ISU bans Russia and Belarus from competitions

[Midian]

I don't know if it wise to have any competitions in any sport in the situation world is now, but I have found ladies boring during last years and I still haven't watched ladies in Olympics. There is some days left to watch at national TV's website, I have not been interested. I don't mind about quads, though I don't resist then either. But overpower makes any sport boring. It is not competition any more. Despite that I am sad that athletes suffer from what somebody else is doing. I am more fan of all elements than just jumps. Also remember that ordinary audience is not so fanatic than people in this forum. They go and watch skating and don't care who wins or quads. They want to see clean skates, performances and joy on the ice - and I belong to that audience. The reason I am member of this forum is links to small competitions where are more skaters we don't see in the biggest competitions and also have somebody to talk with, because after my mother-in-law died nobody in my close circle is interested in FS. I watched Russian championships and a part of Euros in ladies, but after that I had empty feeling like I have seen this, it is enough. I doubt we will se Russian championships with English commenting for a while.

This!
I wanted to post something similar but you did it first
Some people are attached to quands and hardly anything else matters for them while me (and as far as I see, those who can't tell the difference between jumps) are simply bored by skaters who do nothing right but jump.
When some people claim they can't enjoy women competition at Worlds without Russians, I know they mean Eteri's girls only - and this is sad. There are plenty of talented skaters out there, they are pure pleasure to watch and a lot of them are actually Russians under other flags. How come they don't matter? I wish more people could see talents that were lately overshadowed by skinny quadsters from the same factory. Now they have their moment and I'm waiting for it.

 

[jesslv74]

This!
I wanted to post something similar but you did it first
Some people are attached to quands and hardly anything else matters for them while me (and as far as I see, those who can't tell the difference between jumps) are simply bored by skaters who do nothing right but jump.
When some people claim they can't enjoy women competition at Worlds without Russians, I know they mean Eteri's girls only - and this is sad. There are plenty of talented skaters out there, they are pure pleasure to watch and a lot of them are actually Russians under other flags. How come they don't matter? I wish more people could see talents that were lately overshadowed by skinny quadsters from the same factory. Now they have their moment and I'm waiting for it.

 

[jesslv74]

This!
I wanted to post something similar but you did it first
Some people are attached to quands and hardly anything else matters for them while me (and as far as I see, those who can't tell the difference between jumps) are simply bored by skaters who do nothing right but jump.
When some people claim they can't enjoy women competition at Worlds without Russians, I know they mean Eteri's girls only - and this is sad. There are plenty of talented skaters out there, they are pure pleasure to watch and a lot of them are actually Russians under other flags. How come they don't matter? I wish more people could see talents that were lately overshadowed by skinny quadsters from the same factory. Now they have their moment and I'm waiting for it.

YES! It's become a competition between Russian skaters rather than a competition between all skaters, especially in the womens' discipline. It's much more interesting when you watch the talent from all of the countries. During the Olympics, I felt like...okay, which RUSSIAN woman is going to win rather than which SKATER is going to win...almost like watching Russian Nationals.

 

[jesslv74]

That's really bad for the athletes, especially for the girls who might never again compete at international events. And it pretty much ruins the events. Figure Skating without russian skaters is like football without brazilian players. But I do agree with the decision. We can't pretend that nothing happened.

Regarding the girls...in some ways, I'm tired of seeing 15-16-year-old Russian skaters show up for a year or two and then get burned out as the Russian Skating Federation churns them out and moves on to the next ones. They're more interested in winning no matter the cost (sounds like their military philosophy too!) than teaching these GIRLS to grow into good adults who can compete for a long time. If that wasn't the case, they could be able to skate for many more years. Regardless, like you, I agree with the decision.

 

[skatedreamer]

This!
I wanted to post something similar but you did it first
Some people are attached to quands and hardly anything else matters for them while me (and as far as I see, those who can't tell the difference between jumps) are simply bored by skaters who do nothing right but jump.
When some people claim they can't enjoy women competition at Worlds without Russians, I know they mean Eteri's girls only - and this is sad. There are plenty of talented skaters out there, they are pure pleasure to watch and a lot of them are actually Russians under other flags. How come they don't matter? I wish more people could see talents that were lately overshadowed by skinny quadsters from the same factory. Now they have their moment and I'm waiting for it.

from me too!

Quads are truly thrilling and impressive but for me (more than a casual fan but definitely no expert), what makes the program is the stuff that happens between the jumps. Under the IJS, beautiful moves of lesser value often seem to disappear in favor of big point-getters.

