ISU Cancels 2020 World Figure Skating Championships

Sasha'sSpins

🇺🇦💙🙏💛🇺🇦
Messages
5,226
I don't understand comments such as "this is our new normal." There is nothing normal about this virus, the way it was handled by governmental bodies, other so-called expert agencies, the media, or the way societal norms and freedoms are being dismantled at rapidly.

When there is a coordinated mishandling of something so universal like say, a global pandemic, across so many levels within society meant to guide/lead/protect us, why are we throwing our trust behind them? Warning signs were evident and now suddenly, I need to forfeit my right to assemble? To self-isolate while the few things I loved like art and sport, are stripped away? No, this is not normal. This is not aimed at anyone on this forum; I am just sad seeing where this is heading, for those who will be impacted by the virus, and for the rest by measures enacted to 'protect' us as we move forward in a 'new normal' of self-isolation, military-aided quarantines, restricted movement, and worse.

Regarding its impact on FS and these World Championships; Merkel stated 70% of Germany will get the virus, the rate of contagion, the mortality rate, etc. are insane. if everything is so inevitable and catastrophic, what is the harm in allowing a sporting event to continue for those who wish to participate? Or, are we saying that it CAN be contained? If so, shouldn't have these bodies been more focused on restricting the flights that enabled athletes and others to enter and leave the country with or without this airborne virus than on the 4 minutes they spend on the ice?

Sorry, I know I sound like a loose cannon, but nothing adds up.

"Athletes and coaches from all over the world, welcome to Montreal! But, wait. Oops. It's too dangerous to enter that building so please, enjoy our city's restaurants, get into our mass transit system en route to the airport, and disperse back amongst your populations.

"Oh, and folks, once you get back, don't even think about gathering 1,001 of you together to discuss creative ways of helping out because events of 1,000 are banned now in your city. No, silly, you aren't going to be properly tested or incubated; but, your 2nd job has been lost, your child's school has been closed, and you need to head into immediate self-isolation to await a virus that despite all of this, 70% of you will get! Have a safe flight and remember, this virus jumps over 4m, so while we pack you all in like sardines, we are going to need to ask that you refrain form kissing loved ones as it may kill them. And if it doesn't, the virus will eventually. But, really, don't hug them ever again.

For more guidelines from the people you should trust because... toilet paper... just provide a DNA swab because there is absolutely nothing confusing or alarming about our behavior."

You completely misunderstood my post. I was not referring to the virus (where in my post did I say that this deadly virus is 'normal'???), nor 'the way it was handled by government bodies, etc.' Where did you get all of THAT from my post?? I never once mentioned any of what you are referring to in your remarks. They make no sense in relation to what I initially posted. I was referring to the disrupted SCHEDULE that we apparently (we, meaning the skating community, skaters, coaches, their other support systems, and fans) must now deal with, and somehow work around. Especially if Worlds happens in October (which IMO shouldn't happen), with the pre-Olympic season just a few months after. Like it or not, it's our new normal, though I very much hope that we go back to our OLD normal very soon after this god-forsaken pandemic hopefully slows down at some point.
 

nimi

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,682
To no-one's surprise, the synchro worlds in Lake Placid have been cancelled, too.
As a result of the recent United States’ travel ban of 26 European countries and the state of New York’s restrictions on gatherings over concerns of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, U.S. Figure Skating and the International Skating Union (ISU) are unable to organize the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships® 2020. The event was scheduled to take place April 3-4, 2020, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.


However, the jr synchro worlds in the UK are taking place as planned this weekend. The FS is currently being streamed on YT: https://youtu.be/f5ciGeCTEFU
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
Messages
58,281
You completely misunderstood my post.
This is not surprising as I read your post several times and also this clarification and still can't figure out exactly what you are trying to say. 🤷‍♀️

Like it or not, it's our new normal, though I very much hope that we go back to our OLD normal very soon after this god-forsaken pandemic hopefully slows down at some point.
We may get back to "normal" in the Fall (or hopefully sooner) but the experts are telling us that pandemics every so many years are actually our new normal just like climate change is. SARS, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Ebola, COVID-19, and a few other initials I can't remember are going to be followed by the next set of initials and the next.

I wonder if there is anything we can do about it to stop this? Vaccines are after the fact. Perhaps not be so scared of regular germs so that we are disinfecting everything all the time, buying anti-bacterial everything? Since that is the opposite of what it takes not to spread these super-viruses, I can't see that happening.
 

