ISU Congress & elections 2022

[Vagabond]

I'm not getting what the difference between 16 and 17 is?

[SENIOR SKATER]
You wait, little girl, on an empty stage
For fate to turn the light on
Your life, little girl, is an empty page
That judges will want to write on

[JUNIOR SKATER]
To write on

[SENIOR SKATER]
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Baby, it's time to think
Better beware be canny and careful
Baby, you're on the brink
You are sixteen going on seventeen
You need to wait in line
Eager young fans and moms and dads
Will say that it's your time
Totally unprepared are you
To earn a score of ten
Timid and shy and scared are you
Of things beyond your ken
You need someone older and wiser
Telling you what to do
I am seventeen going on eighteen
I'll take care of you

[JUNIOR SKATER]
I am sixteen going on seventeen
I know that I'm naïve
Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet
And willingly I believe
I am sixteen going on seventeen
Innocent as a rose
Edges and extension, dramatic tension
What do I know of those?
Totally unprepared am I
To earn a score of ten
Timid and shy and scared am I
Of things beyond my ken
I need someone older and wiser
Telling me what to do
You are seventeen going on eighteen
I'll depend, on you
​

 

[Dobre]

[JUNIOR SKATER]

You are seventeen going on eighteen
I'll depend, on you
​

And win gold medals following a positive drug test because I'm not old enough & wise enough to face consequences or for my coach or federation to face consequences for drugging me.

 

[Karen-W]

Belarus, Austria Figure, Armenia, Cyprus & Israel submitted an amendment to delete the increase to 17 for just the FS disciplines and they're asking for clarification that this is supposed to be for ALL skating sports. And doesn't apply to synchro either. Jeez. This amendment better get voted down.

ETA - Austria Figure stood up and said they didn't sign the proposed amendment.

 

[On My Own]

Well, fanyus are out of the chat, but one of the Eteri stans from GS is there now lol

 

[Karen-W]

LMAO - Boris Chait is up there telling us that it's hard for smaller feds because "we don't have a bench from NY to LA." Good thing this isn't a court of law, otherwise he'd be charged with perjury.

 

[On My Own]

Heh, he and Duhamel are going to get backlash from the Russiabots again, but good for him for speaking out again.

Agree with him - it shouldn't be a secret vote!

 

[Karen-W]

Oooooo! Eric Radford just asked that the members NOT ask for a secret vote on this, so that each fed can be held accountable for their positions on the proposal. Go Eric!!!!!!

 

[On My Own]

Not amended for figure skating!

 

[Karen-W]

And the amendment to delete the paragraph increasing the age to 17 in 2024-25 was rejected. Thank goodness!

Now, Poland Speed is proposing that the age min for jr worlds in speed & short-track is kept at 14 rather than increased.

 

[On My Own]

Hehe Poland Speed's amendment also got rejected.

 

[On My Own]

 

[Karen-W]

Proposal #22 - 100 in favor, 16 no, 3 abstentions - and the age proposal has been ACCEPTED!!!!!!!

Proposal #23 - Withdrawn in favor of #22.

 

[On My Own]

Which is the final proposal they'll be discussing today?

 

[Karen-W]

Which is the final proposal they'll be discussing today?

They're moving at a pretty fast clip. They might get through all of the General Regulation proposals today at the rate they're going. They're currently on #27 - Russia's request to include Nat'l Championships in the release/clearance certificate requirement.

 

[Karen-W]

And wrapping up the votes taken today on the rest of the General Regulations:

Proposal #24 - Withdrawn

Proposal #25 (Canada - increase jr pairs & dance women age max to 21) - REJECTED

Proposal #26 - Withdrawn

Proposal #27 (Russia - include Nat'l Championships in the release/clearance certificate process) - REJECTED

Proposal #28 - Obsolete (accepted via email in 2021)

Proposal #29 - ACCEPTED

Proposal #30 - ACCEPTED

Proposal #31 (TC & TS restrictions) - Tabled to be discussed by FS branch & brought back for a vote on Friday

Proposal #32 - ACCEPTED

Proposal #33 - ACCEPTED

Proposal #34 - ACCEPTED

Proposal #35 (Hungary - add Jr Euros & 4CCs) - REJECTED

Proposal #36 - Tabled to be discussed by SS branch & brought back for a vote on Friday

Proposal #37 - ACCEPTED

Proposal #38 (Worlds QR) - Tabled to be discussed by FS branch & brought back for a vote on Friday

Proposal #39 - REJECTED

Proposal #40 - ACCEPTED

Tomorrow morning 9am the FS and SS Branches will begin their meetings, and these will continue all day on Thursday (the delegates have tomorrow afternoon off for an excursion).

 

[Gris]

Thanks for the PBP!

 

[On My Own]

Why was 39 rejected? It's literally about lunch?

 

[zebobes]

Why was 39 rejected? It's literally about lunch?

Because it's just about lunch, that the council felt it was weird to make an official rule about it in their constitution. He said that the information could be included in a memorandum, but a rule seemed unnecessary.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Age proposal accepted. I'll watch for another year.

 

[victorskid]

The ISU official summary of Day 2's events: https://www.isu.org/isu-news/news/1...-to-gradually-increase-to-17?templateParam=15

 

[marbri]

So I haven't been following this and just randomly started watching the most recent video i saw on youtube:

ISU Congress 2022

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information.The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thaila...

www.youtube.com

The face of Iceland's delegate around 19 minutes in when Papa Chait asks about the health of male pair skaters who have to lift that 17 year old girl (and the stunned reactions of those around her, I think Ireland is one of them)

 

[Karen-W]

So I haven't been following this and just randomly started watching the most recent video i saw on youtube:

ISU Congress 2022

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information.The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thaila...

www.youtube.com

The face of Iceland's delegate around 19 minutes in when Papa Chait asks about the health of male pair skaters who have to lift that 17 year old girl (and the stunned reactions of those around her, I think Ireland is one of them)

Papa Chait was such a tool yesterday. There were some feds that were absolutely brilliant in shooting down the people/feds who were trying to only raise the age limit to 16. I came away from that discussion hoping that Susanna Rakhomo wins the ISU President election. She demonstrated a lot of integrity and concern in her remarks. Eric Radford was also really awesome both times he spoke on the proposal.

