Save the dates, skating fans. . .but which dates will they be?

[Sylvia]

By Phil Hersh (August 27, 2026):

Save the dates, skating fans. . .but which dates will they be? — Globetrotting by Philip Hersh

In January, when I revealed in a post on this site that the International Skating Union wa s weighing changes in figure skating competition rules and formats that would “alter the sport radically,” the least dramatic proposal looked like the one that revised the season schedule. Part of that r

www.globetrottingbyphiliphersh.com

In January, when I revealed in a post on this site that the International Skating Union was weighing changes in figure skating competition rules and formats that would “alter the sport radically,” the least dramatic proposal looked like the one that revised the season schedule.
Part of that revision still drew significant opposition from the ISU’s member federations, especially the most powerful nations in the sport, and sources tell me that has led the ISU to tweak some of the calendar changes that are to become effective in the 2027-28 season.

Those federations whose national championships have taken place in late December or, more to the point, in the first half of January – which means every major figure skating country – pushed back on a calendar that would have them switch their biggest event of the year to February.
The move was designed to accommodate a new Grand Prix format that adds January semifinals to a schedule that previously had just six “regular season” events and a Final.
The old schedule, which remains in effect for this season, had the Final take place the second weekend of December. The first proposed schedule (for all but Olympic years) has the Final at the beginning of February, with the new semifinals taking place the first two weekends of January.
The ripple effect of that would push nationals into the second week of February; European Championships from mid-January to early March; Four Continents Championships from late January / mid-February to early March; and World Championships from mid/late March to early April.

After discussions at the biennial ISU Congress in June, ISU leaders have decided to leave the first two full weeks of January open for national championships by moving the Grand Prix semifinals to the final two weeks of January.
Sources told me the U.S. Championships, typically held the third week of January (early January in Olympic years), could take place every year at the end of December or the first week of January, depending on the dates of the Grand Prix semis.

 

[spin2win]

Also---
Changing the GP Final qualification to a rolling 2 year window of results (tallied up in world ranking points) from current system
Trying to get skaters to do 3 GPs (which I guess means the assignment system changes or some kind of challenger-like entry system)
Moving GP season up a month
Moving GP season to 2 week blocks in september, november, december in second half of months (?)
Olympic year cutting calendar to 4 GPs, november semifinal, december final

I don't get it ¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[Sylvia]

I don't get it ¯\(ツ)/¯

Apparently, neither does Ilia:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2093593611107770848

From his fan thread:

Big news of the stream, he spoke his mind with negative feelings about some of the recent news on changes ISU is planning (like new GP final qualification proposal, scale of values changes, not listening to skaters): https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkat...ed_ilia_how_he_feels_about_the_isus_proposed/

 

[BaileyCatts]

Wait .... this new schedule is legit? They are really changing to this schedule after this year?! I'm doped up on allergy meds so I hope I am just not reading this article correctly. This change is really going to happen?!

 

[Vagabond]

Isn’t April Fools Day in April? (Please?)

 

[barbk]

Were they on magic mushrooms when they came up with this plan?

Look at all the skaters who only competed in two GP events when they were assigned to three...and that was before there were all the other events that counted into world standings. Filling late withdrawals results in visa problems and other inequities. Slots even go unfilled. Consider the travel times/costs. A GP final based on World Standing seems to weigh the prior year far too heavily and reduce opportunities for skaters with a breakout season. I'd be fine with expanding the GP roster by a couple of slots per discipline.

I liked the fall season capped by the GP final, and the winter season capped by Worlds. For personal reasons, Worlds held later in the year could be nice as weather is nicer, but it also would significantly cut into opportunities for skaters to tour...and that ought to take precedence.

US Nationals has been scheduled around the football season, and I'd be fine with that changing.

 

[Sylvia]

The Future of Figure Skating Podcast with Anna Kellar, Episode 66: Philip Hersh: Can new rules make skating popular again?
Philip Hersh spent 28 years as Olympic sports writer for the Chicago Tribune and has gone on to write about the Olympics and figure skating for Ice Network and NBC Olympics. He has covered 21 Olympics, 13 winter and 8 summer, as well as 38 US figure skating championships, 21 world championships, and many other competitions in Olympic sports. Recently, Phil has been writing about the changes that the ISU proposed for the coming seasons, and the opposition from federations and many athletes to those changes. In this episode, Phil puts these proposals into context, and we get into what we're noticing from the 26-27 competitive season so far.
Timestamped link to the part where Hersh discusses the topic of this thread (refer to his article linked in post #1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KsNQnSvIKI&t=940s