ISU Statement on Russia's war against Ukraine - Participation in international competitions of Skaters and Officials from Russia and Belarus

[mtnskater]

Mia Kalin didn't make the cut for 2023 US Nationals.

Can someone explain to me what the “Eteri” style is that Mia and Isabeau supposedly skate? Mia and Isabeau couldn’t be more different as skaters. I fail to see what they have in common. Isabeau is very consistent on landing her jumps, has lovely refined style, nice edges, complicated transitions and detail in her programs and great spins. Isabeau does not skate with the frantic Eteri/Dani G. choreography that seems to have little relation to the music. Mia has really none of these positive qualities (yet) of Isabeau and her jumps often fail her, hence did not qualify for nationals. The only thing I see in common between the two is they are very slight in build.

eta: maybe I should have quoted @Willin and not @euterpe.

 

[Willin]

@mtnskater I was referring to the jump technique more than overall impression, but you could argue they're just two ends of the Eteri artistic spectrum with Isabeau being like Kostornaia and Mia being like Trusova.

 

[BittyBug]

@mtnskater I was referring to the jump technique more than overall impression, but you could argue they're just two ends of the Eteri artistic spectrum with Isabeau being like Kostornaia and Mia being like Trusova.

I would not equate Levito with Kostornaia for anything except perhaps their hair styling. Kostornaia had some of the best skating skills in the world; deep, sure edges; and fantastic speed. Her jumps were textbook and were entered with speed and wonderful carriage.

Levito is slow and labored and her bump technique is atrocious - it’s all upper body dipping and wrenching and twisting and .

Levito does pay great attention to choreographic details, is a very neat skater ala Satoko Miyahara, and has excellent spins. She is also very consistent, but I can’t get past her unsightly and labored jumps to appreciate all the pretty in between.

 

[robinhood]

Levito is more similar to Scherbakova than Kostornaia

 

[clairecloutier]

IOC chief Thomas Bach now issues a clear call for international federations to continue the RUS/BLR ban:

COVID-19-struck Bach insists sanctions on Russia and Belarus must continue

Although Thomas Bach was unable to attend the IF Forum he delivered a stern message that "sanctions against Russia and Belarus must remain" as the inv...

www.insidethegames.biz

 

[Sylvia]

Dec. 5 articles:

Now is not the time to lift Russia, Belarus sanctions-IOC

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has no immediate plans to lift sanctions on Russia and Belarus even though the qualifying process for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics goes into full swing next year, the Olympic body said on Monday.

www.reuters.com

Speaking on the first day of the IOC's Executive Board meeting, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said there had been no change to the sanctions put in place at the start of the war in Ukraine despite the Paris Games starting in just over a year and a half.
"Now is not the time to be lifting sanctions on the Russians or the Belarusians," Adams said. "The sanctions remain very much in place."
While events that count towards qualification in some sports for the Paris Olympics have already been held, most sports will stage their continental or global qualification events in the coming 18 months.

Yekaterinburg "had been set to stage the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University [Summer] Games, but had its hosting rights suspended due to the war in Ukraine."

International University Sports Festival expected to feature 22 countries

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has claimed that more than 4,000 athletes from 22 countries are set to participate in the multi-sport event bran...

www.insidethegames.biz

The International University Sports Festival has been scheduled for the same dates as those originally allotted for the FISU Games - August 8 to 19 2023.
The Chendgu 2023 FISU Games is now scheduled for July 28 to August 8 2023, and Matytsin revealed last month that he has sought Chinese support for Russia's participation.
FISU has excluded Russian and Belarusian athletes from next month's Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, but a decision has yet to be taken on the summer edition, which is now set to take place in Chengdu.

According to TASS, six venues are set to be used in Yekaterinburg, using infrastructure intended for the 2023 FISU Games.
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Belarus, Brazil, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa are the countries set to take part in addition to Russia as host, with 193 medal events across 14 sports expected.

ETA:
"Russia's Stanislav Pozdnyakov is one of only three Presidents of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to be invited to the Olympic Summit in Lausanne later this week [Friday, Dec. 9], despite his country's invasion of Ukraine."

