Olympic Events: Held Mid-Day?

[Erin]

Practice =/= competition.

Obviously. I still don't think it will really matter and this is much ado about nothing.

 

[MIsty Blades/Skate Mom]

I don't know if you are at school/work during the day, but I've been able to catch the early skating rounds on NBCSN or NBCSports.com or any other NBC online app. I've watched early round gymnastics/skating at school or work (bad girl) on my phone/tablet/laptop. Hope this helps.

I think perhaps the part that's irritating me most is that NBC won't even bother to show the early group skaters (who are the most effected). It's all about their precious last groups.

And yes, I'm also annoyed because evening skating would be perfectly watchable for me, but this schedule means I miss nearly everything.

 

[SCeline]

This will be the first Winter Olympics from Asia where events will be broadcast live. Especially in this era of instant information/social media, it's for sure an important reason why broadcasting rights, which support a tremendous amount of the whole event, will be proven worthwhile or not.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

From memory, the figure skating competitions in Nagano were held in the evening.

The only country other than Japan to really benefit from this was Australia, and, with their two hour time difference, got to enjoy the events in prime time.

At the recent Canadian Championships, I believe the first group of senior ladies for the free skate had to start at 8am!

Other than the athletes having to acclimate and get up at 6am to get ready and catch the bus to the arena, my biggest concern is how skaters are limited to 90 minutes of practice time a day. It must be so difficult to stay in peak condition with such a limited amount of available ice time.

Back in the day for the Calgary Games, I believe the ladies from Team USA registered, then flew back to Colorado Springs for two weeks to get in more practice.

 

[skatingguy]

From memory, the figure skating competitions in Nagano were held in the evening.

The only country other than Japan to really benefit from this was Australia, and, with their two hour time difference, got to enjoy the events in prime time.

Yeah, Nagano skating was definitely held during the regular evening hours in Japan. I was very sick during that event, Sydney flu was bad that year, and watched the Ladies free skate at like 4AM EST. It was a simpler time before we had access to the world on our phones and so it didn't matter when the events happened they were going to be aired in prime time like they were happening live.

At the recent Canadian Championships, I believe the first group of senior ladies for the free skate had to start at 8am!

Other than the athletes having to acclimate and get up at 6am to get ready and catch the bus to the arena, my biggest concern is how skaters are limited to 90 minutes of practice time a day. It must be so difficult to stay in peak condition with such a limited amount of available ice time.

Back in the day for the Calgary Games, I believe the ladies from Team USA registered, then flew back to Colorado Springs for two weeks to get in more practice.

Yes, the Canadian ladies (early groups) had to start at 8am PST to accommodate EST for the final groups in Pairs & Men. I know that the Canadian ladies at the Sochi Olympics flew in for the opening ceremonies and team event and then flew to central Europe to train until closer to their event. One of the challenges of the Olympics, and what makes it so special for the athletes, are all the distractions and disruptions to normal routine even for major events within a particular sport.

 

[midori]

This article, on 22th in Taipei before 4CC, may be interesting, relating to this topic:
https://www.daily.co.jp/olympic/2018/01/22/0010920073.shtml

According to this article, Shoma Uno once started morning training to adjust the Olympics Schedule, but he quit because it was too hard for him and it was affecting quality of his training. BTW by "morning" it means 9 am .

As a night owl, I feel for Shoma. He is known for not being able to deal with jet-lag very well, and I'd suggest him to spend a week or two before the Olympics at somewhere in Europe to adjust time.

 

[screech]

Wow, not being able to train at 9am is odd. Many elite skaters have early practices (6-7am) especially when they're still in school.

 

[analia]

This thread is bananas...
I don't get it. Don't U.S. companies want to do business in Asia as well? Don't they know that most of the products associated with figure skating - cosmetics, p&g products, cars for whatever reason etc. have maybe a bigger clientele in Asia?
That being said, this Olympics is during Chinese New Year holidays. Nobody should be at work, including the Koreans... Japan doesn't observe CNY however.

 

[MacMadame]

Talking about schedules, wasn’t there a day between the short and long programs in the past? Now only the ladies ‘enjoy’ that day. I wonder if the skaters feel one way or the other about the change; I don’t remember the Sochi schedule.

