2024 ISU Congress Agenda

[On My Own]

So backflips are now legal? Except they can't be practiced at official practices or warmup.

I wonder who besides Adam will do one next season.

Now that they're not a novelty, why would anyone bother? They won't even go viral.

 

[ice coverage]

So backflips are now legal? Except they can't be practiced at official practices or warmup.

I wonder who besides Adam will do one next season.

Anecdotally re U.S. men, FWIW:

Patrick Blackwell, who is on USFS ISP list and who (I think?) has a good shot at assignment to 2024 JGP(s?), did a backflip in competition at Colonial Open in June. Seen in his second video clip.​

Patrick Blackwell on Instagram: "Highlights from colonial including a back flip of course! Worth the -2.00 😂 Great to have tested out both programs for the season and I can’t wait to see were this season will bring me @olgalexcoaching - @usfigure

577 likes, 42 comments - patrickblackwell_ on June 3, 2024: "Highlights from colonial including a back flip of course! Worth the -2.00 😂 Great to have tested out both programs for the season and I can’t wait to see were this season will bring me @olgalexcoaching - @usfigureskating...

www.instagram.com

(He won FS by a large margin.)​

And in May, there was a clip of Blackwell and Will Annis doing sbs backflips, with olgaalexcoaching's annotation: "Ready for new rules "​

𝐎𝐥𝐠𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐯𝐚 & 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐤𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐯 on Instagram: "“Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just illusions” • • #teamusa #loveskating #iceskating #usfigureskating #iceskatingtricks #alltriples #figureskater #talentedskater #talentedfigureska

919 likes, 9 comments - olgalexcoaching on May 23, 2024: "“Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just illusions” • • #teamusa #loveskating #iceskating #usfigureskating #iceskatingtricks #alltriples #figureskater #talentedskater #talentedfigureskater #yuzuruhanyu #mariahbell...

www.instagram.com

 

[Rukia]

adam's going to start not doing backflips as a protest to all the backflips now

 

[Debbie S]

Now that they're not a novelty, why would anyone bother? They won't even go viral.

I think they'll still grab attention, esp in the first year of the new rule. But they aren't worth any points, and while they will get the audience to cheer for a choreo element, there's not a lot of upside for those at the top and contending for medals. I could see lower-ranked skaters wanting to take advantage of the publicity and fandom potential, but it would be wiser for the top names to work on maximizing their jump and spin elements.

 

[Karen-W]

Oh, FS Xwitter, you never fail to disappoint in your selective outrage. Ari being there for Armenia is a HUGE conflict of interest but no griping about Simon Briggs (coach to two British pairs teams) or parents of active competitors (Lukanin & Martynov). Children, foolish children, stop showing your ignorance.

 

[On My Own]

Oh, FS Xwitter, you never fail to disappoint in your selective outrage. Ari being there for Armenia is a HUGE conflict of interest but no griping about Simon Briggs (coach to two British pairs teams) or parents of active competitors (Lukanin & Martynov). Children, foolish children, stop showing your ignorance.

You are telling yourself they know who these people are

 

[On My Own]

I think they'll still grab attention, esp in the first year of the new rule. But they aren't worth any points, and while they will get the audience to cheer for a choreo element, there's not a lot of upside for those at the top and contending for medals. I could see lower-ranked skaters wanting to take advantage of the publicity and fandom potential, but it would be wiser for the top names to work on maximizing their jump and spin elements.

I don't think anyone will care about lower-ranked skaters, unfortunately. Surya's name used to trend with a very specific context to it, and Adam's were basically tagged with "it's illegal and he went for it knowing he'll win anyway" type of stuff.

 

[Karen-W]

You are telling yourself they know who these people are

LOL - Well, to be honest, I recognized Simon right away and didn't have a clue who Ari was there until someone else mentioned it. But I also love pairs so I'm more familiar with many of the top coaches, etc.

But the larger point is that there are plenty of people at the ISU Congress who have "conflicts of interest" and their outrage is selectively directed at one person.

 

[On My Own]

LOL - Well, to be honest, I recognized Simon right away and didn't have a clue who Ari was there until someone else mentioned it.

Well Ari is Evil Personified for fanyus as well as chenbots, so I'm not shocked they immediately all recognized him like the Terminator or whatever would (and I don't even disagree).

 

[Evgeniafan]

Oh, FS Xwitter, you never fail to disappoint in your selective outrage. Ari being there for Armenia is a HUGE conflict of interest but no griping about Simon Briggs (coach to two British pairs teams) or parents of active competitors (Lukanin & Martynov). Children, foolish children, stop showing your ignorance.

Do we have a list by country? Who represented France?

 

[Karen-W]

Do we have a list by country? Who represented France?

I'm pretty sure the FFSG president was there but I presume they had multiple representatives attending since their fed covers both the Speed and Figure skating branches.

 

[floxability]

Apparently this has been the rule for 5 years now, and this just amends the official regulations to match the way the cross roll has been judged.

I was taught that this was the technique for a cross stroke but that a cross roll rolled onto the edge

 

[On My Own]

Imagine discussing cross rolls.