 

[lariko]

This!
I wanted to post something similar but you did it first
Some people are attached to quands and hardly anything else matters for them while me (and as far as I see, those who can't tell the difference between jumps) are simply bored by skaters who do nothing right but jump.
When some people claim they can't enjoy women competition at Worlds without Russians, I know they mean Eteri's girls only - and this is sad. There are plenty of talented skaters out there, they are pure pleasure to watch and a lot of them are actually Russians under other flags. How come they don't matter? I wish more people could see talents that were lately overshadowed by skinny quadsters from the same factory. Now they have their moment and I'm waiting for it.

Who explicitly said that other women do not matter?

I said many times in this thread that I had wished that the prohibition on skaters to represent Russia in international competitions would be accompanied by the relaxation of RusFed sponsored requirements that tie skaters to Russia. I am a strong proponent of this change so that more Russian skaters could leave and compete, if they chose to leave Russia.

I saw Russian women to jump quads in Plushenko’s school, Davydov’s and Fedosimova’s in competitions. It is no longer something only TT school does. It is what is necessary to advance internally in Russia in junior women.

I admire how athletically built Trusova is. I continued to root for her when she was with Plushenko and when she might not have made the competitions, including worlds and Olympics. She is 17 yo, will be 18 in June, and she had been competing in senior division for 3 seasons, starting with the 2019-2020 season, not one year. During this time she didn’t lose the quads as predicted, but increased their number and types. She is still working on 3A, continuing to develop. Trusova also worked on artistry and skating skills on senior level.

I also love Frolova, Murav’yeva, Sinitsina, Gorbacheva and V.Morozova and I wish they could leave Russia, the way Shabotova, Gubanova, Talalaykina, Kurakova and Safonova had already done. Same goes for Samoilov and Starostin btw.

There are many skaters that would participate in women, but without Trusova and her quads, I wonder if the 5 women who could do 3A, would.

Finally, excluding Russians from competition excludes 3 men (for which 3 spots team Russian men collectively fought for 3 long Covid years)—that’s their achievement, not medals. Pairs, where the competition is rather lukewarm now. Russian ice dance that has a very balanced rate of success with all the other nations.

Junior generations of the Russian skaters is only competing as their hail-Mary Olympic team in men. Even if JWC goes ahead, the Russian Junior men who were publicly admonished after Rus Jun Nationals and had to re-skate literally just now, will also see zero competitions. Kovalev will age out. Who knows if Popov or Dikidzhi will ever qualify for a junior season, if next season is out.

For the ban to have sufficient impact as a tool of punishment it can’t really just cover a short period of time. If it does, it will discredit the IOC and ISU and the gravity of the decision. If they went for it, half-measures will not satisfy anyone.

So, the ISU didn’t announce the full plethora of consequences, such as what will happen to the quotas and if the ban will extend for the entire season of 2022-2023.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

I also love Frolova, Murav’yeva, Gorbacheva and V.Morozova and I wish they could leave Russia, the way Shabotova, Gubanova, Talalaykina, Mikutina, Kurakova and Safonova had already done. Same goes for Samoilov and Nikitin, btw.

Just to set this straight, Olga Mikutina is from Ukraine.
And Nikitin, you mean Nikita Starostin, right?

 

[Jasira]

I understand why ISU made this decision. Still I´m sad that I won´t see some of my absolute favorites at the world championships (Anna Shcherbakova and Mishina/Galliamov). Well, at least my vpn connects to Russia again, so I can rewatch Russian nationals and test skates.

 

[lariko]

Just to set this straight, Olga Mikutina is from Ukraine.
And Nikitin, you mean Nikita Starostin, right?

Yup, corrected. Didn’t know Mikutina was Ukrainian, rooting for the girl.

 

[skatesofgold]

I guess I’m the only one super sad about not seeing Anna compete again this season. I really wanted to see if she could defend her world title. The Russians have been my favorites for a while now and I’m just disappointed that three of the best competitors won’t be there. I can’t really say I care who wins anymore. It’s like watching 4CCs for me, and not in a good way. I also think the pairs field is going to be way depleted.

 

[beachmouse]

I consider myself a fan of clean and honest sport at the highest level and without any proof Anna, Sasha, and Liza have done anything wrong, their presence in the ladies field will be missed.

The frustrating thing is that an elite sporting field in any sport with clean and honest Russian representation is more competitive and more fun to watch than one where some of the best of the best are excluded because their government or federation keeps doing the wrong thing over and over until the rest of the world feels like they must do more than keep saying 'stop or we'll tell you to stop again'.

