2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics - Figure Skating Qualification

[farahfan]

Ice Dance was at 23 in 2022. Overall the sport is down from 144 athletes to 142.

Random question- why the difference in number of competitors (29 vs 23 vs 19) according to discipline? What criteria are used?

 

[gkelly]

Random question- why the difference in number of competitors (29 vs 23 vs 19) according to discipline? What criteria are used?

The maximum number of entries per warmup group is 6 for singles, 5 teams for ice dance, 4 teams for pairs. They don't want more than 5 warmup groups for the short program/rhythm dance, to be cut to 4 warmups for the free skate.

I have no idea why they are subtracting one entry from each event to have less than full complement for 5 warmups. Perhaps because they expect there might need to be some wildcard entry for some reason and they don't want to risk overfilling a warmup group or worse yet having to add another warmup?

 

[Sylvia]

Random question- why the difference in number of competitors (29 vs 23 vs 19) according to discipline? What criteria are used?

IOC has been reducing the humber of athletes at the Olympics for a while now - from the beginning of this thread:

Probably the first thing we should note is that the singles events are down to 29 entries from 30 in the last number of Olympics.

Seems right/fair - Ice Dance has been 24 and Pairs 19 for at least 2 Olympic cycles now.

ETA - Ice Dance has been reduced to 23 teams. The qualification for those spots will be brutal!

Ice Dance was at 23 in 2022. Overall the sport is down from 144 athletes to 142 [1 man & 1 woman less].

 

[Debbie S]

I think the reduction in entries to the main (individual) comps is to allow for additional entries for TE purposes, i.e. a team that qualifies for TE but only has individual qualifiers in 3 disciplines can bring a skater/team from the 4th discipline to fill out the team roster for the TE, so this reduction means no/fewer additional figure skating athletes overall?

As Sylvia said, the IOC has been trying to reduce the number of athletes at the Olys for a while. They don't want to expand the entries for skating beyond what they have previously been for the ind events.

 

[ice coverage]

The maximum number of entries per warmup group is 6 for singles, 5 teams for ice dance, 4 teams for pairs. They don't want more than 5 warmup groups for the short program/rhythm dance, to be cut to 4 warmups for the free skate.

I have no idea why they are subtracting one entry from each event to have less than full complement for 5 warmups. Perhaps because they expect there might need to be some wildcard entry for some reason and they don't want to risk overfilling a warmup group or worse yet having to add another warmup?

I think the reduction in entries to the main (individual) comps is to allow for additional entries for TE purposes, i.e. a team that qualifies for TE but only has individual qualifiers in 3 disciplines can bring a skater/team from the 4th discipline to fill out the team roster for the TE, so this reduction means no/fewer additional figure skating athletes overall?

As Sylvia said, the IOC has been trying to reduce the number of athletes at the Olys for a while. They don't want to expand the entries for skating beyond what they have previously been for the ind events.

In addition to the responses to gkelly from Sylvia and Debbie:

If the host country did not already earn a slot in any* individual discipline by the normal qualifying procedure, an extra slot in that discipline is given to the host country.
Hypothetical example: If host country did not qualify for the allocation of 19 pair slots, it would be given a 20th slot, which would fill up five warm-up groups with no need for an additional group. The "Additional Athletes Quota," which is for figure skaters from any federation, would be used for these two additional skaters representing the host country.
AAQ is used as necessary for host country places before it is used as necessary for federations that have qualified for team event.

*When AAQ is 5 skaters (as it is for 2026), host country places would be possible for a maximum of three disciplines.​

 

[kwanfan1818]

The Additional Athlete Quota is five max. They are first allocated to the host, if the host doesn’t qualify for disciplines — I’m not sure how they’d prioritize disciplines if the host qualified for no disciplines, since the max they could fill is three with five spots — and then to teams that qualify for the Team Event with three qualifiers. Also, the host has to qualify for the TE by regular means — three disciplines qualified and top ten score totals among those that accept the spot — before using one host spot allocation to complete the team.

Since the non-host athletes added for the TE don’t get added to the individual event, they could have first seen if the host qualified for the individual event at Boston Worlds and, if they did, allocate the last RD/SP spot(s), or if the host didn’t, do the same after the quali event, based on the host’s results there. That way they could guarantee there were no more than five groups in the RD/SP.

That says to me that they just want to reduce the number of athletes.

 

[ice coverage]

... That says to me that they just want to reduce the number of athletes.

Yes, the IOC goal is to keep headcount down.
To be clear: I did not say that the qualification system is driven by a desire to fill up warm-up groups.
I was/am saying only that for as many as three disciplines, the five warm-up groups potentially could be filled up (but not exceeded), if a "worst-case" (in terms of headcount) scenario of the 2026 qualification system were to play out.
I do think that organizers consider avoidance of a sixth warm-up group to be helpful.

