ISU Congress 2026 | Golden Skate

ISU Congress 2026

cocteautwin

cocteautwin

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 22, 2024
The 60th International Skating Union (ISU) Ordinary Congress is taking place from 10–12 June 2026.

Livestreams
Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRG8y3J9P7I
Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roJ1SpFJpwg
Day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5pVi-PTwvA
Agenda: https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...-ISU-Congress-2026-Agenda-1778506624-7812.pdf

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ISU Congress 2026 Day 1: New Grand Prix Format, Judge Rankings and Prize Money Increase Among Key Updates

ISU Congress 2026 Day 1: Grand Prix Changes, Judge Rankings and Increased Prize Money Among Key Announcements The opening day of the 2026 ISU Congress
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ISU Congress 2026: New Singles and Pairs Requirements Highlight Figure Skating Discussions

ISU Congress 2026 Day 2: New Singles and Pairs Requirements Highlight Figure Skating Discussions Day 2 of the 60th ISU Congress featured reports from
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ISU Congress 2026: Elections Shape Figure Skating Leadership for the Next Olympic Cycle

ISU Congress 2026 Day 3: Elections Shape Figure Skating Leadership for the Next Olympic Cycle The final day of the 60th ISU Congress focused on elections
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So far there are few takeaways for figure skating:
- Music rights: ISU is working on the agreement with major music label, it's not finalized yet.
- Major changes to the sport will not be implemented for this Olympic cycle, they will be tested and getting feedback by 2028
- 2028 world championship are planned as a big event for all 4 skating disciplines together
- They want top athletes to get more chances to compete against each other; from season 2027-28 there will be an update to grand prix schedule, including new events of semi-finals
- There's a proposal to double the prize money for athletes
 
I watched a bit and it reminded me how much I hated to go to all conferences and industry events at my previous job. Financial report now.. I'm out.

I'm intrigued by the semi grand prix finals idea, I'd like to hear more details.
Part about music rights was very short and no details were provided. It seems that for the most specific challenges the answer is, as usually, "we're working on this" 😬.
 
One more interesting topic: ISU's been developing a tool with Maestrom to assess judges' fairness and consistency with scoring. Only the highest ranked judges will be selected for the major events based on the data from last three seasons. It will be applied for 2027 worlds and for more competition in the future. More details will be presented later today.
 
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cocteautwin said:
One more interesting topic: ISU's been developing a tool with Maestrom to assess judges' fairness and consistency with scoring. Only the highest ranked judges will be selected for the major events based on the data from last three seasons. It will be applied for 2027 worlds and for more competition in the future). More details will be presented later today.
Click to expand...
How does a judge get highest rank?
 
More details about the tool that evaluates judging (from Maelstrom's presentation)
- It's meant to provide judges quick., constructive and consistent feedback
- Main criteria are accuracy and fairness (with national bias being identified as a main source of unfairness)
- 84 competition from last 4 season were already analyzed
- Some statistics from the Olympics: about 15-20 judges (out of 51) showed some significant same-nation bias
- Judge Evaluation Platform will be implemented for 26-27 season with the main task to integrate expert feedback (because it's not always the case that average judge is the best one, there are cases where outlier is correct and it needs to be evaluated by outside expertise).

Ok, so this tool may be useful in terms of identifying chronic cases of national bias but I think judging issues in figure skating are way more complex and sophisticated.
 
cocteautwin said:
More details about the tool that evaluates judging (from Maelstrom's presentation)
- It's meant to provide judges quick., constructive and consistent feedback
- Main criteria are accuracy and fairness (with national bias being identified as a main source of unfairness)
- 84 competition from last 4 season were already analyzed
- Some statistics from the Olympics: about 15-20 judges (out of 51) showed some significant same-nation bias
- Judge Evaluation Platform will be implemented for 26-27 season with the main task to integrate expert feedback (because it's not always the case that average judge is the best one, there are cases where outlier is correct and it needs to be evaluated by outside expertise).

Ok, so this tool may be useful in terms of identifying chronic cases of national bias but I think judging issues in figure skating are way more complex and sophisticated.
Click to expand...
I have a proposal. Skaters are deducted a -1 for late start or finish. Judges need to be timed, if they can't decide on an element, then the skater gets the benefit of the doubt. No skater should be in the kiss n cry for an extreme amount of time. The audience is a paying for the event and no one likes it.
 
cocteautwin said:
More details about the tool that evaluates judging (from Maelstrom's presentation)
- It's meant to provide judges quick., constructive and consistent feedback
- Main criteria are accuracy and fairness (with national bias being identified as a main source of unfairness)
- 84 competition from last 4 season were already analyzed
- Some statistics from the Olympics: about 15-20 judges (out of 51) showed some significant same-nation bias
- Judge Evaluation Platform will be implemented for 26-27 season with the main task to integrate expert feedback (because it's not always the case that average judge is the best one, there are cases where outlier is correct and it needs to be evaluated by outside expertise).

