you are looking for something to be outraged by.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I think with all of the thousands of competitions that take place on every level every year in figure skating, 99.9999% of the skaters have it all figured out. Yes there is the occasional mishap but it doesn't happen often enough to worry about it or put sanctions around it Warming up for competition isn't all that different from taking a lesson or practicing in your local rink unless you're very elite and have the ice time to yourself. there are certainly more important issues to worry about...................
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I see your freeze and - yes I worry and am happy it ends well thankfully. Come on. This is not intentional, this kind of thing just happens once in a while, If you want the ISU to put a stop to this and comparable situations, you may just as well stop the sport all together. Not my wish.
 

Casualsportsfan

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 27, 2024
Country
France
My own point of view influenced by other sports : If somebody can avoid a needless risk, better avoid it, but there's a minimum below which the sport doesn't exist anymore, at this point better trying live with/tame it/control to minimize its impact.
 

Diana Delafield

Frequent flyer
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2022
Country
Canada
I think with all of the thousands of competitions that take place on every level every year in figure skating, 99.9999% of the skaters have it all figured out. Yes there is the occasional mishap but it doesn't happen often enough to worry about it or put sanctions around it Warming up for competition isn't all that different from taking a lesson or practicing in your local rink unless you're very elite and have the ice time to yourself. there are certainly more important issues to worry about...................
Right. There are accidents every day somewhere on the ice. It's not just a slippery sport done on sharp blades, it's one where -- unless it's a pattern dance session where the couples are following each other on the same path -- skaters are all over the place, weaving in and out and, from time to time, getting in each other's way. My ballroom dance teacher can't break me of my habit of watching over his shoulder and tugging at him if I see another couple approaching quickly, even though in ballroom the man is responsible for avoiding collisions. I've spent too many years, as a pairs girl, doing half the job of watching out for other skaters on the ice.

There are a few skaters who get a reputation for playing mind games with rivals in competition practice sessions, crowding them or cutting them off, but most competitors are pretty careful even if it appears to an audience member that they're oblivious of others. After all, if Skater A were to deliberately bump into Skater B, Skater A is just as likely to suffer an injury from the fall and the out-of-control blades! And these kids are juniors, with not as much competition experience yet.

The main rule of etiquette I was taught when I started competing was that in practice sessions, whoever's music was playing had the right of way. After that, it was just basically "try to be aware of what's going on around you", but everyone's concentration slips occasionally.
 

jorge2912

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 20, 2019
Country
Chile
Right. There are accidents every day somewhere on the ice. It's not just a slippery sport done on sharp blades, it's one where -- unless it's a pattern dance session where the couples are following each other on the same path -- skaters are all over the place, weaving in and out and, from time to time, getting in each other's way. My ballroom dance teacher can't break me of my habit of watching over his shoulder and tugging at him if I see another couple approaching quickly, even though in ballroom the man is responsible for avoiding collisions. I've spent too many years, as a pairs girl, doing half the job of watching out for other skaters on the ice.

There are a few skaters who get a reputation for playing mind games with rivals in competition practice sessions, crowding them or cutting them off, but most competitors are pretty careful even if it appears to an audience member that they're oblivious of others. After all, if Skater A were to deliberately bump into Skater B, Skater A is just as likely to suffer an injury from the fall and the out-of-control blades! And these kids are juniors, with not as much competition experience yet.

The main rule of etiquette I was taught when I started competing was that in practice sessions, whoever's music was playing had the right of way. After that, it was just basically "try to be aware of what's going on around you", but everyone's concentration slips occasionally.
sometimes with the ages and more experience they will learn to be more aware but i think also apply prudence and don't trust enough that Skater A is moving to a X speed because the over trusting or think that everything is understood and accidents can happens and like driving ,must keep a enough space for warm up and avoid the situation that is shown on the photo sequences
 

Mathematician

Ecclesiastes 7:1-2 / KJV
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 8, 2023
Would be better if you posted a GIF of what happened. Few of us are gonna search out the event and watch the entire warmup just to analyze. Just being honest. I am interested to see the whole incident. Warmup accidents are pretty rare from what I see. Not sure if internationals are different somehow.
 

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS · EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
Would be better if you posted a GIF of what happened. Few of us are gonna search out the event and watch the entire warmup just to analyze. Just being honest. I am interested to see the whole incident. Warmup accidents are pretty rare from what I see. Not sure if internationals are different somehow.

Since I want the skater I adopted a few days ago to be vindicated, here it is the direct link to the incident within the archived livestream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwcnoBv81Os&t=2764

I've brought it back a bit to show the full sequence of events. Inga GURGENIDZE (GEO) in the white jacket and red dress does a jump, and then starts to move away casually. Zhasmin SHLAGA (KGZ) in the red jacket and black dress starts setting up her own jump, which is when us watching on the stream realise that their paths are going to cross. They have their backs to each other, looking towards opposite ends of the rink, and neither skater knows that the other is there until the very last moment, which is when those screenshots were taken.

The camera continues to follow Inga, but we see Zhasmin taking off on her jump at the edge of the shot.

I can't see anything malicious. Just two skaters whose paths happen to cross a bit too closely.