Bellanca

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,301
I was referring to the disrupted SCHEDULE that we apparently (we, meaning the skating community, skaters, coaches, their other support systems, and fans) must now deal with, and somehow work around. Especially if Worlds happens in October (which IMO shouldn't happen), with the pre-Olympic season just a few months after
Makes sense to me. (y)
 

Yazmeen

All we are saying, is give peace a chance
Messages
5,835
I started a separate thread on "Virtual Synchro Worlds" - a great idea from Team NEXXICE
 

sk8pics

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,554
I wonder if there is anything we can do about it to stop this? Vaccines are after the fact. Perhaps not be so scared of regular germs so that we are disinfecting everything all the time, buying anti-bacterial everything? Since that is the opposite of what it takes not to spread these super-viruses, I can't see that happening.
Clean up some of the markets around the world trading in exotic animals, and with poor hygiene.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
Messages
58,281
Who knows. Hopefully it clears up way before Oct.
I meant to stop the next one and to stop the progression of them. I feel like we're really f'ing up the environment in so many ways and Mother Nature is fighting back.

Clean up some of the markets around the world trading in exotic animals, and with poor hygiene.
That could help. We shouldn't be trading exotic animals anyway.
 

Yuri

Well-Known Member
Messages
813
Well this thread has gone off track...

So are skaters even going to be able to TRAIN new programs for 2020-21? While it's no longer the elite training center that it once was, the University of Delaware closed it's two ice arenas indefinitely on March 12.

Many people have speculated that skaters may get a head start on next year, but will other rinks close since they are gathering spots? Has anyone heard if Any other major training centers have closed recently?
 

Yuri

Well-Known Member
Messages
813
I also haven't heard much from those who bought their tickets to Worlds from third parties like ticket brokers/scalpers or companies that put together one-stop packages that include top seats, hotels, transportation, and so on. How will refunds work in these situations? Will the skating tour group business survive the cancellation of Worlds, or do they have protections from contracts or insurance?
 

Yuri

Well-Known Member
Messages
813
Plus it seems completely unfair to me for the 2021 Worlds spots, as well as rankings for initial draws, to ignore the 2019-20 results where every competition was held except for the World Championships.

Perhaps it is time for the ISU to develop a ranking system for all of the skaters--or even for the countries per discipline--similar to professional (and junior) golf and tennis. If the world is going to face more disruptions over time, perhaps a rolling 12 or 24 month international ranking system would be more fair than rolling the dice simply on Worlds.

2019-20 had the entire Senior and Junior Grand Prix Series of events, including the finals, Europeans and 4CCs, all of the national championships, plus numerous lower level international competitions. Certainly the ISU could figure out a way to take these competitions into account for 2020-21.

It's not like the current system makes a whole lot of sense, a computer ranking system that awards more points to the competitions with the best ranked skaters should be fairer than what we have now.
 

Aceon6

Wrangling the duvet into the cover
Messages
29,784
That might be tough. The golf and tennis rankings use data on how players compare with each other faced with similar competition and conditions over a fairly long time period. A newer player needs spectacular results, beating highly ranked players probably 4-5 times, just to crack the top 50.

That said, one could reasonably allocate based on the country’s depth chart like they do for golf in the Olympics. Have 3 or more in the top 30 SB scores, your country gets 3. To get 2, you’d need 1 in the top ten or 2 in the top 30. Everyone else gets 1. And then possibly relax minimums to 2018 levels to give skaters time to train up to the new standard once training facilities reopen.
 

Colonel Green

Well-Known Member
Messages
13,930
Plus it seems completely unfair to me for the 2021 Worlds spots, as well as rankings for initial draws, to ignore the 2019-20 results where every competition was held except for the World Championships.
What rankings are you talking about? In any case, countries earned their Worlds spots in Saitama in 2019, and haven't yet gotten to use them; it's not unfair to anyone to push those spots ahead.

Perhaps it is time for the ISU to develop a ranking system for all of the skaters
They have one, the World Standings.
 

Dobre

Well-Known Member
Messages
16,954
There is a list that @haribobo posted on Golden Skate which uses the SB scores of the actual Worlds entry list to demonstrate how berths could be determined for next season. Because it uses the Worlds entries, countries do benefit a bit from the spots they earned last year. And because it uses this season's SB list scores for those athletes, it also acknowledges actual material & progress from this season. I've no idea if the ISU would actually consider using such a list, but it does seem a closer approximation to what might really have happened with the traditional system than anything else I have heard thus far. (Gives the Canadian men back their two berths and drops the women down to one, for example). It's not Worlds. We all know that athletes and countries work toward Worlds and that all kinds of things happen under the pressure and/or adrenaline of such a major competition. But sadly we cannot accurately conjure that experience. (It is really a shame because the mid-quadrennium Worlds is often such a turning point for athletes climbing the ranks heading into the next Olympics).
 