I think this is much more of a problem than starting competitions at 10am. Skaters are used to competing at all different times. They also are used to getting up early (well apparently not Uno; but the rest of them ). What they are not used to is having to compete two days in a row and I think, for some, it won't be enough recovery time.

This thread is bananas...
I don't get it. Don't U.S. companies want to do business in Asia as well? Don't they know that most of the products associated with figure skating - cosmetics, p&g products, cars for whatever reason etc. have maybe a bigger clientele in Asia?

You do realize the Olympics are about more than figure skating, right? Though I'm not sure how cars and household products are "associated with figure skating" any more than any other sport.

NBC has the tv rights to show the Olympics in the US. Therefore, they care about US audiences. Other networks in other countries have the rights to show the games in their markets and, presumably, if a company wants to reach those markets, they will advertise with them. If those other networks had paid more than NBC for broadcasting rights, they could even dictate the schedule as much as NBC did, but they did not.

 

[Skittl1321]

My thought on the time is that for every competition, you deal with jet lag and getting used to a new time schedule. So adjust to get ready for the competition times, ignore the clock.

 

[gkelly]

What they are not used to is having to compete two days in a row and I think, for some, it won't be enough recovery time.

It is not uncommon for skaters to compete two days in a row at ISU events, or national events. Sometimes they get a day in between, sometimes not.

E.g., at Four Continents last week, dance and men competed on consecutive days; pairs and ladies got a day in between. At Europeans pairs and dance had consecutive competition days; men and ladies had a day off. Grand Prix events, with fewer entries, usually fit the four disciplines into three days and sometimes two, so there would be no way to give everyone a day off.

Before the advent of the team event, Olympics usually had a more spread-out schedule, especially with whole disciplines taking place in different weeks from each other, and usually one day between short program and free skate for each event. So this is a change from Olympic practice, but not something none of these skaters have ever encountered before.

Yes, the stakes are higher for most of the skaters, and some of them will also be doing the team event.

 

[Erin]

At pretty much every GP event, skaters compete two days in a row. It's extremely common.

At 2016 and 2017 Worlds, the pairs and ice dancers didn't get a day off in between. At 2015 Worlds it was pairs and men who didn't get a day off.

I agree with @gkelly that adding the team event and one more time competing is the unusual factor. It's hard to say if anyone was affected by it in Sochi. Maybe Lipnitskaya?

 

[midori]

I agree with @gkelly that adding the team event and one more time competing is the unusual factor. It's hard to say if anyone was affected by it in Sochi. Maybe Lipnitskaya?

Plushenko.

 

[Madhatter]

I remember an old video floating around of Hanyu and Denis Ten, I think it was, talking at the boards of Sochi ice, and it went like this: Hanyu: "did you sleep?" Ten: "No, not really" Hanyu: "Me neither, couldn't fall asleep, I'm so tired", and also Hanyu's interview about a bazzilion things still remaining to do after the SP, like interviews and the doping test. Obviously, this would affect the podium people the most but not having the day off seems indeed to have been a problem, and possibly a reason for the splatfest. In this situation, starting the day earlier might be a blessing in disguise because the skaters would have time to wind down after the SP and perhaps actually be able able to catch some sleep. I imagine even skaters from earlier groups, after getting up at 5 a.m and competing before noon will be feeling tired by evening because of the Olympic nerves.

 

[Erin]

Plushenko.

Actually, he occurred to me too but I was afraid to mention his name

 

[icie]

I just hope that none of the skating events are held on a Sunday morning because the Christian skaters would not have the opportunity to visit a church

Christian faiths come in many flavors and for many, attending church on Sunday is not an obligation. Some prefer to go to church on Saturday night.

 

[Madhatter]

Or Sunday evening.

The events planned for Sundays are team events: Dance Short, Ladies Short, and Pairs Free on Feb 11th starting at 10, and the Gala on Feb 25th, at 9.30. There are, also, practice sessions scheduled on three preceding Sundays throught the entire day.

 

[Skittl1321]

Christian faiths come in many flavors and for many, attending church on Sunday is not an obligation. Some prefer to go to church on Saturday night.

Come on... don't feed the trolls.

 

[icie]

Come on... don't feed the trolls.

I'm sorry. I should have known better.

