ISU to evaluate feasibility of 2020-21 skating season

[Rock2]

This speculative article claims that "according to a Japanese source from Sport24" Rika Kihira will not train with Brian Orser due to the travel restrictions and that "Skaters are already preparing for the fact that they will compete only within their own countries.":

Решение Медведевой вернуться в Россию — правильное. В этом году фигуристы посоревнуются только в своих странах - 10 июля 2020 - Sport24

Нас ждет очень жаркий Кубок России.

sport24.ru

Seriously. I mean, this is where it's been headed and will likely end up. Cold-weather countries face trying conditions again in the fall leading into winter, where migration indoors will help fuel spikes on new cases that most ISU countries will scramble to manage.

Anything that is held will be national/regional with no impact on international standing or qualifying. China can still hold 'test events' with its own athletes.

I fully expect ISU to announce 2020 as being effectively cancelled coming out if its session. It will hold on to ISU championships for dear life until the last possible moment, then likely scale that back to world's only (revisit location and date if necessary) to salvage the season and qualify countries for Beijing.

Then I'll go one step further. An expanded Olympic qualifier event around October 2021 before GP gets under way. They'll have to figure out rules from scratch to be fair to the countries who couldn't send athletes to world's.

That's prob the most the ISU could take on.

 

[Lemonade20]

Seriously. I mean, this is where it's been headed and will likely end up. Cold-weather countries face trying conditions again in the fall leading into winter, where migration indoors will help fuel spikes on new cases that most ISU countries will scramble to manage.

Anything that is held will be national/regional with no impact on international standing or qualifying. China can still hold 'test events' with its own athletes.

I fully expect ISU to announce 2020 as being effectively cancelled coming out if its session. It will hold on to ISU championships for dear life until the last possible moment, then likely scale that back to world's only (revisit location and date if necessary) to salvage the season and qualify countries for Beijing.

Then I'll go one step further. An expanded Olympic qualifier event around October 2021 before GP gets under way. They'll have to figure out rules from scratch to be fair to the countries who couldn't send athletes to world's.

That's prob the most the ISU could take on.

agreed, there’s no way of pulling off any event in 2020. Logistics are too complicated and the risk is still very high. I wish the skaters a healthy off-season and stay strong. We will get through this

 

[seabm7]

Japan Skating Federation will not send athletes to JGP and CS series:

https://twitter.com/skatingjapan/status/1282586238646509568

 

[starrynight]

I just saw that Australia’s airline Qantas has cancelled all international flights for 2020. So that’s telling - although not unexpected given borders are expected to be closed until 2021.

I feel sorry for the summer sports who must be seriously wondering how the Olympics will fare. If we are worrying about qualifiers for 2022, then the plans for the 2021 Olympics qualifiers must be in shreds.

The main game is the 2022 Olympics.

 

[Debbie S]

Just saw on FB that the ISU Adult international comp scheduled for early October in Ottawa has been canceled/postponed. Will be held in October 2021.

I think we can assume there will be no Skate Canada.

 

[danafan]

The first three competitions of the Skate Ontario sectionals series have been cancelled too

https://skateontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Sectionals-Series_July9.pdf

 

[Sylvia]

ISU Communication 2335 (Decisions of the Council, based on ISU Council online meeting on July 6, 2020) was published today: https://www.isu.org/isu-news/news/6...ions-of-the-isu-council-2335?templateParam=15
Direct link: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...munications/24757-isu-communication-2335/file

Excerpts:

As the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2020 were not held, the entries for those
Championships will be used for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021.

Re. ISU Junior Grand Prix (5 competitions remain):
a) No ISU Junior Grand Prix points will be awarded and no ISU Junior Grand Prix Ranking for
2020/21 will be established.
b) A decision regarding the holding of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final scheduled
on December 10-13, 2020 in Beijing and the corresponding qualification criteria remains
pending and will be taken during a subsequent Council meeting.
c) There will be no pre-allocated entries for ISU Members to participate in each Junior Grand Prix
event and ISU Members may choose in which events they will enter their Skaters.
d) The exact entry limitations and procedures and other logistical details (including issues such
as Prize Money and World Standing points) will be published as soon as possible through an
updated General Announcement for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21 and
the individual Announcements for each ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event.

