German Skating News - 2024 Onwards

[jägerbomb]

Hocke/Kunkel had my favorite performance of the night. Who else had a crush on Meat Loaf in the early 90s?

 

[Alilou]

Hocke/Kunkel had my favorite performance of the night. Who else had a crush on Meat Loaf in the early 90s?

Me!

 

[text_skate]

WC got quite some attention in German press, more than usual. Here are some quotes
Hase on future, source B.Z.

“We’ve just finished the World Championships and haven’t discussed it yet. We’ve got quite a lot going on with lots of shows until the end of May, but we’ll also have enough time off the ice to think about what we need and what we want,” said Hase. “We’ll talk to our team, the association and everyone who supports us, and see how and whether we’ll continue. We’re keeping our options open.”

FAZ: World Champion of Classic Beauty
on H/V

Hase and Volodin shone brightest during the World Championships with their flawless tango short programme. In the free skate, they could afford a slight wobble on the planned triple Salchow, which Volodin managed only as a double and Hase as a double-and-a-half. These were minor blemishes on an overall performance that, as so often with Hase and Volodin, demonstrated maturity and self-assurance.

Without a trace of arrogance, the Berlin-based sports soldier and psychology student (=Hase) remarked: “We’ve brought figure skating back into the limelight in Germany. We’ve never had as much fan support as we have here at a World Championship.”

on H/K

It seems, however, rather likely that Germany’s second-best pair, Hocke and Kunkel, with their penchant for artistic aerial acrobatics, will be back on the pairs skating circuit from next autumn onwards, following their seventh-place finish in Prague. The pair performed a new artistic feat in the Czech capital when Robert Kunkel spun his partner around him – the ‘Headbanger’ was greeted with frenetic cheers from the crowd.

FAZ article on H/K and the need for reforms in skating (before the competition started): How much spectacle can pair skating take?

“The ISU, too,” Hocke tells the F.A.Z., “knows that it needs to make changes to the rules in order to keep up with modern elite sport. These changes also include more action elements. And as far as I know, this is set to be introduced for the coming season.”

Unconventional pairs such as Hocke/Kunkel are part of the reason why major figure skating events now feature a panel of judges behind the boards and another in the stands. “During our exhibition performances, we’ve felt how figure skating, with all its artistic possibilities, can move and inspire people,” says Annika Hocke. “We skate for our audience, not for the judges. That’s why we’ve focused on that. Our plan for Milan was to capitalise on the momentum, and that plan worked out brilliantly.” Even if the medals went to other pairs who were technically superior on the ice.

Kunkel will remain a critic of the current pairs skating rules. “I think it’s a shame,” he says, “that in a sport called pairs skating, solo jumps are scored so much higher than other elements that define pairs skating. After all, you don’t want two good solo skaters together, but two good pairs skaters. What we do is pairs skating, not jumps side by side.”

Welt: “They needed each other to shine”

“They needed each other to shine,” says their coach Knut Schubert. “They share the same spirit,” says their other coach, Dimitri Sawin. “They needed each other to shine”

She later added: “It’s brilliant to have a team that’s bringing figure skating out of the shadows and back into the spotlight. We’ve seen the increased interest on social media, but being here live in person made it even more special – we’ve never experienced anything like it before. We hope we can keep the hype going in Germany and make the sport big again, so that the sponsorship situation for the athletes improves too.”

That, too, sounds less like a farewell and more like hope. And it hints at just how difficult the financial situation is. Generally speaking, the pair had already made it clear before the World Championships that they would base their decision – partly or even primarily – on the conditions. “If we’re to continue, then it must be within a professional and proper framework,” Hase had told Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). “I believe our national training centre is still hanging in the balance.” Berlin is set to be included as a national training centre alongside Dortmund and Oberstdorf for the Olympic cycle up to 2030, but the decision lies with the federal government and will be made by the end of the year.

By then, the new world champions will have long since decided whether and how to proceed. The training centre issue is likely to be just one of many factors. Top-level sport at this level comes at a cost; in figure skating, for example, travel expenses are compounded by additional costs such as those for choreographers.

 

[text_skate]

Jens ter Laak, Head of German fed, talked with daily newspaper "Welt" about situation of German figure skating.