ROC President Pozdnyakov invited to Olympic Summit despite Ukraine war

Russia's Stanislav Pozdnyakov is one of only three Presidents of National Olympic Committees to be invited here to the Olympic Summit later this week,...

www.insidethegames.biz

According to the IOC, the "Olympic Summit forms part of the ongoing consultation process on important issues of significance for the future of the Olympic Movement."
It is held annually and, besides representatives from the NOCs, the heads of the leading International Federations are also invited.
They include Gianni Infantino and Sebastian Coe, Presidents of FIFA and World Athletics, respectively.
This year's Summit will be the first to be held in person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with the last two editions being held virtually. [...]
Jae-Youl Kim, the recently elected President of the International Skating Union, will represent the winter sports, along with Johan Eliasch and Luc Tardiff, who lead the International Ski Federation and International Ice Hockey Federation, respectively.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The last I read was that EU ascension talks with Turkey were suspended, but that was a few years ago. This would be one more item for the "moving away from the EU" observation.

 

[pachelbel]

I would not equate Levito with Kostornaia for anything except perhaps their hair styling. Kostornaia had some of the best skating skills in the world; deep, sure edges; and fantastic speed. Her jumps were textbook and were entered with speed and wonderful carriage.

Levito is slow and labored and her bump technique is atrocious - it’s all upper body dipping and wrenching and twisting and .

Levito does pay great attention to choreographic details, is a very neat skater ala Satoko Miyahara, and has excellent spins. She is also very consistent, but I can’t get past her unsightly and labored jumps to appreciate all the pretty in between.

Agreed for the most part except the bolded. Kostornaia didn't have textbook technique. Completely bent picking leg on her flip, unclear or inside edge on her lutz, wrap on her axel, and her toe loop usually always landed at a standstill. But no where near as much as upper body movement while jumping like Levito.

 

[BittyBug]

Agreed for the most part except the bolded. Kostornaia didn't have textbook technique. Completely bent picking leg on her flip, unclear or inside edge on her lutz, wrap on her axel, and her toe loop usually always landed at a standstill. But no where near as much as upper body movement while jumping like Levito.

The wrap seems to have cropped up late in her competitive career (or maybe I only really noticed it in her last season), but you are correct, her jumps were not without issues.

 

[Sylvia]

Yekaterinburg "had been set to stage the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University [Summer] Games, but had its hosting rights suspended due to the war in Ukraine."

International University Sports Festival expected to feature 22 countries

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has claimed that more than 4,000 athletes from 22 countries are set to participate in the multi-sport event bran...

www.insidethegames.biz

"The third Russian-Chinese Winter Youth Games will be held in December 2022 in Jilin province and the Russian team has already started preparing for them."

The programme of the Russian-Chinese Winter Youth Games includes competitions in cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, short track, figure skating, curling and freestyle.

"Russia is ready to expand the formats of sports cooperation, create new international sports competitions," said the Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin.

Cross-posting here from the Russian skating news thread where there's an ongoing discussion about this month's event in China:

December 8, 2022: https://fsrussia.ru/news/novosti/so...-iii-rossijsko-kitajskikh-molodezhnykh-igrakh

The composition of Russian figure skaters for participation in the III Russian-Chinese Youth Games

On December 14-20, 2022, China will host the III Winter Russian-Chinese Youth Games. 2 sports couples, 2 dance couples and 6 single skaters (3 boys and 3 girls) will take part in the figure skating competitions from Russia.

Line-up:

Dancing on ice: Anna Kolomenskaya - Artem Frolov, Anna Shcherbakova [not the Olympic gold medalist ] - Egor Goncharov.

Pairs: Elizaveta Osokina - Artem Gritsaenko, Ekaterina Chikmareva - Matvey Yanchenkov.

Boys: Vladislav Dikidzhi, Nikolai Ugozhaev, Grigory Fedorov.

Girls : Ekaterina Anisimova, Elizaveta Kulikova, Taisiya Shcherbinina.

The competition is attended by junior athletes who compete according to the program of candidates for the master of sports according to the ISU system. The history of the Russian-Chinese Youth Games dates back to 2006, when summer sports competitions started. In 2016, the first winter Russian-Chinese youth games were held in Harbin, where Russian figure skaters won 7 medals (3 gold, 3 silver and one bronze). In 2018, the second Winter Youth Russian-Chinese Games were held in Ufa, where our skaters won 9 medals (4 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze).

Competitions are held alternately in each country every two years.

Russian-Chinese Winter Youth Games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian–Chinese_Winter_Youth_Games

 

[On My Own]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1601300303005253632

 

[coppertop1]

Competing under a neutral flag had really see worked so well, right? Seriously, IOC, what the definition of insanity?

