OES News 2023/24

[Karen-W]

Regardless of the doubtful criteria chosen, why the selection for Worlds is done now?
Teams can improve their "international competition" TES in the next few months....Ephesus Cup is there!

And then Egna Dance Trophy in February!

 

[Trillian]

Holy... Spain's Euros & Worlds assignments -

First of all, [insert “gasps in Spanish meme].

But the TES criteria is bonkers. Now I’m starting to wonder if the Spanish fed has been cultivating the drama on purpose.

 

[Karen-W]

First of all, [insert “gasps in Spanish meme].

But the TES criteria is bonkers. Now I’m starting to wonder if the Spanish fed has been cultivating the drama on purpose.

LOL - Olivia & Tim need to plan on hitting up Denis Ten Memorial and Bosphorus Cup next season!

 

[Vagabond]

LOL - Olivia & Tim need to plan on hitting up Denis Ten Memorial and Bosphorus Cup next season!

I wonder whether some other Federation would take them. Great Britain? Germany? Georgia? Azerbaijan?

 

[Karen-W]

I wonder whether some other Federation would take them. Great Britain? Germany? Georgia? Azerbaijan?

Eh, I don't think there's a good reason to switch feds. Remember, they've really only been training together about 8 months. This is certainly a blow to their chances of staying in the SB Top 24 and being assured of at least one GP assignment next season but that might not be the worst thing - it certainly hasn't hurt DavSmo. Like I said above, give them a solid 9 months of training and let's see what they look like next September.

 

[Vagabond]

Dang! Do I have to include the " " emoticon every time I post something humorous here?

 

[Karen-W]

Sweden's Euros team -

#skatesweden on Instagram: "Här är svenska EM-truppen! Historiskt stor trupp representerar Sverige vid EM i Kaunas, Litauen 10-14 januari. Aldrig tidigare har Sverige haft tävlande i samtliga discipliner på ett EM! 🇸🇪 Josefin Taljegård, Andreas No

skatesweden.se on December 19, 2023: "Här är svenska EM-truppen! Historiskt stor trupp representerar Sverige vid EM i Kaunas, Litaue..."

www.instagram.com

Men - Andreas Nordeback, Gabriel Folkesson
Women - Josefin Taljegard
Pairs - Greta Crafoord/John Crafoord
Dance - Milla Ruud Reitan/Nikolaj Majorov

 

[sus2850]

Eh, I don't think there's a good reason to switch feds. Remember, they've really only been training together about 8 months. This is certainly a blow to their chances of staying in the SB Top 24 and being assured of at least one GP assignment next season but that might not be the worst thing - it certainly hasn't hurt DavSmo. Like I said above, give them a solid 9 months of training and let's see what they look like next September.

I do not think that they‘ll keep on skating together now. What a mess.

 

[Karen-W]

I do not think that they‘ll keep on skating together now. What a mess.

That is certainly a possibility, but splitting now would end the chances for either of them to make the 2026 Olympics.

 

[airgelaal]

I do not think that they‘ll keep on skating together now. What a mess.

Then the federation’s decision is even more correct. I don’t think there are many federations that are ready to support skaters who are unsure of their future.

 

[Karen-W]

Then the federation’s decision is even more correct. I don’t think there are many federations that are ready to support skaters who are unsure of their future.

Isn't this a bit much? Declaring the fed decision to be correct based on random speculation that SmaDie are going to split now as a result of not getting the Euros and/or Worlds assignments?

 

[airgelaal]

Isn't this a bit much? Declaring the fed decision to be correct based on random speculation that SmaDie are going to split now as a result of not getting the Euros and/or Worlds assignments?

I do not insist that the federation's decision is correct. But I don't understand why it attracted so much criticism.

 

[exNyer]

Spanish federation is sending a half Spanish couple to represent Spain vs an English/German couple. .. and I believe they made the correct choice. The selected couple trains in Spain.
There is quite a bit of hostility towards Russians skating for other federations. On this forum it’s acceptable, whenever an American, Canadian, or other non-eastern block skater skates for a different country (shops for a partner). Many don’t live in the country they represent. Many barely speak (if at all) the language either. This happens too often in the ladies competitions.

