The Big Picture

Championship Allotments for 2020/21
ISU European Figure Skating Championships
Jan 25 - Jan 31, 2021, Zagreb, CRO
ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
Feb 08 - Feb 14, 2021, Sydney, AUS
ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships
Mar 01 - Mar 07, 2021, Harbin, CHN
ISU World Figure Skating Championships
Mar 22 - Mar 28, 2021, Stockholm, SWE
Junior Grand Prix Allotments for 2021/22
August 18-21, 2021, Courchevel, FRA
August 25-28, 2021, Edmonton, CAN (includes Pair Skating)
September 1-4, 2021, Kosice, SVK (includes Pair Skating)
September 15-18, 2021, Krasnoyarsk, RUS (includes Pair Skating)
September 22-25, 2021, Ljubljana, SLO
September 29 - October 2, 2021, Gdansk, POL
October 6-9, 2021, Linz, AUT (includes Pair Skating)
2021/22 ISU Grand Prix
Event |
Location |
Date |
Skate America |
TBD |
October 22–24 |
Skate Canada |
Vancouver, BC, Canada |
October 29–31 |
Cup of China |
TBD |
November |
Internationaux de France |
Grenoble, France |
November |
Rostelecom Cup |
TBD |
November |
NHK Trophy |
TBD |
November |
Grand Prix Final |
TBD |
December |
Championship Allotments for 2021/22 and
Later
Season 2021/22 Figure Skating
-
2022 ISU Four Continents Figure
Skating Championships, Tianjin, China
-
2022 ISU World Championships, Montpellier, France.
Season 2022/23 Figure Skating
-
2023 ISU European Figure Skating Championships,
Helsinki, Finland
-
2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships,
Sydney, Australia
-
2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships,
Calgary, Canada
-
2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, Saitama,
Japan
Synchronized Skating
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In the News:
2021 U.S. National Championships
Las Vegas, NV



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Russian Figure Skating
Shows Its Force at National Championships
Third title for
Shcherbakova, Kolyada, Tarasova & Morozov and first one for Stepanova& Bukin
by Tatjana Flade

