Senior Ladies Need To Up The Age Requirement

[neud]

Maybe even have deductions for too high rotation speed and lack of jump height.

So you want deductions for Miyahara?

 

[Joekaz]

Yes, of course. The rest of her skating is fantastic, but her jumps are awful.

 

[Mishaminion]

She's won a large number of medals despite that, which kind of cancels out the complaint that only jumps matter.

 

[Joekaz]

She's won a large number of medals despite that, which kind of cancels out the complaint that only jumps matter.

Many times with overly leniant tech panels however

 

[Bluediamonds09]

I just think that the judges need to score PCS accurately. I don’t think the age limit absolutely needs to be raised.

 

[DenissVFan]

Weight categories sound like something that would make the issue of eating disorders even worse as the emphasis would be directly on weight. Bear in mind that weight measured in kilograms doesn't have to have a direct correlation with a skater's build and height. I remember that skaters' weights and heights were published on the website of the 2018 Olympics and two skaters who are very similar in height and build listed vastly different weights on their profiles. You wouldn't be able to tell at all by looking at them. Besides, should we make yet another category for skaters over 165 cm for women and 175 cm for men as being tall is also considered a disadvantage? New arbitraty categories don't sound like a good idea. ISU should first focus on enforcing correct and consistent judging and introducing new tools to facilitate that.

 

[Mishaminion]

I just think that the judges need to score PCS accurately. I don’t think the age limit absolutely needs to be raised.

I don't think PCS can ever be accurate though, most of it is so open to interpretation of what is good, highly subjective and personal opinion.

 

[ruga]

I agree with DenissVFan, I have heard a bunch of stories about how boxers try to lose weight by quite extreme methods so they could weigh just enough for a certain weight category. In such sport weight is actually a decisive factor - a 70 kg guy has few chances to beat someone who weighs 120 kg. And we are talking about adult men while many figure skaters are teenagers who are concerned with their bodies already. Also, in FS a lot of things matter - weight, height, body shape, proportions and so on. We can't create 10+ categories that would include all of these things.

 

[Winnie_20]

Wasn’t this kind of thing already proposed at an ISU meeting and turned down (or was it the one that didn’t even make it to the voting stage?)? Pretty sure the ISU didn’t show any interest in it, anyway....

 

[moonvine]

I've come to favour this idea more and more. I do not enjoy watching children skate, which is why I've never followed juniors. I do not enjoy watching young girls with bodies that have not gone through puberty compete with women. Nothing against them. They're just not my cup of tea. They are, by dint of age and trying such huge technical feats, not producing the kind of skating that I enjoy, by and large. I watch now knowing that the programs and performances I like will not be winning medals. Which is fine, in its way. Makes me less nervous for them, lol. But I worry that they will quit competitive skating. I've mostly fallen out of love with mens in the same way with the quad-and-fall fest that it largely is.

So a competition for those that enjoy all the quads and such and then another competition more focussed on artistry for those like me would be excellent.

Yes! I've been saying this for several years.

 

[Mishaminion]

What is funny is that younger girls winning is nothing new, at all.

Sonja Henie born April 1912.
Competed at the 1924 Olympics age 11.
First World Title in 1927 age 14
First Olympic Title 1928 age 15

The only thing that is different now is that the current age limit is actually HIGHER.

 

[skatergurl7]

I don't get the obsession with quads anyway. They are not more exciting than a 3LT or 2A. Most people don't even see the difference between a triple and quad. It's the media hyping up those jumps and people only jump on that hype wagon. It's funny how until now skaters with only triples were called the "greatest", and now all of a sudden skaters without quads are being bashed.
And no, 15 yo very thin girls doing quads is NOT "pushing the sport." What kind of influence is this going to have on other skaters who don't have the same build?

Skinny shaming is just as bad as fat shaming.

 

[skatergurl7]

So you want deductions for Miyahara?

Um obviously. Her jumps barely leave the ice they’re like spins that hop

 

[Shayuki]

What a thread. Some things:

Here's what everyone here is missing --- Tara Lipinski got the gold and took off --- Alina Zagitova is gonna roll once she hits that growth spurt --- all these girls --- whether they started at 4 or not --- are going to hit a growth spurt and be lost --- yulia lupsnitskaya and Caroline zhang ring a bell?

Zagitova's 17 years old and already had multiple growth spurts. You think she'll have some more, and end up losing her jumps? There honestly is no logical reason to expect this to happen. And these skaters might retire at the same time regardless. The only difference is, they'll have experienced no success instead of some. Perhaps that's better to you, but I for instance believe that many people still remember Lipnitskaya's career fondly, and think that it was good that they got to see her.

I don't get the obsession with quads anyway. They are not more exciting than a 3LT or 2A. Most people don't even see the difference between a triple and quad. It's the media hyping up those jumps and people only jump on that hype wagon. It's funny how until now skaters with only triples were called the "greatest", and now all of a sudden skaters without quads are being bashed.
And no, 15 yo very thin girls doing quads is NOT "pushing the sport." What kind of influence is this going to have on other skaters who don't have the same build?

