ISU to evaluate feasibility of 2020-21 skating season

seabm7

Well-Known Member
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Most of the States only have 14 day quarantines if you are coming from a specific state https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/travel/state-travel-restrictions.html
Canada currently requires a 14 day quarantine for all.
Right now there is a travel ban for Sweden however. https://www.krisinformation.se/en/h...ation-on-the-new-********/travel-restrictions

The Swedish government is preparing for rulings to allow international competition participants to enter the country. In the article, they specifically mentioned the world figure skating championships.

 

Carina

Active Member
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On the other hand we have had a large increasing number of cases the past week. So it’s just to wait and see.
 

Orm Irian

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh, no.

Sorry, I've just hit the wall with this now. I'm tired and sad and scared, I hate having no choice but to watch almost the entire northern hemisphere bending to breaking point under this wretched lurgi and its many and varied impacts, I'm fed up with watching every small interest group out there try to wangle itself loopholes and exceptions so it can carry on pretending that things are almost normal, and I'm honestly sick to death of feeling terrified every time an event is announced that this will be the one that kills one of these total strangers that I've come to care about over the internet. I just. want. people. to be safe.

Cancel the rest of the season, from Worlds on down. Cancel every nation's nationals. Cancel itty-bitty domestic kiddie competitions. Put the whole damn' sport into suspended animation for the rest of the season! It survived two World Wars and the 1918 flu. It will wake up again when things are safer. So will its audience. And it will be one less thing for me to worry about until then.

/rant
 

MsZem

I see the sea
Messages
18,461
Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh, no.

Sorry, I've just hit the wall with this now. I'm tired and sad and scared, I hate having no choice but to watch almost the entire northern hemisphere bending to breaking point under this wretched lurgi and its many and varied impacts, I'm fed up with watching every small interest group out there try to wangle itself loopholes and exceptions so it can carry on pretending that things are almost normal, and I'm honestly sick to death of feeling terrified every time an event is announced that this will be the one that kills one of these total strangers that I've come to care about over the internet. I just. want. people. to be safe.

Cancel the rest of the season, from Worlds on down. Cancel every nation's nationals. Cancel itty-bitty domestic kiddie competitions. Put the whole damn' sport into suspended animation for the rest of the season! It survived two World Wars and the 1918 flu. It will wake up again when things are safer. So will its audience. And it will be one less thing for me to worry about until then.
This post is going to bring out the Louis in me. I absolutely disagree with what you wrote.

First off, let me start by saying that canceling Worlds last year was the right call, as was shutting down IdF or whatever they're calling it these days. When things are out of control, sporting events are a luxury that we can do without. Where I think we differ is on what should be considered an out of control situation.

Multiple sports have successfully returned to competition - including international sports, indoor sports, and even contact sports. There is no reason to assume skaters and skating in general are at greater risk. There would have been no reason to cancel Nebelhorn, when risk was low and appropriate protocols were in place (and it turned out fine!). There's no reason to cancel NHK, essentially a domestic competition in a country that's doing well and can clearly manage things. The key is to look at the situation, see what's feasible, and implement appropriate health and safety measures. If anyone wants to opt out - skaters, coaches, fans - that's fine. But there's no reason to take a one-size fits all approach and make everyone miserable.

During the Spanish flu, healthcare was not as advanced as it is now, and it was also much more fatal to young people than CV-19 is (can we please stop using cutesy names for it?). CV-19 is bad, and we know it can be unpredictable. But its impacts are also being overstated in some ways - for example, it seems like every time there's a reinfection we get an update on it, even though that appears to be very rare.

I realize that in Australia and New Zealand the approach is to try to stomp this thing out of existence. That's very nice, but most countries (and cities within them) are not as easily isolated, and we're going to have to deal with this without locking down entire cities/regions for months at a time. A lot of the early thinking about CV-19 was off, but the basic idea of the Hammer and the Dance was sound. Public health and societal well-being require that we don't just use the hammer; the varied impacts of that are something many people, and societies, cannot survive. You want people to be safe; we all do. Mental health is a part of that.

So rather than taking an all or nothing approach, let's try for something more nuanced that takes into account what the situation is in any given place, and what they can handle. And let's hope for effective testing, treatment and vaccines sooner rather than later.
 

Theatregirl1122

Needs a nap
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30,012
Yeah man, these priorities are so in order. I know I definitely wouldn’t trade Skate America, functionally a national event with no spectators, which Australia is welcome to hold as well, for my country to not be a raging fecking dumpster fire where over 200,000 people are dead, my family is in danger, our president has functionally given up on controlling the virus and is holding super spreader rallies, and my mom’s little brother is about to die without any family getting to say goodbye to him.