Last edited:

sk8pics

Well-Known Member
Messages
12,554
Well this thread has gone off track...

So are skaters even going to be able to TRAIN new programs for 2020-21? While it's no longer the elite training center that it once was, the University of Delaware closed it's two ice arenas indefinitely on March 12.

Many people have speculated that skaters may get a head start on next year, but will other rinks close since they are gathering spots? Has anyone heard if Any other major training centers have closed recently?
A lot of skaters would be doing shows and taking time off in the next couple of months anyway, so rinks closing now might not be such a problem in terms of on ice training.
 

haribobo

Why is summer so hot omg
Messages
9,011
Thanks, here is the list...
MEN-

1-10 Chen, Hanyu, Aymoz, Brown, Aliev, Jin, Cha, Nguyen, Uno, Tanaka
11-20 Danielian, Morisi, Grassl, Rizzo, Vasiljevs, Brezina, Zhou, Fentz, Selevko, Shmuratko
21+ Litvintsev, Kerry, Bychenko....

SPOTS

USA 3 to 3
JPN 3 to 3
CHN 2 to 2
RUS 2 to 2
ITA 2 to 2
CZE 2 to 1
KOR 1 to 2
CAN 1 to 2


LADIES

1-10 Kostornaia, Trusova, Shcherbakova, Kihira, Young, Tennell, Bell, Miyahara, Wakaba, Yelim
11-20 Kurakova, Paganini, Safonova, Ryabova, Schott, Peltonen, Kiibus, Urushadze, Tornaghi, Feigin
21+ Hongyi, Pineault, Bausback, Meite


SPOTS

RUS- 3 to 3
KAZ- 3 to 1
JPN - 3 to 3
USA- 2 to 3
KOR- 2 to 2
CAN- 2 to 1

PAIRS

1-10 Boikova, Sui, Tarasova, Peng, MTM, Pavliu, Cain, Calalang, DMG, Hase
11-20 Tang, Ziegler, Miura, Walsh, Hocke, Ghilardi, Barquero, Magyar, Hamon, Keriven

Spots

CHN 3 to 3
RUS 3 to 3
FRA 2 to 1
CAN 2 to 2
ITA 2 to 2
USA 2 to 2
AUT 2 to 1
GER 2 to 2

DANCE

1-10 Pap, Sin, Chock, Step, Gilles, Hubbell, Guig, Wang, Fear, Hawayek
11-20 Lajoie, Smart, Zagorski, Laur, Kaliszek, Souc, Reed, Nazarova, Kazakova, Muller

Spots

RUS 3 to 3
USA 3 to 3
CAN 3 to 2
FRA 2 to 2
ITA 2 to 2
GBR 1 to 2
CHN 1 to 2
 

AxelAnnie

Like a small boat on the ocean...
Messages
14,463
This is what we missed from Sui/Han. They arrived Canada early, and were already skating at the practice rink.
Video is below the text which is in Chinese.

Thank you so much for that. They are simply exquisite!
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
Messages
58,281
When they do shows, they still practice, maybe not as intensely as at home but they are on the ice regularly keeping up skills.
 

Bellanca

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,301
Is that how the now coronavirus made the jump to humans?
That's ridiculous and you know it, but nice try. ;)

Homeless people are at risk. They need help, not judgmental crap thrown at them, too.
Exactly, which would also include eliminating the pile of hypocrisy crap thrown at them.

So instead of just verbally taking up their cause - be proactive and do something about it. Help them to regain and rediscover their dignity and self-worth as human beings by being part of the solution not the problem. Human kindness doesn't just sit back an allow their citizens to wallow in despair. They do something about it. If they are serious, they shelve the hypocrisy and the flowery soundbites about love and compassion. Instead, they do something about it! They do not continue to make excuses in an attempt to placate their critics or the homeless. Action first. Seeing is believing.
 

BittyBug

Disgusted
Messages
26,612
Clean up some of the markets around the world trading in exotic animals, and with poor hygiene.
Almost all of the major pandemic illnesses in my lifetime have been zoonotic, and are believed to have made the jump from animals to humans through the food chain. HIV, Ebola, H1N1, and now COVID-19. Not SARS which I believe was transferred through bat guano, but still, another good reason for not eating animals.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information