I can't imagine how Russia is going to be received if they are in Paris. The other athletes were already getting fed up with the Russian BS. Just keep them out. The IOC is looking like a bunch of cowards.

 

[skatingguy]

There's a proposal to have Russia, and Belarus compete as part of Asia for the purpose of international sports.

The Olympic Summit, a conference hosted by the IOC and chaired by Bach, agreed Friday that the IOC will “lead the further exploration” of an initiative from the Olympic Council of Asia to allow Russia and Belarus to compete there, according to a statement. Consultations are planned with sports federations, athletes and national sports bodies.

Bach “thanked the OCA for its creative initiative,” the statement on the IOC website said. Russia has territory across Europe and Asia but is traditionally considered part of Europe for the purposes of sports events.

“In the course of the debate, the acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia stated that, on the Asian continent, the reasons for the protective measures no longer exist,” the IOC statement said.

“The OCA offered to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in competitions in Asia under its authority, while respecting the sanctions in place.”

Russia may join sports events in Asia ahead of 2024 Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russia could return to some international sports events and Olympic qualifiers by competing as part of Asia rather than Europe. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach welcomed a “creative” plan Friday to allow athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus...

ca.sports.yahoo.com

 

[Karen-W]

Competing under a neutral flag had really see worked so well, right? Seriously, IOC, what the definition of insanity?

I can't imagine how Russia is going to be received if they are in Paris. The other athletes were already getting fed up with the Russian BS. Just keep them out. The IOC is looking like a bunch of cowards.

I don't think this is going to work like the previous "neutral athletes" agreement that brought us OAR and ROC in Pyeongchang, Tokyo and Beijing. This is going to be much more like the refugee athletes who compete under the Olympic flag - there won't be "teams" that compete in football, basketball, gymnastics, etc. It is going to be up to each international federation whether or not they allow Russian or Belarusian athletes to compete in the Paris qualifying competitions as individual athletes.

Theoretically, if the ban extends through Milano-Cortina 2026, it would be up to the ISU whether or not Russian/Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete at Worlds 2025 and the fall 2025 OWG Qualifying Competition. Presuming Russia and/or Belarus managed to qualify one skater/team in each discipline, they would still need to earn enough points to qualify for the Team Event. I suppose, it's possible that one skater/team in every discipline could earn enough points to qualify for the team, but it seems rather doubtful, given the way points are accumulated for the Oly Team Event, especially if they are only allowed back in time for the fall Qualifying Competition.

 

[Karen-W]

There's a proposal to have Russia, and Belarus compete as part of Asia for the purpose of international sports.

Russia may join sports events in Asia ahead of 2024 Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russia could return to some international sports events and Olympic qualifiers by competing as part of Asia rather than Europe. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach welcomed a “creative” plan Friday to allow athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus...

ca.sports.yahoo.com

Can't see this happening in the ISU. There is no way that Canada, Japan, Korea and the USA are going to be okay with Russia at 4CCs.

 

[On My Own]

Gross.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

Neutral flag again… what a joke.

 

[Jammers]

Just grow some balls IOC just once please?

 

[Firedancer]

The IOC is a joke. Russia is never held accountable so why would they change anything.

 

[her grace]

Belarus is not in Asia. Among all the other aspects that are absurd, that really makes no sense.

 

[Karen-W]

Belarus is not in Asia. Among all the other aspects that are absurd, that really makes no sense.

Excellent point! Why give Russia an out because of the fact that their country spans two continents? Does Turkey get the same option? Or Denmark (Greenland)? Or France (French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, & Reunion are outside of Europe)? Or Great Britain (Falklands, Bermuda)? Should the USA be allowed to compete in Oceania competitions because of Guam & American Samoa? And while we're at it, let's just correct the anomaly of Israel competing in European events because Muslim nations objected to them being in Asian competitions...

 

[skatingguy]

Belarus is not in Asia. Among all the other aspects that are absurd, that really makes no sense.

Israel competes in Europe so there is precedence for this sort of thing.

Excellent point! Why give Russia an out because of the fact that their country spans two continents? Does Turkey get the same option? Or Denmark (Greenland)? Or France (French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, & Reunion are outside of Europe)? Or Great Britain (Falklands, Bermuda)? Should the USA be allowed to compete in Oceania competitions because of Guam & American Samoa? And while we're at it, let's just correct the anomaly of Israel competing in European events because Muslim nations objected to them being in Asian competitions...