 

[WildRose]

I can’t recall a single Olympics where there weren’t dire predictions before they started. Then, somehow, the World gets together for a few short weeks, and despite all the negativity, the competitions begin, and we are all captured by the power, bravery, and beauty of the athletes.
In Vancouver they said no one wanted the Olympics and all the disruption they would bring _ everyone was making plans to leave town. Then the Games began and the streets were packed with people every night singing O Canada, and everyone wished they were there.

 

[MacMadame]

Actually, he occurred to me too but I was afraid to mention his name

That's because, if you say his name 3 times on the same page in the thread, he comes out of retirement.

 

[giselle23]

Money forcing Athletes to wake up too early for the pre-competition training. Go land your quads and lift your partner at 6 a.m. Whatever. If we get splatfests though ...
Thinking that NBC will have TV rights in 2022 too makes it worst, because same case scenario when games are in this part of Asia. Love the Games in Asia (as always), but dislike those money rights.

But aren't skaters used to getting up early?

 

[skatingguy]

With regards to athletes attending church services, or other religious services, I believe the athlete's village includes spaces to accommodate such activities.

 

[Lilia A]

Personally, I agree with whoever said that it's unfair to the local people. It's their games and they'll miss big events unless they get a day off from work or school.
I've stayed up all night or woken up ridiculously early to watch skating before and I wouldn't mind doing it again. If I can do it for 4CC I can do it for the Olympics. Sure, I'm glad I can watch skating without having to worry about work or sleep, but I know I wouldn't miss it anyway (I'd find the way to watch the skating, like I did in Sochi).

 

[Vagabond]

Personally, I agree with whoever said that it's unfair to the local people. It's their games and they'll miss big events unless they get a day off from work or school.

February 16-19 will be an official holiday period in South Korea, so many will get those days off.

The Games are running well over budget, and South Korean taxpayers are likely to be paying off the debt for many years to come. Under the circumstances, doing whatever possible to assure revenue from foreign broadcasters and sponsors in more likely to benefit the average South Korean than scheduling the Short Dance to start at 8:00 p.m. local time.

 

[misskarne]

The Games are running well over budget, and South Korean taxpayers are likely to be paying off the debt for many years to come. Under the circumstances, doing whatever possible to assure revenue from foreign broadcasters and sponsors in more likely to benefit the average South Korean than scheduling the Short Dance to start at 8:00 p.m. local time.

You might want to take another look at that wording, because to me, that comes off awfully smug. "Those Koreans should just be grateful that big American money is coming to help them!" is the interpretation I get from that.

 

[kwanfan1818]

You might want to take another look at that wording, because to me, that comes off awfully smug. "Those Koreans should just be grateful that big American money is coming to help them!" is the interpretation I get from that.

I think your interpretation is overreaching. What exactly is not factual about broadcasting revenues offsetting some of the cost of the games for which South Korean taxpayers are on the hook and this being beneficial to those taxpayers? Did the broadcasters force South Korea to bid for the Games in the first place and force that liability on the country? Other cities and countries have refused the Games because they would not pass that burden to their taxpayers.

 

[Quadjump]

I remember euros in Bratislava 2016, when the pairs´FS was scheduled on sunday mid-day.

Trankov and Savchenko were complaining about this schedule. The lift became so dangerous because the men were so tired. Bruno made two big lift mistakes...

I do not hope to see this in Korea again.

 

[Vagabond]

You might want to take another look at that wording, because to me, that comes off awfully smug. "Those Koreans should just be grateful that big American money is coming to help them!" is the interpretation I get from that.

Your interpretive skills are lacking.

 

[Skittl1321]

Personally, I agree with whoever said that it's unfair to the local people. It's their games and they'll miss big events unless they get a day off from work or school.
I've stayed up all night or woken up ridiculously early to watch skating before and I wouldn't mind doing it again. If I can do it for 4CC I can do it for the Olympics. Sure, I'm glad I can watch skating without having to worry about work or sleep, but I know I wouldn't miss it anyway (I'd find the way to watch the skating, like I did in Sochi).

Aren't Olympic events scheduled always scheduled throughout the day and into the evening? How do you know locals will prefer to watch figure skating over say, biathalon, or sliding? If they do have to work during the day, they could go to a different event in the evening.

Or is NOTHING happening at night this year?