Challenger Series 2020/21
The Council agreed that, in line with the recommendation of the Council appointed Working Group on
the planning of Season 2020/21, the Challenger Series Events for both Figure Skating and
Synchronized Skating in the Season 2020/21 should be held as individual events and not as a Series.
There will be no Challenger Series ranking and therefore no Prize Money distributed at the end of the
season. The Skaters attending these Challenger Series Events will still be awarded Challenger Series
World Standing points provided the general Challenger Series requirements are followed (in regard to
appointment of officials, number of entries, etc.).

 

[Vagabond]

Three World spots in Ladies for Kazakhstan again next year!

 

[Orm Irian]

De-seriesing the JGP and Challengers - is that even a word? Well, if not it is now - is probably the best way to provide an opportunity for any individual events that are still feasible in a few months' time to take place without exacerbating inequity any more than pandemic conditions already have.

However, Hungary's just reintroduced quarantine requirements for certain countries based on increased case numbers, so they may end up with only four JGP events taking place, or even less, and eight or seven Challengers (it's going to be hard for skaters to get to ACI so it may not meet the Challenger requirements in terms of either skater and judge numbers or judging and technical panel composition, and Kazakhstan isn't doing so well right now in terms of its own case numbers). Or, again, even less than that.

Given that the JGP is (primarily) a children's event, though, I hope federations will give the final say as to who, if anyone, attends to the skaters and their parents with no penalties of any sort (formal or informal) attached to a refusal to participate.

 

[MsZem]

However, Hungary's just reintroduced quarantine requirements for certain countries based on increased case numbers, so they may end up with only four JGP events taking place, or even less, and eight or seven Challengers (it's going to be hard for skaters to get to ACI so it may not meet the Challenger requirements in terms of either skater and judge numbers or judging and technical panel composition, and Kazakhstan isn't doing so well right now in terms of its own case numbers).

I don't know about that - how many skaters from other countries are currently training in Canada? At least in ice dance, that's an international that could probably be held with little travel on the competitors' part. Assuming the authorities allow it, of course.

 

[Orm Irian]

I don't know about that - how many skaters from other countries are currently training in Canada? At least in ice dance, that's an international that could probably be held with little travel on the competitors' part. Assuming the authorities allow it, of course.

Ice dance is definitely the discipline that would be able to meet the numbers requirements most easily, at least for skater numbers! But for singles, a lot of the Cricket Club international skaters are in their home countries, I know that much. Not sure about other clubs and provinces, and with Canada there's also the question of whether skaters based in other provinces will need to do a two-week quarantine either on coming into Ontario or on going back to their training location.

 

[Sylvia]

Japan Skating Federation will not send athletes to JGP and CS series:

https://twitter.com/skatingjapan/status/1282586238646509568

Re-posting a follow-up from the Japanese skating news thread here (JSF will not send skaters to these 5 Challengers):

Concerning the B-class Challenger Series, September-scheduled Autumn Classic (Canada), Nebelhorn Cup (Germany), October-scheduled Finlandia Cup (Finland), Budapest Cup (Hungary), and date-undecided Asian Cup (China) are the affected targets.

 

[Gris]

ISU Events scheduled to be held in China in 2020 - International Skating Union

Following the announcement from the General Administration of Sport of China last week, the ISU received clarification through its Chinese counterparts regarding the ISU Events scheduled to be held in China in 2020.

isu.org

Following the announcement from the General Administration of Sport of China last week, the ISU received clarification through its Chinese counterparts regarding the ISU Events scheduled to be held in China in 2020.

As the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Cup of China event is part of the ISU Grand Prix series and is consequently related to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final which is an Olympic Test Event, the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) reportedly agrees that the Cup of China scheduled to be held on November 6-8, 2020 in Chongqing, remains scheduled as planned.

The Chinese Olympic Committee’s decision not to hold international sports events until the end of the year (2020) does not affect the Olympic Test Events, namely the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (December 10-13, 2020) and the ISU World Cup Short Track event (December 18-20, 2020) planned to be held in the Olympic venue in Beijing.