I think security is also a reason that Israel competes as part of Europe.

 

[Karen-W]

Israel competes in Europe so there is precedence for this sort of thing.

I think security is also a reason that Israel competes as part of Europe.

It's bullshit, that's what it is. Russia is the aggressor and there is ZERO reason they should be allowed into international competition. Plus, with the way Putin's tanking their economy, there's not going to be much money coming from Russian broadcasters whenever they renew their contract.

And, the point is, it's a joke to give Russia an out to compete internationally while shutting out Belarus, who really are just the younger sibling who has been dragged along into whatever trouble the older one has cooked up.

 

[skatingguy]

It's bullshit, that's what it is. Russia is the aggressor and there is ZERO reason they should be allowed into international competition. Plus, with the way Putin's tanking their economy, there's not going to be much money coming from Russian broadcasters whenever they renew their contract.

And, the point is, it's a joke to give Russia an out to compete internationally while shutting out Belarus, who really are just the younger sibling who has been dragged along into whatever trouble the older one has cooked up.

I agree, but it seems clear that Russia will be competing again very soon. I guess we'll see what other countries decide to do.

 

[Karen-W]

I agree, but it seems clear that Russia will be competing again very soon. I guess we'll see what other countries decide to do.

I think it really depends on the sport and the international feds. That plan from the OCA could work for team sports like soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc, but it won't work for a sport like skating, swimming or skiing where competitors from all over the world are going to be at any one event and there aren't necessarily continental championships.

 

[airgelaal]

I'm sick of how the West wants to reconcile everyone and calls the russians victims. russian athletes calmly train at the expense of the state, receive a huge prize money from the state. So let's let them compete and tell the whole world that they are victims and how they suffered. And then the state will reward them again.
And at that very time, after another attack, there was no electricity at all in my native Odesa. How will athletes from Odesa have to compete with these victims from russia?
The russians are mocking the whole world, and the world is intensely looking for ways to help them in this.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm sick of how the West wants to reconcile everyone and calls the russians victims. russian athletes calmly train at the expense of the state, receive a huge prize money from the state. So let's let them compete and tell the whole world that they are victims and how they suffered. And then the state will reward them again.
And at that very time, after another attack, there was no electricity at all in my native Odesa. How will athletes from Odesa have to compete with these victims from russia?
The russians are mocking the whole world, and the world is intensely looking for ways to help them in this.

No, not "the West" - it's certain parts of Europe - mostly Bach, Putin's little ass-kissing, German BFF. I don't think the USOPC or the COC are in favor of letting Russia or Belarus back into international sporting comps. The USOPC has been very consistent in its opposition. Same with the Norwegians. And Seb Coe has zero interest in Russian/Belarusian athletes competing in athletics.

 

[airgelaal]

No, not "the West" - it's certain parts of Europe - mostly Bach, Putin's little ass-kissing, German BFF. I don't think the USOPC or the COC are in favor of letting Russia or Belarus back into international sporting comps. The USOPC has been very consistent in its opposition. Same with the Norwegians. And Seb Coe has zero interest in Russian/Belarusian athletes competing in athletics.

I didn't just mean sports

 

[VGThuy]

No, not "the West" - it's certain parts of Europe - mostly Bach, Putin's little ass-kissing, German BFF. I don't think the USOPC or the COC are in favor of letting Russia or Belarus back into international sporting comps. The USOPC has been very consistent in its opposition. Same with the Norwegians. And Seb Coe has zero interest in Russian/Belarusian athletes competing in athletics.

Ever since Bach's speech during the Sochi Olympics, I knew where his bread was buttered.

 

[alexikeguchi]

Israel competes in Europe so there is precedence for this sort of thing.

As does Azerbaijan. And Georgia/Armenia are considered Europe more for cultural reasons than geography.

I do think NOCs and individual sports federations will have a lot of leverage though. After all, Russia was excluded from FIFA and the Paralympics after large numbers of other countries refused to take the field against them. Bach can choose an Olympics with Russia, Belarus, China, KSA, and India (which he probably will based on $$$ to him personally), but it will be at the expense of a legitimate worldwide competition and television/advertising revenue to the IOC from their largely Western sponsors like Visa and Coca Cola. I don't think the Olympics are nearly as popular as the World Cup, so viewers and advertisers won't be lining up no matter what.