CaroLiza_fan
 
Last edited:

Mathematician

Ecclesiastes 7:1-2 / KJV
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 8, 2023
Since I want the skater I adopted a few days ago to be vindicated, here it is the direct link to the incident within the archived livestream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwcnoBv81Os&t=2764

I've brought it back a bit to show the full sequence of events. Inga GURGENIDZE (GEO) in the white jacket and red dress does a jump, and then starts to move away casually. Zhasmin SHLAGA (KGZ) in the red jacket and black dress starts setting up her own jump, which is when us watching on the stream realise that their paths are going to cross. They have their backs to each other, looking towards opposite ends of the rink, and neither skater knows that the other is there until the very last moment, which is when those screenshots were taken.

The camera continues to follow Inga, but we see Zhasmin taking off on her jump at the edge of the shot.

I can't see anything malicious. Just two skaters whose paths happen to cross a bit too closely.

CaroLiza_fan

Watching this incident it seems pretty tame. The girl in red appears to be in control. These athletes are very skilled and strong. Especially in dynamic flexibility as presented with the fan kick. The red girl is clearly capable of controlling her foot and leg well enough for this to be safe. She checked and saw the girl in white and understood there was enough distance. She got her leg down very comfortably with more than enough time to let the white girl pass.

Maybe though she should have been a bit more considerate not to scare the girl in white. I can understand the concern. I probably wouldn't have done the fan kick myself. But the maneuver doesnt look physically dangerous to me.

P.S. I dont think the original thread implied anything "malicious" either though.
 

Diana Delafield

Frequent flyer
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2022
Country
Canada
Watching this incident it seems pretty tame. The girl in red appears to be in control. These athletes are very skilled and strong. Especially in dynamic flexibility as presented with the fan kick. The red girl is clearly capable of controlling her foot and leg well enough for this to be safe. She checked and saw the girl in white and understood there was enough distance. She got her leg down very comfortably with more than enough time to let the white girl pass.

Maybe though she should have been a bit more considerate not to scare the girl in white. I can understand the concern. I probably wouldn't have done the fan kick myself. But the maneuver doesnt look physically dangerous to me.

P.S. I dont think the original thread implied anything "malicious" either though.
Neither of them even wobbled or hesitated. The sort of near-miss that happens all the time on the ice even at the top seniors level, with actual collisions like Oksana Baiul and Tanja Szweczenko in practice at the 1994 Olympics, Jamie Sale and Anton Sikharulidze in warm-up at the 2002 Olympics, etc etc etc.
 

TallyT

Unblushingly Biased
Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
There are blind spots with skaters during warm-up, it's nothing new.


Youtube are blocking this is my country, but before I go and VPN, would it be that rather traumatic moment in 2014-15? 😨
 

viennaskater

Medalist
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
On a similar topic, does anyone think it is rude for the next skater to take the ice to warm up before starting his/her programme when the previous skater is still taking his/her bows and being applauded? I do.
 

Diana Delafield

Frequent flyer
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2022
Country
Canada
On a similar topic, does anyone think it is rude for the next skater to take the ice to warm up before starting his/her programme when the previous skater is still taking his/her bows and being applauded? I do.
Standing off the ice waiting and waiting jangles the nerves and stiffens the knees. You need those last precious seconds before your own performance to get your body moving, breathe, slow your heart rate, get the feel of the ice under the blades. It's a competition. Your focus is on you. In a show it might be a bit rude (although whoever is running the show would probably be controlling the timing, not the next skater). Not in a competition, though.

Besides, at the higher levels, the kids gathering the stuffies or flowers are out on the ice during the bows, then there's the wait for marks in the K&C....if the next skater(s) waited for everything to end, the event would drag on, the expense to the organizers would mount, the audience would get restless. You don't step on the ice until the previous competitor breaks their final pose and the applause starts, but you don't know how brief or long that applause will last and you need every second you can get before your name is announced and you have to skate to centre ice.
 

TallyT

Unblushingly Biased
Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
Standing off the ice waiting and waiting jangles the nerves and stiffens the knees. You need those last precious seconds before your own performance to get your body moving, breathe, slow your heart rate, get the feel of the ice under the blades. It's a competition. Your focus is on you. In a show it might be a bit rude (although whoever is running the show would probably be controlling the timing, not the next skater). Not in a competition, though.

Besides, at the higher levels, the kids gathering the stuffies or flowers are out on the ice during the bows, then there's the wait for marks in the K&C....if the next skater(s) waited for everything to end, the event would drag on, the expense to the organizers would mount, the audience would get restless. You don't step on the ice until the previous competitor breaks their final pose and the applause starts, but you don't know how brief or long that applause will last and you need every second you can get before your name is announced and you have to skate to centre ice.
It would be rather rough on the person following a wildly popular skater or spectacularly good skate, after all.
 

Diana Delafield

Frequent flyer
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2022
Country
Canada
It would be rather rough on the person following a wildly popular skater or spectacularly good skate, after all.
Take my word for it! In our last year of competition, we drew to skate the SP right after Underhill and Martini at one competition. All we could do while the applause went on and on was laugh and shrug it off, easier for us to do when we were in competition for fun, not with serious longterm goals.
 

Arigato

Medalist
Joined
Nov 13, 2021
Country
United-States
It would be rather rough on the person following a wildly popular skater or spectacularly good skate, after all.

Jason Brown 2020 4CC. Seoul, Korea. He was out on the ice warming up for quite awhile as Yuzu, Brian, and Ghislain waited for Yuzu's record score in the SP. It went past 5 minutes.
 

Skating91

Medalist
Joined
Sep 16, 2023
It looks much worse than in the screenshots. I don't know why she had to abruptly bring the blade down like that. So dangerous. That double axel was so important it couldn't wait right?:rolleye:


blade1.gif
 
Top