Russian sporting tradition is strong and proud; on a broader level thee Russian education system is excellent and the country could have spent the last twenty years building Silicon Taiga and making so many more people than the oligarchs there rich and it's disappointing to see so much potential wasted by looking backwards instead of forward.

 

[FlyingFeather]

I consider myself a fan of clean and honest sport at the highest level and without any proof Anna, Sasha, and Liza have done anything wrong, their presence in the ladies field will be missed.

The frustrating thing is that an elite sporting field in any sport with clean and honest Russian representation is more competitive and more fun to watch than one where some of the best of the best are excluded because their government or federation keeps doing the wrong thing over and over until the rest of the world feels like they must do more than keep saying 'stop or we'll tell you to stop again'.

Russian sporting tradition is strong and proud; on a broader level thee Russian education system is excellent and the country could have spent the last twenty years building Silicon Taiga and making so many more people than the oligarchs there rich and it's disappointing to see so much potential wasted by looking backwards instead of forward.

This. I hope we are blaming certain Russian individuals who are doing the wrong thing, not Russia or Russians. Of course Russian culture has bad parts, but so does every culture. I am grateful for all that Russian athletes and coaches have contributed to figure skating over the decades, and I love the beautiful Russian culture as a whole. I pray for Ukraine, and I also pray for all the people in Russia who have been funneled into following a man who does not have their best interests in mind. I hope we can all have compassion on them too.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Russia and Belarus are out of international competitions - including the upcoming Worlds in March.

Following the IOC recommendation, in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.i.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating Competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus.

ISU Statement on the Ukrainian crisis - Participation in international competitions of Skaters and Officials from Russia and Belarus - International Skating Union

The ISU Council reaffirms its full solidarity with the ISU Members in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Speed Skating Federation and the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation. The ISU Council will evaluate possibilities for swift humanitarian assistance to its Ukrainian ISU Members.

isu.org

Prekrasno!

While I feel bad for some of the Russian skaters some things are bigger than skating. And there are dozen of other countries competing. Just because it won’t be the same it doesn’t mean it won’t be good.

 

[skatedreamer]

This. I hope we are blaming certain Russian individuals who are doing the wrong thing, not Russia or Russians. Of course Russian culture has bad parts, but so does every culture. I am grateful for all that Russian athletes and coaches have contributed to figure skating over the decades, and I love the beautiful Russian culture as a whole. I pray for Ukraine, and I also pray for all the people in Russia who have been funneled into following a man who does not have their best interests in mind. I hope we can all have compassion on them too.

Beautifully said!

 

[Arigato]

"EVERYONE WANTS PEACE AND I WANT IT! [...] I believe in our President! "

I wish I had not read that quote from Plushy.

 

[Puchi]

Prekrasno!

While I feel bad for some of the Russian skaters some things are bigger than skating. And there are dozen of other countries competing. Just because it won’t be the same it doesn’t mean it won’t be good.

It will be good because it won't be the same.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

It will be good because it won't be the same.

I’m wondering how other skaters will fare without a heavily politicked nation present that generally has the highest PCS and GOE reserved for them.

Other feds that get favourable scoring will of course still be present but we nevertheless might see some of the fairest scoring in years.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

EVERYONE WANTS PEACE AND I WANT IT! I really hope that everything will be over as soon as possible, and the negotiations will bear fruit. I believe in our President! I am not a politician, I am an athlete and my goal is to unite people through the love of sport, overcoming political differences. I'm sure we'll all make it!!!!!

Plushenko: Everyone wants peace.

Also Plushenko: I believe in our President.

At least his jumping was consistent.

 

[Jaana]

I hope we are blaming certain Russian individuals who are doing the wrong thing, not Russia or Russians. Of course Russian culture has bad parts, but so does every culture. I am grateful for all that Russian athletes and coaches have contributed to figure skating over the decades, and I love the beautiful Russian culture as a whole. I pray for Ukraine, and I also pray for all the people in Russia who have been funneled into following a man who does not have their best interests in mind. I hope we can all have compassion on them too.

Very beautiful and idealistic! One must though remember that it was the Russian people who have given this man the power by voting him and so during lots of years he gradually became a dictator. In the same way as a certain other man in Germany in early 1930ies...

In my opinion the Russian athletes should have been banned already after the Russian forces attacked and conquered Crimea from Ukraine.

 

[Kittosuni]

I'm super sad we will not be seeing the Russians in international competitions in the foreseeable future but this has to be done. I'm just wondering if Russian coaches will be allowed though since they have skaters from other nations.

Honestly I'm surprised that the Russian subforums are still up. The diving one I used to read already closed all Russian subforum.