 

[ice coverage]

Do we have a list by country? Who represented France?

I'm pretty sure the FFSG president was there but I presume they had multiple representatives attending since their fed covers both the Speed and Figure skating branches.

Delegates representing federations eventually should be listed in official minutes of the Congress.
I don't think an official list with individual names of delegates is available now.
It could be a very long wait before minutes are available to the public.
(Example: For Congress held in June 2022, minutes were not added to ISU site until November 2023.)

As for France, FFSG site gives names for its entire delegation (along with a group photo):

https://www.ffsg.org/Congres-ISU-2024​

In preparation for the vote on delayed implementation of single/pair technical rules for figure skating, I believe FFSG President Gwenaëlle Noury can be seen coming through the line to pick up the set of red/white/green cards for France -- starting at approx. 6:28:

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Oh, FS Xwitter, you never fail to disappoint in your selective outrage. Ari being there for Armenia is a HUGE conflict of interest but no griping about Simon Briggs (coach to two British pairs teams) or parents of active competitors (Lukanin & Martynov). ...

But the larger point is that there are plenty of people at the ISU Congress who have "conflicts of interest" and their outrage is selectively directed at one person.

More examples of active coaches among the delegates: Galit Chait (Israel); Ivan Dinev (Bulgaria).
And do I recall correctly that Cong Han became a coach after retirement?

 

[On My Own]

And do I recall correctly that Cong Han became a coach after retirement?

No, Sui Wenjing did.

 

[skatingguy]

Yesterday during the FS Branch meeting they said it was 243 not 242 that would be implemented this season.

ETA - Confirmation it is 243 - https://isu.org/isu-news/news/145-n...-decisive-regulatory-changes?templateParam=15

 

[Lutzes&Loops]

Does anyone know if there was a clarification on the number of jumps in the bonus zone under the new, postponed, rules? I am assuming, 3 + 3, but have not heard or seen anything on the subject. Was it discussed?

 

[skatingguy]

Does anyone know if there was a clarification on the number of jumps in the bonus zone under the new, postponed, rules? I am assuming, 3 + 3, but have not heard or seen anything on the subject. Was it discussed?

I don't believe that there was any change to the maximum number of jumps that could be done in the bonus.

 

[Lutzes&Loops]

I don't believe that there was any change to the maximum number of jumps that could be done in the bonus.

Thanks! That's what I thought...

 

[Willin]

My problem with backflips is that unless you're Surya Bonaly landing on one leg, they're a huge momentum killer. Maybe now that they're legal people will try to land with more momentum out, but otherwise I think they just look clunky.

 

[overedge]

My problem with backflips is that unless you're Surya Bonaly landing on one leg, they're a huge momentum killer. Maybe now that they're legal people will try to land with more momentum out, but otherwise I think they just look clunky.

I agree. They also apparently take quite a long time to learn, with the amount of off-ice practice that's needed to be able to safely land them on the ice. If they're not worth any points, it would be sensible for skaters to spend that time working on elements that will get them points.

 

[Jarrett]

My problem with backflips is that unless you're Surya Bonaly landing on one leg, they're a huge momentum killer. Maybe now that they're legal people will try to land with more momentum out, but otherwise I think they just look clunky.

That is me too. I have never cheered or even clapped for a backflip unless it was Surya Bonaly. They were just amazing, on one foot and went into a solo triple salchow or sometimes even into into a combination. It was crazy! Michael Weiss' or Nathan Chen's backflips never got me hot and bothered. lol

 

[skatingguy]

I agree. They also apparently take quite a long time to learn, with the amount of off-ice practice that's needed to be able to safely land them on the ice. If they're not worth any points, it would be sensible for skaters to spend that time working on elements that will get them points.

I thought that doing a back flip on ice was relatively easy for skaters, particularly if they could do one off ice.

 

[On My Own]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1801324995987313020

 

[overedge]

I thought that doing a back flip on ice was relatively easy for skaters, particularly if they could do one off ice.

I think it's easy to do once you learn it, but it's a long learning curve. It's also different on ice because the skater isn't pushing off a single point on a stable surface as they would be off ice.

I've seen a couple of Xitter videos of skaters doing back flips that are because the landings are quite wobbly, or they just barely finish the rotation before they land. I really hope that skaters will only do them if they can do them well and as safely as possible.

 

[bardtoob]

Are they really trying to legalize acrobatics?

 

[skatingguy]

Are they really trying to legalize acrobatics?

They're not trying to legalize - they have been legalized.

 

[skatingguy]

Anything GOEs livestream recap.

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[Frau Muller]

Anything GOEs livestream recap.

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This was interesting, especially the discussion (in the last few minutes) on skaters possibly unionizing, which the ISU wants to avoid.

 

[Karen-W]

This was interesting, especially the discussion (in the last few minutes) on skaters possibly unionizing, which the ISU wants to avoid.

I interpret that as the AnythingGOE team advocating for that (rather naively, IMO) than any real movement or desire from the actively competing athletes themselves to unionize.