 

[allezfred]

The face of Iceland's delegate around 19 minutes in when Papa Chait asks about the health of male pair skaters who have to lift that 17 year old girl (and the stunned reactions of those around her, I think Ireland is one of them)

 

[Trillian]

So I haven't been following this and just randomly started watching the most recent video i saw on youtube:

ISU Congress 2022

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information.The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thaila...

www.youtube.com

The face of Iceland's delegate around 19 minutes in when Papa Chait asks about the health of male pair skaters who have to lift that 17 year old girl (and the stunned reactions of those around her, I think Ireland is one of them)

Next time I’m a delegate at the ISU congress, I’m sitting next to Iceland.

 

[VGThuy]

So I haven't been following this and just randomly started watching the most recent video i saw on youtube:

ISU Congress 2022

Visit https://isu.org/inside-isu/rules-regulations/isu-congresses for more information.The ISU Council and the Figure and Speed Skating Association of Thaila...

www.youtube.com

The face of Iceland's delegate around 19 minutes in when Papa Chait asks about the health of male pair skaters who have to lift that 17 year old girl (and the stunned reactions of those around her, I think Ireland is one of them)

I CANNOT believe he said that with a straight face. That Iceland's delegate's face was PRICELESS. God, these are the people politicking and trying to determine results? These are the people behind skating? Lord...

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the play-by-play after I went to bed, @Karen-W!

Oooooo! Eric Radford just asked that the members NOT ask for a secret vote on this, so that each fed can be held accountable for their positions on the proposal. Go Eric!!!!!!

Eric's speech starts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gIj4fjAUcQ&t=1260s

And the amendment to delete the paragraph increasing the age to 17 in 2024-25 was rejected. Thank goodness!

The amendment proposal was submitted after the lunch break by BLR (Oleg Vasiliev), ARM, ISR (Boris Chait) & CYP to delete the italicized section below (and it was voted on after the 27-min. mark and not enough green cards were held up):
ii) From the Season 2024/25 onwards, in International Senior Competitions, ISU Senior Championships and the Olympic Winter Games, only Skaters [singles/pairs/ice dance] may compete who have reached at least the age of seventeen before July 1 preceding the Events.

Proposal #22 - 100 in favor, 16 no, 3 abstentions - and the age proposal has been ACCEPTED!!!!!!!

The moment the voting results are revealed on the screen (2 abstentions, not 3), the enthuisiastic applause by the delegates and Jan Dijkema's brief statement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gIj4fjAUcQ&t=2299s

 

[Sylvia]

Very disappointing to hear the U.S. speak against this proposal.

Phil Hersh asked USFS President Samuel Auxier about this (embedded below are 2 of the tweets & I've copied out the text of the 3rd and 7th one; #6 is what occurred to me as I was watching the livestream last night):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534214327443632128

7 / "We supported (the) Austrian amendment to push back 17 until after next Olympics to have more time to develop junior events for athletes that would miss Olympics due to age changes, but (USA) voted for 17 when (the) amendment failed."

Link to the Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/olyphil/status/1534210438342254592

2022 U.S. Junior Pairs champs Sonia Baram/Daniel Tioumentsev will have 1 season of ISU Junior eligibility in 2022-23 before he ages out. She will not turn 17 until November 2025 - too young for the 2026 Olympics now - SHOULD they happen to qualify.

 

[clairecloutier]

Thanks for that tweet thread, @Sylvia.

I assume that USFS took this stance because they are thinking about the immediate future of U.S. pairs within the next quad, which doesn't look real promising. However, I wish they had not voted in this way. I'm chagrined that U.S. Speed showed clearer and stronger support of the original proposal than USFS.

I'm cognizant that the 17-year age minimum may pose certain issues in pairs. However, in all honesty, with the recent concerns around general power imbalance between older male/younger female partners, as well as the wisdom of relatively young skaters living away from home for partnership reasons, I think this decision will hopefully in the end contribute to a more equitable and less toxic/problematic environment within the discipline of pairs. Hopefully, the discipline can re-orient itself around the new reality.

 

[Karen-W]

Thanks for that tweet thread, @Sylvia.

I assume that USFS took this stance because they are thinking about the immediate future of U.S. pairs within the next quad, which doesn't look real promising. However, I wish they had not voted in this way. I'm chagrined that U.S. Speed showed clearer and stronger support of the original proposal than USFS.

I'm cognizant that the 17-year age minimum may pose certain issues in pairs. However, in all honesty, with the recent concerns around general power imbalance between older male/younger female partners, as well as the wisdom of relatively young skaters living away from home for partnership reasons, I think this decision will hopefully in the end contribute to a more equitable and less toxic/problematic environment within the discipline of pairs. Hopefully, the discipline can re-orient itself around the new reality.

And to this point, I wish that the ISU Council had supported Canada's proposal to raise the age max for junior pairs & dance women to 21. This was specifically submitted to address the power imbalance that often results due to wide age differences like Baram/Tioumentsev. As it is, there has already been plenty of discussion in the US Pairs discussion thread about the longterm viability of this pair due to the age difference. If the age increase results in them breaking up, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, regardless of the shape of the rest of the US Pairs program at this moment.

 

[VGThuy]

At least people can't accuse the U.S. (Fed) of supporting this "anti-Russian" age proposal.