You’re right. I feel so sorry for you guys. Because you guys got the short end of this stick. You had to give up a skating competition.

What the fcuk is wrong with you?
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,989
Kudos to 2 countries who were able to hold their National Championships -- New Zealand (this past weekend) and Chinese Taipei/Taiwan (in early August).

(For those who might be confused by the tone of Theatregirl1122's post above -- it was in response to misskarne's post that referenced 4CC, which she has since edited.)
 

Theatregirl1122

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30,012
Yes, my response was to misskarne’s post which she has since dirty deleted rather than apologizing for so I would look like a crazy person rather than allowing everyone to see her complaining that her country did everything right and has had minimal deaths but the US got to have a skating completion.
 

MsZem

I see the sea
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18,461
I'm sorry as well, Theatregirl1122. Even if your mom is the one most affected, this is still a lot do deal with, at a time when we all have less support than we need. I can only wish you and your family the best, and hope for better days ahead.

I didn't see the post that was edited, so I'll assume others are right that it was out of line. I do understand the frustration, misskarne; I know skating means a lot to you, and to have the chance to have a major event in your own country, with the attendant exposure and opportunities for local skaters, only to lose it like this is tough. And while there are bigger problems that people are dealing with these days, it doesn't make it any less disappointing. It's for this reason that I feel that anything that can be done to retain some sense of normalcy and spark joy - within reason! - is a good idea.

Which brings me back to Orm Irian's post that I responded to yesterday. I know it came from a place of caring, and fear that people will be harmed. There are certainly people who are not afraid enough of CV-19 - the ones who say it's a hoax, the maskless morons, the "it's just a flu with PR" lot - and they're putting us all at risk. There is also the opposite problem, of people being too afraid, overestimating risks and having their well-being affected as a result. There's a lot of information out there, and it can be hard to make sense of it all. But it's important to try and understand probabilities and potential outcomes, and to recognize that different countries and authorities may be best served by different approaches (sadly, we can't all be Taiwan).

As I wrote yesterday, let's hope for better testing, treatment and vaccines soon, and I look forward to just arguing about the scores :)
 
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MacMadame

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58,286
I meant my post purely from a skating perspective
I think is a good lesson for all of us. I just posted an article in PI about how the economy isn't sucking for rich people (it's K shaped -- not exactly sure what that means except lopsided). So of course some in Congress don't see the stimulus as very important right now. If they all were hairdressers or ran a restaurant, they'd see things differently.

We all need to try to look at this from 50k up (i.e., in the stratosphere) so that we aren't forgetting about people whose experience may be very different from ours.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,989
Switzerland's up-and-coming Kimmy Repond, who recently turned 14, shared her emotions earlier this month in an Instagram post in English about the current uncertain situation for young skaters like her (she had been looking forward to debuting on the JGP this year and having an opportunity to qualify for 2021 Junior Worlds): https://www.instagram.com/p/CGY-QKOhWF2/

Repond was planning to compete at Icelab International Cup (Nov. 6-8 in Bergamo), which was just canceled along with many of the Swiss Cup domestic competitions in November. :(
 
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PRlady

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Almost everything except an all-out World War in your country affects people differently, I've posted elsewhere that a lot of middle-class Americans have had it relatively easy during the pandemic here. No real lockdown, saving money by not spending it on everything from Pret a Manger lunches to work clothes to theater to travel, safe 'hoods where most people wear masks and socially distance, still-reliable employment over Zoom. So skating is one more thing that is lopsided where some countries do it (or risk it) and others don't. I'm grateful for what I can get this year but would rather it all shut down that to take any serious risk for skaters. The problem is determining where and when and what the serious risk is.
 

sk8nlizard

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1,395
Almost everything except an all-out World War in your country affects people differently, I've posted elsewhere that a lot of middle-class Americans have had it relatively easy during the ********* here. No real lockdown, saving money by not spending it on everything from Pret a Manger lunches to work clothes to theater to travel, safe 'hoods where most people wear masks and socially distance, still-reliable employment over Zoom. So skating is one more thing that is lopsided where some countries do it (or risk it) and others don't. I'm grateful for what I can get this year but would rather it all shut down that to take any serious risk for skaters. The problem is determining where and when and what the serious risk is.

I completely agree with this and I bet if you ask the skaters and probably the USFS what their idea of a serious risk and what us as outsiders idea of a serious risk is, they would not be the same. If I was a high level skater with a Semi-realistic chance Of making it to worlds or the Olympics (which haven’t been cancelled yet, whether we agree with it or not) I think that I would see all the Russians, Japanese, Chinese, etc that are still training and competing and see my dreams and future livelihood slipping away. If it was allowed (which in parts of the US it is) and I felt like it was reasonably safe, I would probably do everything I could to get there. And as much as people complained about Skate America happening here on this board, most of the people watched it as well. If you disagree with it so much, don’t watch it.
I think it’s great that they made a second competition while they were in the bubble to allow the skaters to make some money that they would make during shows normally. Although why pairs and dance didn’t get the same opportunity I don’t know?
I truly think everyone is trying to do the best they can and manage as well as they are able.
 