Other comments:

Additional Athletes Quota used to be 10 skaters -- for 2014 and 2018. It first was reduced to 5 for 2022.

For 2018 Olympics, 20 pairs was the baseline allocation in the 2018 qualifying system document (the link I had no longer works).

ETA: https://current.isu.org/docman-docu...8-pyeongchang/7563-isu-figure-skating-en/file​

But pairs ended up with 22 entries, because South Korea as host country was given a slot; plus North Korea was given a slot [ETA: by IOC] (after N Korea missed the deadline to accept the slot earned by Ryom/Kim).
The 22 entries were divided into 6 warm-up groups for the SP.

https://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/owg2018/OWG2018_PairSkating_SP_TimeSchedule.pdf

 

[farahfan]

Thanks to everyone who answered, i get it now!
More than five groups might lead to judge fatigue, lol
I feel sorry for those who qualify for the Olympics but don't make it to the free skate. It kinda feels anticlimactic.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I was/am saying only that for as many as three disciplines, the five warm-up groups potentially could be filled up (but not exceeded), if a "worst-case" (in terms of headcount) scenario of the 2026 qualification system were to play out.
I do think that organizers consider avoidance of a sixth warm-up group to be helpful.

There is no worst-case scenario for an extra warm-up group, if they kept a provisional slot for the host, but released it if the host qualified on its own. The AAQ allocated for the TE does not qualify for the individual events.

The "worst-case" scenario is that Italy would need all four or five AAQ spots for three disciplines in the individual events, and they would allocate discipline-max (30/20/25) minus one for three disciplines between Boston and the qualifier, while keeping a full field of non-host skaters for the fourth.

By reducing one competitor from the individual events across the board just means that they are reducing the number of athletes.

 

[ice coverage]

Yes, the IOC goal is to keep headcount down.
To be clear: I did not say that the qualification system is driven by a desire to fill up warm-up groups.
I was/am saying only that for as many as three disciplines, the five warm-up groups potentially could be filled up (but not exceeded), if a "worst-case" (in terms of headcount) scenario of the 2026 qualification system were to play out.
I do think that organizers consider avoidance of a sixth warm-up group to be helpful. ..

There is no worst-case scenario for an extra warm-up group, if they kept a provisional slot for the host, but released it if the host qualified on its own. The AAQ allocated for the TE does not qualify for the individual events.

The "worst-case" scenario is that Italy would need all four or five AAQ spots for three disciplines in the individual events, and they would allocate discipline-max (30/20/25) minus one for three disciplines between Boston and the qualifier, while keeping a full field of non-host skaters for the fourth.

By reducing one competitor from the individual events across the board just means that they are reducing the number of athletes.

In my quote of my previous post, I have added emphases to what I already said.
To repeat myself: Yes, the IOC goal is to keep headcount down.
You seem to want to convince me of something that I don't need to be convinced of.

Because the IOC wants to keep headcount down, I already had said in my previous post that I was referring to "worst-case" scenario in terms of head count. (And I was referring to a "worst-case" scenario in accordance with the actual rules for 2026.)
I was not talking about worst-case scenario in terms of an extra warm-up group (except for my historical reference to 2018, when the baseline allocation for pairs was 20 instead of the current number of 19). I already said that the 2026 worst-case scenario in terms of head count would not exceed five warm-up groups.

 

[Debbie S]

Reducing the number of athletes isn't really about the danger of an extra warm-up group, it's more about the cost of housing and feeding the athletes and their coaches in the Oly Village, and transportation, etc. It's not just skating, the IOC has been trying to reduce the number of Oly competitors across the board, in both the Winter and Summer Games.

 

[ice coverage]

Reducing the number of athletes isn't really about the danger of an extra warm-up group, it's more about the cost of housing and feeding the athletes and their coaches in the Oly Village, and transportation, etc. It's not just skating, the IOC has been trying to reduce the number of Oly competitors across the board, in both the Winter and Summer Games.

Exactly.

Warm-up groups came up in an innocent question from gkelly, but for the IOC, it's all about headcount.

The overall headcount for entire Games in 2026 is (slightly) lower than for 2022.
ETA, correction:

Projected headcount for entire Games in 2026 is 2900, whereas Beijing 2022 had 2897 athlete entries.
Beijing projection was 2892.
Sources:​

https://stillmed.olympics.com/media...-2026/Milano-Cortina-2026-Event-Programme.pdf
https://olympics.com/ioc/beijing-2022-facts-and-figures
https://stillmed.olympics.com/media...rogramme/Beijing-2022-Event-Programme-ENG.pdf​

2026 headcount for speedskating is down by 2.
2026 headcount for skiing is down by 24.
2026 new sport of ski mountaineering has allotment of 36.