Well, we need to remember that... you're not everyone. If we just look at the view counts for Skate America Free Skates on ISU's official Youtube(Geoblocked in all major skating countries), we'll see:
Tuktamysheva 12k views
Tennell 6k views
Shcherbakova 470k views

So, not everyone seems to share your opinion. In general, these girls seem quite popular and are clearly good for growing the sport and reaching to a wider, younger audience.

By the way, you could make that exact same "build"-argument about Midori Ito. How could thin skaters jump 3As like that if they don't have such powerful legs, and how was she pushing the sport? Not to mention, it's quite rude to assume that the quads will be lost. We indeed don't know what'll happen, there's no precedent. 3As can be maintained until a significantly older age, that we do know for sure. So how about we wait and see on the quads, first?

 

[flanker]

I think there should be different weight categories, just like in box and some other sports. In a sport like figure skating, everything depends on your body, it's nothing new. That's why current competitions are not fair, because skaters don't have equal chances.
And if you think this might be dangerous because skaters are prone to eating disorders- Yulia got a eating disorder because of the tiny girls in Russia and because she knew she only has a chance if she stays thin.
Different weight categories would be a more fair and healthy solution for different body types

Well, you can call basketball unfair because very tall players have huge advantage over the smaller ones. But that's the principle, you can't expect that every body type has the same chance or the same challenge. It's always there. There are types suitable for various sports, why figure skating should be different.

 

[flanker]

I don't get the obsession with quads anyway. They are not more exciting than a 3LT or 2A. Most people don't even see the difference between a triple and quad. It's the media hyping up those jumps and people only jump on that hype wagon. It's funny how until now skaters with only triples were called the "greatest", and now all of a sudden skaters without quads are being bashed.
And no, 15 yo very thin girls doing quads is NOT "pushing the sport." What kind of influence is this going to have on other skaters who don't have the same build?

It's as you've asked why people are so obsessed with goals in hockey or soccer. It's a sport and in sport the score means the way to victory. There is no way going back to compulsory figures.

Also, people complain about what this trnd will do with spectators. The fact is that skaters with high tech content have basically most views (áttact more interest) on all platforms. This sentiment "we want skating look as it looked 302 years ago" is just waste of time.

 

[flanker]

I've come to favour this idea more and more. I do not enjoy watching children skate, which is why I've never followed juniors. I do not enjoy watching young girls with bodies that have not gone through puberty compete with women. Nothing against them. They're just not my cup of tea. They are, by dint of age and trying such huge technical feats, not producing the kind of skating that I enjoy, by and large. I watch now knowing that the programs and performances I like will not be winning medals. Which is fine, in its way. Makes me less nervous for them, lol. But I worry that they will quit competitive skating. I've mostly fallen out of love with mens in the same way with the quad-and-fall fest that it largely is.

So a competition for those that enjoy all the quads and such and then another competition more focussed on artistry for those like me would be excellent.

Everytime when an argument is based on "grown developed bodies", I always wonder whether the skating is the true concern here

 

[nussnacker]

Everytime when an argument is based on "grown developed bodies", I always wonder whether the skating is the true concern here

For one, Trusova has already out grown Rika and that being 2 years younger than her. So if we’d be cutting based on the size, Trusova definitely isn’t going to get cut first.
Satoko/Elizabet however, who are 19-21, will.

 

[Deripashka]

I don't get the obsession with quads anyway. They are not more exciting than a 3LT or 2A. Most people don't even see the difference between a triple and quad. It's the media hyping up those jumps and people only jump on that hype wagon. It's funny how until now skaters with only triples were called the "greatest", and now all of a sudden skaters without quads are being bashed.
And no, 15 yo very thin girls doing quads is NOT "pushing the sport." What kind of influence is this going to have on other skaters who don't have the same build?

Shouldnt such skaters have own "safe spaces" too? Also what about endurance runners from Africa! They have genetical advantage over runners of caucasian race, shouldnt we, in our saint crusade for equality, put on them some discriminative rule, like they would have a bit longer track?

What exactly you think would push figure skating forward? 17 years old age limit for women singlists seniors? That would result only in situation where junior competitions would be, for viewers, more interesting, with better/more difficult elements than senior ones, because nature cannot be overpeed, fs is sport where top physical performance for girls coming between 14-17/18 year of life. So what then? We ban quads in women fs at all, to ensure that somebody will not feel bad if cannot jump quad at all? Sport is about pushing our limits further, about inspiring of others, about creating idols worthy of following much more than some stupid pop/movie stars. If we remove that elements what distinct bests from good ones, we will be crippling ownself.

 

[flanker]

BTW, for the people concerned about what impact the quads would have on the ladies who don't have them, look at how japan ladies reacted to Lilbet's quad at worlds:
https://sport.business-gazeta.ru/article/246816

I presume they would be the first who would reject such proposal, true athletes respect those who can do their best.