J

Jeschke

Guest
Update on NRW Autumn Trophy:
After the recent developments and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Germany, we would like to inform all entering Federations for the NRW Autumn Trophy that the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and the organizer in Dortmund are still planning to hold the NRW Autumn Trophy and will do its utmost to ensure that the competition will be a safe event for all participants. The Federation has to present a detailed hygiene concept to the local health authorities of the city of Dortmund at the end of this week. If the health authorities approve the hygiene concept, the NRW Autumn Trophy will take place as planned at the end of this month. We will keep you updated as soon as the final decision is made.
 

seabm7

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2,146
Only the senior part of the competition has been postponed. I think the host may have realized their event date is quite near to several national championships in Europe, which is a serious problem considering the logistics and quarantine.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,989
The ISU Council met on November 4, 2020 - link to Communication No. 2355 Decisions of the Council: https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/25181-isu-communication-2355/file

Main items (1-4) are about Speed Skating/Short Track - the only figure/synchro-related items are copied out below:

5. Amendment of Allotment of ISU Championships season 2020/21
In accordance with Rule 127 of the ISU Regulations, the Council has allotted the following 2021
Championships:
ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships to be held in Lyon, France on March 12-13,
2021

6. Forthcoming ISU Events
Except for the rescheduling and cancellation of ISU Events as mentioned above, all other ISU Events
for the 2020/21 season remain scheduled as indicated in the ISU calendar of Events. The Council will
review the situation and take the necessary decisions during its next meeting.

7. ISU Council meetings
The next online Council meeting is scheduled for December 10, 2020.


https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/events/figure-skating-calendar

ETA:

Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia has been scaled back to Nov. 7-8 and there are very few non-Latvian entries (2 FIN ladies & 1 ISR lady of the 5 senior ladies; 1 FIN & 1 GEO are the only 2 senior men) - link to competition thread in Kiss & Cry: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2020-volvo-open-cup-nov-7-8-riga-lat.107756/
 
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J

Jeschke

Guest
NRW Autumn Trophy is confirmed as of today
Good news: The NRW Autumn Trophy 2020 can take place as planned from November 26th to 29th in the ice sports center Dortmund. The German Ice Skating Union (DEU) received approval from the Dortmund health department on Tuesday to hold the event. To make this possible, the already comprehensive hygiene concept was refined again. We would like to thank the Dortmund Health Department and the Dortmunder Sportstätten GmbH for the trust they have placed in us and look forward to hosting this competition, which is so important for our national team athletes.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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79,989
ISU press release today (Nov. 13, 2020): https://www.isu.org/isu-news/news/1...ted-sports-testing-programme?templateParam=15
Excerpt:

... Consequently, the ISU confirms that the initially scheduled Test Events in Beijing for the ISU disciplines will not be held during the ongoing season 2020/21. This concerns the following ISU Events:

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, initially scheduled for December 10-13, 2020

ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating, initially scheduled for December 18-20, 2020

ISU World Speed Skating Championships, initially scheduled for February 25-28, 2021

While under the current p*ndemic situation finding alternative locations (outside China) and dates to replace the respective Events during the ongoing season will be a challenge, the ISU nevertheless is evaluating such alternatives for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and the ISU World Speed Skating Championships. A decision will be taken as soon as possible.
...
An update on the status of the ISU calendar season 2020/21 will follow in the coming days.
 

Frau Muller

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ISU press release today (Nov. 13, 2020): https://www.isu.org/isu-news/news/1...ted-sports-testing-programme?templateParam=15
Excerpt:

... Consequently, the ISU confirms that the initially scheduled Test Events in Beijing for the ISU disciplines will not be held during the ongoing season 2020/21. This concerns the following ISU Events:

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, initially scheduled for December 10-13, 2020

ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating, initially scheduled for December 18-20, 2020

ISU World Speed Skating Championships, initially scheduled for February 25-28, 2021

While under the current p*ndemic situation finding alternative locations (outside China) and dates to replace the respective Events during the ongoing season will be a challenge, the ISU nevertheless is evaluating such alternatives for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and the ISU World Speed Skating Championships. A decision will be taken as soon as possible.
...
An update on the status of the ISU calendar season 2020/21 will follow in the coming days.

So is it all happening in Vegas? Just being vaguely sarcastic... 😉
 

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