Ok, so this tool may be useful in terms of identifying chronic cases of national bias but I think judging issues in figure skating are way more complex and sophisticated.
Click to expand...
I should VERY much like to see these assessments...
Were there made from tunnel things, therefore ignoring "errors" made by all the judges, or even singling out the few competent judges as incompetent? Or were they made from a minute, detailed analysis of the skates (what could be seen on available videos, but it's already very much) and assessment after written rules?
 
cocteautwin said:
They want top atheltes to get more chances to compete against each other;
Click to expand...
I would like to see the ISU top honchos focus more on providing development enrichment for all the skaters by creating increased opportunities to compete for every aspiring skater. Yes, further the exposure and development of top stars, but not to the detriment of lower-ranked skaters being given more chances to grow and gain experience!

I will wait to see how this all pans out, but I am distrustful of speedskater-led ISU having chief input and dominance in decisionmaking over figure skaters.
 
BlissfulSynergy said:
I would like to see the ISU top honchos focus more on providing development enrichment for all the skaters by creating increased opportunities to compete for every aspiring skater. Yes, further the exposure and development of top stars, but not to the detriment of lower-ranked skaters being given more chances to grow and gain experience!

I will wait to see how this all pans out, but I am distrustful of speedskater-led ISU having chief input and dominance in decisionmaking over figure skaters.
Click to expand...
In this respect, I feel concerned by the lack of competitions rated International-ISU for Intermediate Novice skaters. It's true that Boys aren't a lot there, and that many prefer to compete in Basic Novice, particularly since the addition of a fifth jump pass in Basic, and the rule of repeating only one Single and one Double jump, yet the two levels differ in program length, and more crucially in Spin level (a Basic Level in Basic Novice, with further difficulties virtually prohibited for one, Level 2 expected in Intermediate, with further difficulties merely ignored, allowing better transition to Advanced Novice). There seems to be an impossible lap between Basic Novice and Advanced Novice, particularly for those who don't have a Federation with lots of Intermediate Novice national competition (so I'm not speaking as a French, because we have), the few available are often rated Interclub. Furthermore, for the very precocious Skaters, Advanced Novice has a minimum age of 10, so a very gifted Skater will "often" be locked in Basic Novice International Competitions until 10-11.
 
cocteautwin said:
One more interesting topic: ISU's been developing a tool with Maestrom to assess judges' fairness and consistency with scoring. Only the highest ranked judges will be selected for the major events based on the data from last three seasons. It will be applied for 2027 worlds and for more competition in the future. More details will be presented later today.
Click to expand...
Highest ranked judges would be a great idea. They do that in football for conference games & Super Bowl.
 
Day 2 - technical commitee report for Pairs and Singles:

Confirmation of already approved changes for upcoming season 26/27:
Singles:
- only six jumps in the free program for singles
- choreo spin in the the free
- euler is no longer listed as jump (however can by used in jump sequence as a linking step)
- same type of jump can be repeated max 3 times (no matter how many revolutions) in the free skate

Pairs:
Pairs short program:
- combination spin
- group 3 lift
- forward inside DS
Pairs free:
- two leveled lifts + one choreo lift
- jumps sequences and combinations must consist of two jumps
- choreo pair spin
Junior free:
- two leveled lifts (no choreo lift)
Change of lift definition: the lift group is determined by the moment when women passes the top of men's head (it was shoulder before).
 
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Ice dance technical commitee report (by Shawn Rettsatt* :LOL:):
- for 26/27 rhythm dance and free dance are defined as distinctly different programs
- new element for RD - creative dance element
- future goal is to have Q&A platform for athletes, coaches and officials
- adressing the issue of inconsistent calling standard (resart of in-person tech panel recertification)

*I can't count how many times he used the word "incredible"
 
cocteautwin said:
Day 2 - technical commitee report for Pairs and Singles:

Confirmation of already approved changes for upcoming season 26/27:
Singles:
- only six jumps in the free program for singles
- choreo spin in the the free
- euler is no longer listed as jump (however can by used in jump sequence as a linking step)
- same type of jump can be repeated max 3 times (no matter how many revolutions)
Click to expand...
Only six jumps: Good! It will certainly balance the programs more.
Choreo spin in the free: I don't really know what this means, but I hope to see more variations a la Lucinda Ruh.
Euler not listed as a jump: Good! I guess that means we will see euler+3S in the short?
Same type of jump max 3 times: Gone are the Shcherbakova programs with two 4Lzs and two 3Lzs, I guess it doesn't matter that much though with only 6 jumping passes. However, it will force weaker technical skaters who essentially only do Toeloops and Salchows to learn harder jumps.
 
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