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Well-Known To Whom She Wonders
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All dates are arbitrary, but I picked five years because it will encompass one Olympic cycle and be midway through the next.
A lot of change can be predicted over the next five years. There's certainly been a lot in the past five, most obviously in the increased technical abilities of the young women skaters. The thinning out of pairs teams has also been noticeable, as has the rise of SafeSport, with more awareness of sexual misconduct and crime both publicly and privately.
I'm curious about what you think will be the major (and minor) changes over the next five years. Will there be major rule changes, such a allowing quad jumps in women's short programs, or extending the age which skaters must stay junior.
Will there be greater technical prowess in the men's jumping? Will quad axels and quint jumps start appearing?
Will dance continue to putz around with required steps and rhythms? This season has a shortened finn step. Within five years will they have eliminated required rhythms altogether or made them even more stringent.
Will the ISU change rules about how many entries each federation can have at Worlds. Will they expand it five or will they change the shape of the federations, so there might be a Scandinavian federation, sharing a nationals. Will they allow pairs and dance teams to represent two different countries in everything except the Olympics?
What will happen when the current faces of skating retire? Hanyu might stick it out for a fourth Olympics, but it's also possible he'll retire (or simply fade away) after 2022. Nathan Chen, currently the only truly strong American competitor in any of the disciplines, might also retire by 2026. Will other stars replace them? Will skating suffer noticeable financial loss upon the retirement of Hanyu?
Will analytics change the sport as it has changed baseball? Will more stringent drug testing or more frequent drug use result in more frequent suspensions?
There's a lot of speculate about and I figure this is as good a time as any to do so. I hope you'll join me and share your thoughts about what the five year future of figure skating might entail.
A lot of change can be predicted over the next five years. There's certainly been a lot in the past five, most obviously in the increased technical abilities of the young women skaters. The thinning out of pairs teams has also been noticeable, as has the rise of SafeSport, with more awareness of sexual misconduct and crime both publicly and privately.
I'm curious about what you think will be the major (and minor) changes over the next five years. Will there be major rule changes, such a allowing quad jumps in women's short programs, or extending the age which skaters must stay junior.
Will there be greater technical prowess in the men's jumping? Will quad axels and quint jumps start appearing?
Will dance continue to putz around with required steps and rhythms? This season has a shortened finn step. Within five years will they have eliminated required rhythms altogether or made them even more stringent.
Will the ISU change rules about how many entries each federation can have at Worlds. Will they expand it five or will they change the shape of the federations, so there might be a Scandinavian federation, sharing a nationals. Will they allow pairs and dance teams to represent two different countries in everything except the Olympics?
What will happen when the current faces of skating retire? Hanyu might stick it out for a fourth Olympics, but it's also possible he'll retire (or simply fade away) after 2022. Nathan Chen, currently the only truly strong American competitor in any of the disciplines, might also retire by 2026. Will other stars replace them? Will skating suffer noticeable financial loss upon the retirement of Hanyu?
Will analytics change the sport as it has changed baseball? Will more stringent drug testing or more frequent drug use result in more frequent suspensions?
There's a lot of speculate about and I figure this is as good a time as any to do so. I hope you'll join me and share your thoughts about what the five year future of figure skating might entail.
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