 

[Miezekatze]

Spanish federation is sending a half Spanish couple to represent Spain vs an English/German couple. .. and I believe they made the correct choice. The selected couple trains in Spain.

Maybe this will give German skaters an idea that the grass is not automatically always greener with other small federations who allegedly fund their skaters SO much better than the German fed

That aside, I can't say I can really comment on that decision, since I think I've never seen the other Spanish team skate.
But I remember that it always frustrated me about Müller & Dieck that they seemingly always messed up their twizzles when I saw them, so it certainly makes sense if Tim works on not keeping that tradition with a new partner. Even if the TES only decision criteria sounds weird, they might have been selected based on that if they had skated cleaner.

 

[sus2850]

Spanish federation is sending a half Spanish couple to represent Spain vs an English/German couple. .. and I believe they made the correct choice. The selected couple trains in Spain.
There is quite a bit of hostility towards Russians skating for other federations. On this forum it’s acceptable, whenever an American, Canadian, or other non-eastern block skater skates for a different country (shops for a partner). Many don’t live in the country they represent. Many barely speak (if at all) the language either. This happens too often in the ladies competitions.

By the way: Kazimov came from Germany to Spain as well, he was skating for Germany as a junior already, and he still lists Dortmund as his home town. He also is a university student in Germany.

 

[swissskate]

Olivia & Tim were so glad to show their Spanish club FC Barcelona attire on Instagram before the Spanish Nationals, I wonder if they will burn the whole in the fireplace at Christmas

 

[Wyliefan]

Spanish federation is sending a half Spanish couple to represent Spain vs an English/German couple. .. and I believe they made the correct choice. The selected couple trains in Spain.

If that was such a big deal, then why take S/D on board in the first place? Why award them first place at nationals? Why bother with them at all?

I don't feel particularly strongly about this team, but I do think this is silly. Why would you not send your skaters with the highest scoring potential to the World Championships? Is that not how these things work? Does a fed not want the highest scores and placements it can get? Even Kevin Aymoz is going after two disaster skates because he has a very high ceiling if he hits.

 

[Vagabond]

The selected couple trains in Spain.

Who trains in Spain mainly gets the gain.

 

[Karen-W]

Olivia is not a happy camper...

https://twitter.com/oliviaxsmart/status/1737405242575134822?t=rnjX7O8A0AhsCyXckJahgQ&s=19

 

[Stephanie]

I don’t agree with the Spanish criteria, but everyone was aware of the rules and someone in the S/D team should have done the math pre-nationals to know that they were slightly behind and needed a strong technical showing at nationals. I get team S/D being disappointed but they shouldn’t be shocked as Olivia claims.

 

[Trillian]

I don't feel particularly strongly about this team, but I do think this is silly. Why would you not send your skaters with the highest scoring potential to the World Championships?

I agree. It would be one thing if it was remotely close, or maybe even if V/K were considered a team with better long term prospects. But S/D are objectively, unquestionably, the stronger team right now and likely to remain so for at least a couple of years. And the possibility that the Spanish fed doesn’t think they’re “Spanish” enough doesn’t make a lot of sense as an explanation, because then why fund them at all?

I don’t agree with the Spanish criteria, but everyone was aware of the rules and someone in the S/D team should have done the math pre-nationals to know that they were slightly behind and needed a strong technical showing at nationals. I get team S/D behind disappointed but they shouldn’t be shocked as Olivia claims.

Probably true, but it sounds like the criteria were also communicated later in the season when it was too late for S/D to pick up a couple of challengers. And why on earth would the Spanish fed create a last-minute criteria that disadvantages their objectively stronger team?

It’s just bizarre. If nothing else, it feels like an unnecessary waste of the funding they’ve given S/D.