ETA: Guess @MacMadame is right on this one

I see the GP event as being important because of the GPF being a test event.

 

[RoseRed]

Ice dance is definitely the discipline that would be able to meet the numbers requirements most easily, at least for skater numbers! But for singles, a lot of the Cricket Club international skaters are in their home countries, I know that much. Not sure about other clubs and provinces, and with Canada there's also the question of whether skaters based in other provinces will need to do a two-week quarantine either on coming into Ontario or on going back to their training location.

As of June 26th, I know that Alberta, BC and Quebec don't require self-isolation after travel from another Canadian province (same for Ontario).

They can definitely manage dance just from Gadbois/IAM teams, since it only requires 6 entries from at least 4 ISU members, and a lot of AIM's international teams are in Montreal.

Bruno Marcotte has an Austrian team (Choinard/Mayr) and a Japanese team (Miura/Rikara) that are currently in Canada, and that would meet the minimum countries (3) along with a couple Canadian teams. But since Japan has said they aren't going to send any skaters to Autumn Classic I guess not (even though zero travel would be involved for them).

Not sure about singles. Jason Brown and Julian Yee are both in the Toronto area right now, which would take them to 3/4 countries (counting Canadian entries).

 

[MsZem]

Not sure about singles. Jason Brown and Julian Yee are both in the Toronto area right now, which would take them to 3/4 countries (counting Canadian entries).

Mark Gorodnitsky (who won Israeli Nats last season) lives and trains Canada and competed at ACI the past three seasons. His sister Maya has skated junior so far but is senior-eligible. No idea what their training situation is like ATM.

 

[Sylvia]

As the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2020 were not held, the entries for those
Championships will be used for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021.

ISU Communication No. 2266 re. countries with more than 1 spot earned for 2020 Worlds (minimum scores required):

Men
3: JPN, USA
2: CZE, CHN, ITA, RUS

Ladies
3: JPN, RUS, KAZ
2: CAN, KOR, USA

Pairs
3: CHN, RUS
2: AUT, CAN, FRA, GER, ITA, USA

Ice Dance
3: CAN, RUS, USA
2: FRA, ITA

ETA from ISU Communication 2332 (June 17, 2020):

The Council determined that the Skaters/Couples participating in the ISU Championships 2021 must
have reached the following Minimum Total Elements Scores during the ongoing season (2020/21) or
the immediately preceding season (2019/20):

Worlds 2021:
Men 34 / 64
Ladies 30 / 51
Pairs 27 / 44
Dance 33 / 47

 

[concorde]

How does a skater get the 2020 minimum scores if they do not compete internationally earlier in the season? For instance Japan said their skaters will not be competing in the Challengers series and JGP (no I don't think GP was mentioned). The USA would probably limited to only those USA skaters that compete in Skate America since quarentine will limit participation in other countries.

The more you think about it, logistics will be a nightmare.

 

[rosewood]

How does a skater get the 2020 minimum scores if they do not compete internationally earlier in the season? For instance Japan said their skaters will not be competing in the Challengers series and JGP (no I don't think GP was mentioned). The USA would probably limited to only those USA skaters that compete in Skate America since quarentine will limit participation in other countries.

The more you think about it, logistics will be a nightmare.

A small clarification: Japan did not say they'll skip the entire CS. They said they'll not send skaters to a part of the series. Those five competitions are Asian Open Trophy, Autumn Classic International, Nebelhorn Trophy, Finlandia Trophy and Budapest Trophy.

JSF's official announcement

フィギュアスケート国際競技会への一部派遣中止について | 公益財団法人 日本スケート連盟 - Japan Skating Federation

こちらのページは公益財団法人 日本スケート連盟の新着記事 | フィギュアスケート国際競技会への一部派遣中止についてページです。

skatingjapan.or.jp

 

[Sylvia]

How does a skater get the 2020 minimum scores if they do not compete internationally earlier in the season?

Skaters/teams who already have the minimum scores from the 2019-20 season obviously have a big advantage.

 

[mikeko]

A small clarification: Japan did not say they'll skip the entire CS. They said they'll not send skaters to a part of the series. Those five competitions are Asian Open Trophy, Autumn Classic International, Nebelhorn Trophy, Finlandia Trophy and Budapest Trophy.