 

[Debbie S]

Exactly.

Went to add to my post but you were faster than me....

Adding that even if a skater is only there for the TE, they are still housed in the Village, require credentialing, get the official Oly gear, etc. So whether it's a TE athlete or additional individual entry, it's basically the same expense for the IOC.

 

[Kateri]

Reducing the number of athletes isn't really about the danger of an extra warm-up group, it's more about the cost of housing and feeding the athletes and their coaches in the Oly Village, and transportation, etc. It's not just skating, the IOC has been trying to reduce the number of Oly competitors across the board, in both the Winter and Summer Games.

Why do they keep adding so many new events then?

 

[kwanfan1818]

For new audiences. I don't know what the audience breakdown is for the various events across different mediums and live vs. replays. I also don't know if the new sports are bringing in any significant advertising dollars. But other considerations could be that the current figure skating audiences' demand and advertising $$$ are inelastic, ie, it doesn't matter to us if they whittle away an athlete from the each discipline's first warm-up group for either the advertisers or the audience, especially when there are NOC's that have ridiculous expectations for their lone qualifiers. Sweden has different newbie requirements that allow the occasional skater to use their qualification spot, but unattainable standards for the next qualification. (I'm hoping Ruud/Majorov might be able to break this streak if they continue long enough, but I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it.)

Figure skating isn't subsidizing many other winter sports the way it used to, but it's probably subsidizing some things.

 

[farahfan]

geez, I don't think winter sports have much of an audience outside of certain northern countries. figure skating has got to be one of the most popular and is probably one of the few that crosses the equator.
i do think it's gotten harder for average fans to understand the scoring system, especially since technical elements are stressed now over choreo and music. there are aesthetically deficient programs from even decent skaters this year that I would never want to see in an Olympics.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Winter sports have large audiences throughout Europe and Asia, not just North America and Scandinavia.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Of course, this could all be in preparation for a "Neutral Athlete's Quota", one spot in each discipline.

 

[tony]

Of course, this could all be in preparation for a "Neutral Athlete's Quota", one spot in each discipline.

If there are five spots total, wouldn't that be one athlete short of getting one skater/team into each discipline? [which you noted above briefly]

 

[Vagabond]

Why do they keep adding so many new events then?

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Not that this quote is necessarily applicable to anyone on the IOC.

 

[kwanfan1818]

If there are five spots total, wouldn't that be one athlete short of getting one skater/team into each discipline? [which you noted above briefly]

They reduced each discipline by one spot, for a total of six athletes. I don't see Italy needing any host spots, and even if they did need a spot for Women, that would leave a spot in the five groups for Men, Dance, and Pairs.

They could also let "neutral" athletes into the qualifier vying for the reduced number of spots.

 

[Karen-W]

Of course, this could all be in preparation for a "Neutral Athlete's Quota", one spot in each discipline.

Doubtful. The IOC didn't give international feds any additional "neutral athlete quota" spots in any sports for the Summer Olympics. The "neutral athletes" had to qualify through the regular process for spots within their sports. If a country currently banned is allowed back in post-Worlds 2025 then they would need to qualify at the OQE, and if they are still banned at the time of the OQE, they simply won't be competing in figure skating in Milano-Cortina. Each international federation has their own rules regarding this - and as far as I'm aware, very few (perhaps none) of the winter sports feds have allowed a currently banned country back into competition (I'll do some digging and see what I can find on the topic).

 

[kwanfan1818]

I don't trust the IOC. I believe they want Russia back, front door or back door.

 

[Karen-W]

I don't trust the IOC. I believe they want Russia back, front door or back door.

I don't. If they wanted Russia back, they'd have pushed the international feds into doing it.

Int'l Skating Union - banned indefinitely
World Curling - https://worldcurling.org/2024/07/event-exclusion-2024/ - through at least Dec 31, 2024
Int'l Ski & Snowbard Federation - https://tass.ru/sport/21988797 - through at least the 2024-25 season
Int'l Biathlon Union - https://tass.ru/sport/21983841 - through at least the 2024-25 season
Int'l Luge Federation - https://www.espn.com/olympics/story...extend-suspension-russian-athletes-federation - indefinitely
Int'l Ice Hockey Fed - https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/articl...belarus-from-international-hockey-until-2025/ - Russia currently has a provisional spot in the men's Olympic tournament, however if the ban is not lifted then they will lose that spot - final decision to be made in May 2026
Int'l Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation - no change since 2023
Int'l Ski Mountaineering Federation - no change since 2022

So, please, tell me which winter sports fed you think will blink first?

 

[kwanfan1818]

Depending on the progress of "peace" talks, the ISU, via the ISU Council.