 

[Karen-W]

It also does not sound like it was broadly communicated to all affected parties. Putting it up on your fed website mid-season isn't enough, IMO. I'd be curious whether or not anyone in Montreal got an email with the updated criteria when it was published. Furthermore, who was involved in the decison-making for the updated criteria? It certainly seems like the people surrounding Smart/Dieck were taken by surprise - does that include their club leadership in Barcelona?

As far as entry deadlines, etc... I doubt that, had Smart/Dieck realized they needed to shore up their TES, that organizers of either the Santa Claus Cup or Bosphorus Cup would have rejected a late entry. Now whether or not the Spanish fed would have allowed them to try and add another event at that point is a different question entirely since it seems like they did dirty by Smart/Dieck mid-season.

As it is, another country switch is likely out of the question right now. The German fed has Grimm/Savitskiy coming up to seniors next season and they're going to be competitive with JvRStef right out of the gate, IMO. Right now, Smart/Dieck are about even with JvRStef, so things would get ugly for 2 spots really fast. Aside from that, there is the question of funding - I'm guessing that a decent chunk of their current support comes not from the Spanish fed itself but from the very deep pockets of their club - FC Barcelona. Hopefully winning Spanish Nats will be enough for that sponsorship to continue. Also, let's not forget that there are very real, deep geographic rivalries in Spain itself that could be influencing what happened here - Madrid v. Barcelona.

 

[jmtfti]

I will say this isn't the first time the Spanish fed has used weird TES-based criteria to determine its ice dance selections, and sometimes they haven't even followed through on that. Ironically, that time the change of heart was in favor of Smart/Diaz. That said, at least back then it was two closely matched teams whose marks reflected that. This time it just seems like guaranteeing worse results at two ISU championships, particularly when Smart/Dieck at least had a better chance at a top 10 Euros finish and thus more opportunity for Spain next year.

 

[Karen-W]

I do not think that they‘ll keep on skating together now. What a mess.

This certainly doesn't look like they're going to split up...

Olivia Sophie Smart on Instagram: "🫶🏻"

oliviasmartx on December 22, 2023: "🫶🏻"

www.instagram.com

They're wearing the new kit they got last weekend and are back at it in Montreal already.

 

[airgelaal]

The Georgian Federation published the results of the national championship. Kazakova/Revia won in ice dancing

22-23 დეკემბერს... - Georgian Figure Skating Federation

22-23 დეკემბერს თბილისში "Ice Arena Academy" ყინულის მოედანზე ჩატარდა 2023 წლის საქართველოს ჩემპიონატი ფიგურულ ციგურაობაში, რომელშიც მონაწილეობდა...

www.facebook.com

 

[Hedwig]

So- i dont understand their decision about Euros like we all!?

 

[airgelaal]

So- i dont understand their decision about Euros like we all!?

something is going on behind the scenes, I guess.

 

[kwanfan1818]

It seems pretty front and center.

 

[Karen-W]

It seems pretty front and center.

Lol. Yeah, especially seeing as neither of the US-based teams (DavSmo and Alieva/Barshak) were required to fly to Tbilisi to compete...

 

[Dobre]

OK, look, it's a shock, right? We all--particularly the athletes--should have been asking about the criteria way before Nationals, and we slacked off because we thought the big battle was over and that S&D had no competition.

But let's be honest here. They have about the easiest road back to the Olympics that any brand new ice dance team could have.

If they were suddenly going to skate for Great Britain, would they have as open a road to the Olympics? No. If they were going to skate for Germany, would they have as open a road to the Olympics? No. Canada? No. The U.S.? No. Russia? Heck, no. Georgia, Czech Republic, Japan, China? No, no, no, and no.

So I guess, they'll survive & be grateful that Spanish citizenship is a possibility for Dieck (I certainly hope they did their research on that), and that next year is the qualifying season rather than this one.

Not that I would put it past the Spanish Fed to change their criteria at the last minute, but for now, assuming the announced criteria stands.