JSF's official announcement

フィギュアスケート国際競技会への一部派遣中止について | 公益財団法人 日本スケート連盟 - Japan Skating Federation

こちらのページは公益財団法人 日本スケート連盟の新着記事 | フィギュアスケート国際競技会への一部派遣中止についてページです。

skatingjapan.or.jp

Skate America will start next weekend of Budapest Trophy. I don't think JSF will send their athletes to CS during GPS. It's likely that JSF will skip CS entirely.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Well as of last night 80% of California has gone back on almost a total lockdown again. However if you ask me if the whole country doesn’t do it collectively what good is it?

Disney world in Florida just opened and Florida which is the new epicenter of a pandemic. That’s just pure comedy.

I mean the employees make minimum-wage and no hazard pay. Out of control.

Japan isn’t sending skaters to any B

Australians can’t even travel internationally until 2021

China isn’t allowing any in country international events.

Am I missing anything else? Sigh

All I can think about is how is the 2020 world silver medalist Bradie doing today?

 

[Sylvia]

China isn’t allowing any in country international events.

No, read post #613 above.

 

[Sylvia]

Peggy Fleming Trophy virtual competition information (I can start a GSD thread on Friday before it begins): https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...peggy-fleming-trophy-virtual-competition.aspx

Starting Order

1. Audrey Shin
2. Jordan Moeller
3. Julia Fennell
4. Tomoki Hiwatashi
5. Maxine Marie Bautista
6. Karen Chen

7. Kelly Arnett
8. Camden Pulkinen
9. Pooja Kalyan
10. Emmanuel Savary
11. Sierra Venetta
12. Tim Dolensky (2018 winner)

13. Amber Glenn (Withdrawn)
14. Andrew Torgashev
15. Starr Andrews
16. Sonja Hilmer
17. Jason Brown (2019 winner)
18. Courtney Hicks

 

[Sylvia]

Nick McCarvel spoke to Jason, among others, about the Peggy Fleming Trophy virtual competition:

Jason Brown leads US figure skaters in first-of-its-kind virtual event

As COVID-19 persists, sport events are getting creative. Enter figure skating with a virtual competition to be livestreamed Friday.

www.olympicchannel.com

Excerpt:

Added Brown, who has seven Grand Prix medals to his name: “I think the Grand Prix Series can run virtually. It will be strange, but unprecedented times call for unprecedented events! While we had the opportunity to film our performances more than once, I do think that for the Grand Prixs it would be ideal for skaters to have the pressure of knowing that they have only one shot to send in their short and long. Maybe even designating a specific time and day that a skater needs to 'compete.'

Also, there would need to be some sort of live part of the event (whether one judge is watching live or someone is monitoring the performance). Honestly, once the videos are sent in and compiled, I think that the production side of the event can have fun with packaging the event to make it entertaining and engaging.”

 

[Frau Muller]

Peggy Fleming Trophy virtual competition information (I can start a GSD thread on Friday before it begins): https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...peggy-fleming-trophy-virtual-competition.aspx

Starting Order

1. Audrey Shin
2. Jordan Moeller
3. Julia Fennell
4. Tomoki Hiwatashi
5. Maxine Marie Bautista
6. Karen Chen

7. Kelly Arnett
8. Camden Pulkinen
9. Pooja Kalyan
10. Emmanuel Savary
11. Sierra Venetta
12. Tim Dolensky (2018 winner)

13. Amber Glenn (Withdrawn)
14. Andrew Torgashev
15. Starr Andrews
16. Sonja Hilmer
17. Jason Brown (2019 winner)
18. Courtney Hicks

Just seeing this is so exciting. I can’t wait to watch.

 

[Orm Irian]

Not sure when this happened, but the announcement for Finlandia Trophy is up on the ISU website. That suggests to me that the Finnish federation is currently anticipating it taking place? There is a note in the announcement that if it has to be cancelled for lurgi-related reasons, that will be announced by 31 August, though.

No other Challengers have their announcements up on the ISU site yet, but the Nebelhorn one is available on the German federation's site.