Eiskunstlauf: „Deutsche Kinder sind nicht untalentierter als andere“ - WELT

Eiskunstlauf hat in diesem Winter bei Olympia und der WM begeistert wie lange nicht. Weltweit, aber auch in Deutschland. Doch wo sind hierzulande die starken Einzelläufer? Gespräch mit Sportdirektor Jens ter Laak über die neue Aufmerksamkeit und Herausforderungen.

www.welt.de

By the age of six, you really ought to be able to skate well. Although we have plenty of ice rinks, the availability of ice is still a limiting factor – unlike with sports halls. Overall, there are more limiting factors in this country affecting our sport than in others. Be it the sports facilities, the specialists and coaches who aren’t available everywhere, the feasibility of the necessary training workload, and the willingness of parents to support the sport in this way. As a competitive sport, figure skating is very, very demanding in terms of the volume of training. This must also be compatible with school lessons during compulsory schooling. We simply cannot match the training volumes that other nations implement, particularly in the younger age groups.

Exactly, the school system isn’t on board. Other Western European countries have developed strategies for competitive sport: distance learning, online schooling, and programmes that allow for a different daily schedule for children and young people. This is also the reason why it is particularly difficult for us, especially in the individual disciplines, to provide children with proper support over the years. In this regard, the German state, with its federal school system, is not necessarily helpful.

For example, teenagers in 11th grade cannot simply move from Bavaria to Berlin or from Berlin to North Rhine-Westphalia – where our three centres are located – because the school system in upper secondary education is hardly comparable anymore. Generally speaking, we see that the countries around us which have made progress in this area operate flexible school systems. The system in Germany is not well suited to highly training-intensive individual sports such as figure skating. This is particularly true if you start at a very early age. This is a structural problem. We can certainly make a conceptual contribution, but we cannot implement anything without the support of the ministries responsible for schools. Some technical skills can no longer be learnt if you do not start at an early age.

Berlin's local public broadcaster dived into the situation on "Bundesstützpunkt" (national figure skating training centre):
Successes, but no certainty: is Berlin’s figure skating hub on thin ice?

Heimat der Olympiastars: Wackelt Berlins Eiskunstlauf‑Stützpunkt?

Der Paarlauf ließ den deutschen Eiskunstlauf zuletzt wieder strahlen. Berlins Topathleten lieferten Erfolge, doch ihr Bundesstützpunkt steht auf der Kippe. Die Gründe dafür kennen die Betroffenen selbst nicht.

www.rbb24.de

There are currently three national figure skating training centres: apart from Berlin, these are Dortmund and Oberstdorf.
The Berlin state government “in principle” supports retaining the national training centre in the capital, as the Senate Department for the Interior and Sport stated in response to an enquiry. In addition to providing training facilities, the state supports the centre with around 255,000 euros annually for competitive sports staff. Federal funding is also provided.

As with most other winter sports centres, the next accreditation period for the national figure skating centre covers the 2027–2030 Olympic cycle.
The German Skating Union (DEU) would like to retain all existing centres – including Berlin. The umbrella organisation must submit a corresponding application to the federal government, specifically to the Federal Chancellery, where the office of Sports Minister Christiane Schenderlein is based.
Following a technical assessment of the location by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the Chancellery will give the federal training centre the green light or reject it.

‘The specific procedural steps for the accreditation process for winter sports from 2027 onwards are currently being drawn up under the leadership of the federal government. A further review of the national training centre is therefore still pending,’ the DOSB explains in response to an enquiry.
In other words: Robert Kunkel and the other figure skaters are currently receiving no information regarding the future of their national training centre, as the conditions for its retention are not yet clear.
‘The upcoming accreditation process for the winter sports national training centres is currently being prepared. Specific statements regarding the figure skating national training centre in Berlin cannot therefore be made at this stage,’ Schenderlein’s press office stated in response to an enquiry.

For the Skating Union, this means it is waiting for the government to set out the criteria for recognition. ‘The applications haven’t been submitted yet, but that’s because we can’t submit them yet. We need to have the relevant criteria in place first,’ says Sports Director Jens ter Laak. ‘But we will submit them this year – I can assure you of that.’

Ter Laak hopes that the German Skating Union will be able to submit the application this summer. ‘The sooner we know the recognition criteria, the easier it is, of course, to make the necessary preparations.’

 

[sandra_persch]

The German Fed keeps us waiting for the National Team lists again.
As the nomination is with May 1st they should come out soon.

The pairs skating fanclub has a note on its homepage that Julia Grabowski, 2026 Senior Woman's Champion, has teamed up with Lukas Gneidig.
Hope it works out for him. He didn't have any luck with his past partnerships it seems.

Berliner Paare

Neues Seniorenpaar in Berlin: Julia Grabowski (geb. 6. Juni 2007)/Lucas Gneiding (geb.23.Juni 2003) Saisonstart : Noch offen. Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert gehen getrennte Wege. Minerva hat…

www.paarlauf-fanclub.de