 

[ice coverage]

I think it bears repeating that for Beijing 2022, pairs already had only 19 slots and dance already had only 23 slots.

For 2026, the new reductions are 29 slots for men instead of Beijing's 30 slots, and 29 slots for women instead of Beijing's 30 slots.
I regret the loss of a total of two entries, but don't see it as a basis for any grand scheme except the IOC's well-known desire to limit headcount.

https://current.isu.org/docman-documents-links-2/2022-beijing/qualification-systems-3/22994-figure-skating-v1-0/file/

Why do they keep adding so many new events then?

Sports are being subtracted from the Olympics, as well as added.

 

[Vagabond]

Sports are being subtracted from the Olympics, as well as added.

Hardly any at all. Quite a few sports, however, have been added in the past few cycles, and there are more events in many sports. The Team Event in figure skating is still relatively new.

Here is a look at the number of gold medalists at the Winter Olympics from 2010 on. This isn't necessarily the same number as the number of events, as there may have been a tie or two in there.

Vancouver had 72 gold medalists.​

Sochi had 98 gold medalists.​

Pyeongchang had 103 gold medalists.​

Beijing had 109 gold medalists.​

Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo are currently scheduled to have 116 events.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

My guess would be they think more audience is brought in by a lot of sports with fewer competitors than by fewer sports with a lot of competitors. They figure most people are tuning in for the gold medal rounds.

 

[ice coverage]

Beijing 2022 had 2897 athlete entries in 109 events (with projected headcount of 2892).
2026 will have headcount of 2900 athletes competing in 116 events.

Emphases added below:

"The framework of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 event programme and athlete quota reflects the Olympic Charter, Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and the following key programme principles established by the IOC EB on 10 June 2021 upon the recommendation of the OPC:
Maintaining the overall athlete quota (including for any new sports) of 2,900
Achieving gender-equal participation across the Olympic Winter Games at event and discipline level where possible;
Prioritising new events that accommodate athletes within the sport’s existing quota allocation; and
Allowing new events only if they do not require additional Games venues."
https://olympics.com/ioc/news/milan...nder-balanced-olympic-winter-games-in-history​

Team figure skating was designed to not increase headcount (with the possibility of exceptions limited to just a handful).
As similar examples:

In 2026, skeleton will have a new mixed team event, meaning 3 skeleton events instead of Beijing's 2 skeleton events -- but the 2026 headcount for skeleton remains the same as for Beijing 2022: 25 men and 25 women.
For 2026, luge has been reconfigured to have 5 events, as opposed to Beijing's 4 luge events -- but the 2026 total headcount for luge remains at 106, the same as for Beijing 2022.​

Side note that it is more noticeable to me for Summer Olympics that sports are subtracted, as well as added, although I don't claim to be an expert.

 

[Karen-W]

1. Olympic Winter Games 2026 Qualifying Competition Figure Skating
The Council decided to allocate the Figure Skating Qualifying Competition for the Olympic Winter Games 2026 to Beijing, China on September 17-21, 2025.

Source: ISU Communication No. 2677, Decisions of the Council (which met online on December 11, 2024)​

Interesting, but smart for China to bid for the qualifying event: they might need it for their own skaters for multiple disciplines. Those training in NA and Europe at an equal travel disadvantage, since it’s relatively early in the season, and skaters won’t have their best travel legs or miles on their programs yet. Japan and Korea in close enough time zones, will likely need it for Pairs (second slot, maybe third for JPN) and Dance (only spot for JPN and borderline for KOR) possibly a singles spot for KOR. Plus AUS, NZ, and some other SE Asia countries vying for singlets.

Currently, my projections based on SB lists from each discipline have China needing to qualify in both Pairs and Dance as none of the teams who have competed this season have the Worlds CTES mins. It's looking pretty good for them to qualify a man to the FS (if they send Dai), and An should also just squeak into the FS for women (she's the only Chinese woman with CTES mins). I think it's highly likely that Zhang/Huang will earn one of the Pairs spots at the OQE - they are that good. Dance is less likely, but we also haven't seen Li/Rodin compete internationally yet & apparently they show a lot of promise (he is waiting for his release).

Korea won't have a problem qualifying in ice dance - Lim/Quan have an RD SB score that puts them around 15th right now.

Japan won't qualify to send a 3rd team in pairs to the OQE - Nagaoka/Moriguchi should make the FS in Boston & as long as they do that, Japan will automatically qualify 2 spots, but they won't earn a 3rd - and even if they did, there is no way Shimizu/Honda are nabbing one of the 3 Oly Pairs spots up for grabs at the OQE. In Dance, it's going to be super-close for Japan to qualify one spot at the OQE - Yoshida/Morita are right there in the mix with a bunch of other teams and this location may very well help them, I agree.