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks, @Orm Irian - when I posted on June 14 about Finlandia Trophy the Announcement wasn't available then:
https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...21-skating-season.107193/page-12#post-5821745

The 2020 Announcement isn't on the event website yet: https://www.finlandiatrophy.com/en/

There is a note in the announcement that if it has to be cancelled for lurgi-related reasons, that will be announced by 31 August, though.

Direct link to the Announcement (11 pages): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...finlandia-trophy-espoo-2020-announcement/file

Based on the current travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 situation, which would not allow all skaters to travel to the locations of the Challenger Series events, and with regards to fairness to every Skaters, the ISU Council decided there would be no Challenger Series Ranking this season and therefore no ISU Prize Money will be awarded.
...
The preliminary entries must reach the Organizer by latest: August 21st by entering the information through ORS.

The venue is a multi-purpose arena that can accommodate almost 7000+ seats for ice hockey games and 8000 for concerts: https://www.metroareena.fi/
From what I recall of the audience size in recent years, there's plenty of room in the arena to socially distance, seating-wise.

 

[tuttifrutti78]

Peggy Fleming Trophy virtual competition information (I can start a GSD thread on Friday before it begins): https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...peggy-fleming-trophy-virtual-competition.aspx

Starting Order

1. Audrey Shin
2. Jordan Moeller
3. Julia Fennell
4. Tomoki Hiwatashi
5. Maxine Marie Bautista
6. Karen Chen

7. Kelly Arnett
8. Camden Pulkinen
9. Pooja Kalyan
10. Emmanuel Savary
11. Sierra Venetta
12. Tim Dolensky (2018 winner)

13. Amber Glenn (Withdrawn)
14. Andrew Torgashev
15. Starr Andrews
16. Sonja Hilmer
17. Jason Brown (2019 winner)
18. Courtney Hicks

Love this roster! Can’t wait!

 

[Miezekatze]

No other Challengers have their announcements up on the ISU site yet, but the Nebelhorn one is available on the German federation's site.

So participants and everybody travelling there are supposed to book everything on their own financial risk. Understandable, but I can't imagine anybody would consider booking a flight under those circumstances (with hotel reservations you usually can find something now that you can cancel for a rather long time for free). Train rides would also likely be a financial loss.

Maybe they'll be able to hold a small (not too cost intensive) competition for skaters who train in Oberstdorf and a couple of others who are travelling only from a couple of hours away by car, but then you'd certainly also need a panel of judges that is not all that international...not sure what minimum requirements are.

 

[Sylvia]

Latest article about the Peggy Fleming Trophy is by Phil Hersh:

Virtual figure skating competition offers glimpse of sport's possible future

The 2020 Peggy Fleming Trophy, the first virtual figure skating competition, acted as possible proof-of-concept to offer a chance to preserve some of the figure skating season.

olympics.nbcsports.com

Excerpts relevant to this thread:

To the question of whether the ISU is looking at a virtual format as a possibility for some events this season, ISU vice-president Alexander Lakernik said in an email: “No… At least at the moment.”

Added Fabio Bianchetti of Italy, chair of the ISU singles and pairs technical committee: “I didn’t know about the idea of having it (the Peggy Fleming Trophy) online this year, and I think it is a wonderful possibility to do it in this way in such a difficult moment. As to the possibility of using this format for other events this season, I have no answer. The matter has never been discussed so far.”

Such “virtually live” competitions would eventually depend on the ability of the ISU or USFS to ensure a high-quality, very reliable stream created with professional video equipment by a professional camera operator at the many rinks where skaters would perform. Given the money saved if there are no live Grand Prix or Junior Grand Prix events, arranging for such equipment might be money well spent to preserve some of the season.
“I think it would be very mentally challenging to do live feed competitions,” [Karen] Chen said. “Part of competition is its whole environment: being with other skaters, feeling the pressure, having the adrenaline kick in when you get on the ice with people cheering.
“Letting go of that side of competition and embracing this new side will be quite challenging for people. I think it could work, but there will need to be a lot of experimentation.”

Over the weekend, [Gale] Tanger judged a “live” off-line competition run by Argentina that had skaters from four countries. The marks were simple, on a scale of 1-to-10, but so was the execution of a concept that would have seemed like science fiction a few years ago.