(8 January 2021)
The Russian Figure Skating Championships are currently worldwide
the national championships with the highest level as no other
country boasts so much talent in all four disciplines. The 2021
Nationals, held over Christmas in Chelyabinsk in the Ural
mountains, once again proved the overpowering dominance of
Russian skating. The Russian Figure Skating Federation continues
to hold their events in spite of the ongoing pandemic, which
motivates their skaters and helps them to progress.
However, not all top
skaters were able to compete or were in top form due to illness
or injuries. The Corona pandemic has hit Russia hard and also
the skating community. A lot of skaters have contracted the
virus and reigning European Champions Dmitri liev, Alena
Kostornaia and Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov missed
Nationals because they were still not fully recovered or had not
enough time to get in shape following their infection. 2020
European silver medalist Artur Danielian had to withdraw as he
is coming off an ankle injury that kept him off the ice for
months.
The National
Championships were organized in an excellent manner and the
anti-Covid-19 measures were reassuring. In addition to multiple
disinfectant dispensers, air cleaning and filtering machines
were installed in the press room, skating lounge and other
rooms. The arena was filled up to 30 % capacity. Most, but not
all people wore masks which was mandatory. All accredited
persons needed to provide a negative Covid-19 test.
Shcherbakova victorious in
the battle of the quads
Shortly before the ISU
Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup Anna Shcherbakova came down with
pneumonia which most likely was caused by a Covid-19 infection.
How this delicate yet so strong-willed girl was able to muster
the physical and mental strength to put out two clean programs
with the highest degree of difficulty is just amazing. The
European silver medalist took a narrow lead in her Short Program
to “Oh doux printemps d’autrefois“ that featured a 2A, 3F and
3Lz-3Lo combination. Only her flying camel spin was wobbly. In
her Free Skating to music by Philipp Glass, Panu Aaltio and the
Piano Guys, the 16-year-old landed a 4Lz, 4F and seven triples
including three triple-triple combinations. With total score of
264.10 points, Shcherbakova claimed her third consecutive title
which is an achievement in itself considering the deep field in
Russia.
“I am surprised I was
able to skate my program the way I did considering the kind of
preparation I had,” Shcherbakova said. “I focused on being able
to do it. I remembered the best things I can do, put it all
together and I went out with a cool head,” she added.
Both programs are very
well done and showcase Anna’s strengths. She is a very smooth
and musical skater.
Kamila Valieva was not
less convincing in what was her debut at Russian Nationals at
the senior level. She fell on the 3A in the Short Program, but
all other elements were well done. The 14-year-old produced two
quad toes and five clean triples in her “Bolero” routine. Some
people criticize the choreography and choice of music, but the
program is powerful and Kamila can pull it off. The 14-year-old
shows off her impressive flexibility in her spins that get her
lots of +4 and +5 Grade of Execution scores. “I am very pleased
that I was able to debut at Russian Nationals and that I was
able to skate clean long for the first time in this difficult
season. I tried to stay calm and not to have any doubts and that
worked out for me,” the World Junior Champion noted.
Everyone was curious
how Alexandra Trusova would do after the disappointment at
Rostelecom Cup that left her in fourth place after multiple
falls. The European bronze medalist proved that she had learned
from her mistakes and she did not go for as many different quads
as possible as she is not able to train them properly due to an
injury. Therefore, she also did not risk a 3A in the short. As a
result, the 16-year-old delivered two clean programs with a
4Lz-3T and a solo 4Lz in the Free to “Romeo and Juliet”. It was
questionable that she came fourth in the Short, but the judges
gave Daria Usacheva and
Valieva a bit more for the execution of the elements (although
Usacheva had a stumble in her footwork).
“I don’t even remember
when I skated two clean programs in competition for the last time,”
Trusova commented. “Two quads in the free is very little for me
and I will try to do more, but for today it was the most
difficult content that I was able to do.” The ISU Grand Prix
Final bronze medalist confirmed that she has an injury, but did
not disclose the nature of her injury. Trusova moved up from
fourth to third (246.37 points).
Fourteen-year old
Usacheva debuted like Valieva at the senior level championships
and is a student of Eteri Tutberidze and her team as well. She
is another elegant skater, very pleasant to watch and has a lot
of potential. She currently does all the regular triples. As the
last to skate, she knew how well Trusova, Valieva and
Shcherbakova had skated. “I never had seen before that the girls
before me got so high scores one after the other. The audience
was in shock, there were ovations and toys flying on the ice, it
was like the competition was over, but I still had to
concentrate,” the World Junior silver medalist shared. She
slipped from third to fourth (230.56 points).
Maia Khromykh is
another promising skater from Tutberidze’s school. She only
missed her quad toe in the Free Skating (5. & 211.91). Lisa
Nugumanova from St. Petersburg surprisingly finished sixth,
because she finally did not struggle with under-rotations – only
one loop was under-rotated in the Free (204.63).
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva
was not in top shape as she just recently recovered from a
Covid-19 infection. She did not manage a clean triple Axel in
her programs (7. & 204.25). There were also several other skaters
that proved the deep field of Russian Ladies such as Ksenia
Cibinova (8. & 203.56) and Maria Talalaikina (9. & 197.32).
2019 European Champion Sofia Samodurova made a
few smaller errors (10. & 196.28).
Evgenia Medvedeva, who
first was sidelined by a back injury and then was so sick with
Covid-19 that she was hospitalized, had resumed light practice
on December 8 and obviously was not ready for Nationals.
She performed in the gala.
The level of the
Russian Ladies is incredibly high and the three medalist at
Nationals had an even higher element score in the Free Skating
than the Men’s Champion. There are not many international Ladies
that have a chance to beat the best Russians in competition.
Kolyada strikes again
Mikhail Kolyada
celebrated his fourth consecutive victory following the Russian
Cup event in Sochi, the Minsk Ice Star and the Grand Prix in
Moscow. The 25-year-old seems to gain confidence with each
competition and with the help of master coach Alexei Mishin has
a much better control over his jumps and subsequently his
nerves. He won with 30 points to spare in spite of some small
errors. The Short to “Let’s Get Loud” was clean with a 4T-3T
combo, and he only stumbled on a connecting step. The Free
Skating to “Nureyev” from the movie “The White Crow” is already
a classic and enchanted the audience again.
Since Kolyada caught
a cold (rumors that said it was Covid-19 were not true) after
the Grand Prix and missed some practice time the quad Salchow
was not consistent enough and he did not risk it. However, the
total of three quad toes were excellent and garnered many
positive GOEs as did most of the other elements. Mikhail’s jumps
look so light and easy and he is a joy to watch on the ice. The
only glitch was that he stepped out of the first 3A in the Free
and that he doubled the Salchow in the combination with the
triple Lutz. Kolyada racked up 296.15 points.
“When I compare this
Championship to the others, it is for sure one of the most
meaningful as it is always difficult but also interesting to
come back after a long break. To me it gets more and more
interesting to test myself with each competition, to overcome
the difficulties that each event has,” the 2018 World bronze
medalist noted.
Makar Ignatov from St.
Petersburg hit a nice quad loop in both programs, but quite a
few other jumps were wobbly, especially in the Free to "Je suis
malade“ so that he left a lot of points on the table.
Nevertheless he did enough for his first medal
at Russian Nationals.
"After the Short (he stood in 2nd) I tried to chase
away all thoughts about what to do and how to do it. I
remembered last year when I was first after the Short and also
had to skate last in the Free and I didn’t want the same thing
to happen again (he slipped to fourth),” the 20-year-old shared
(2. & 265.37).
However, the biggest
surprise of the event was Muscovite Mark Kondratiuk who never
even had made it to a Junior Grand Prix before. The 17-year-old
had missed almost two full seasons because of knee problems
(Osgood-Schlatter syndrome). But now he got into good shape and
learned the quad toe and Salchow during the summer. He didn’t
try the toe, but he landed all three quad Salchows in his
programs. Kondratiuk was already surprised to be in third after
the Short and overwhelmed when he claimed bronze in his debut at
Nationals and ranked second in the Free Skating (260.31 points).
“When I saw my score, I
didn’t think that I would be in the top three. The moment I
realized it, I had
mixed emotions – happiness and a certain relief,” he commented.
Andrei Mozalev was a
medal hopeful, but the ISU World Junior Champion fell akwardly
on the quad flip attempt that was downgraded in the Short
Program. He landed the flip in the Free, but made costly
mistakes on other jumps (4. & 252.92). Alexander Samarin was
unable to train a lot as he had a back injury and then suffered
from Covid-19. His quad attempts looked out of control with no
realistic chance to land them (5. & 251.38). Anton Shulepov, the
husband of Alena Leonova, delivered two clean and expressive
programs without quads (6. & 249.89). He
did not want to comment on rumors about his retirement.
Petr Gumennik, the Rostelecom Cup bronze
medalist, suffered from back pain and was not at his best
(7. & 247.47). Artem
Kovalev, who trains in Evgeni Plushenko‘s school under Alexander
Volkov, is another talented young skater (8. & 247.17). Evgeni
Semenenko drew attention at the St. Petersburg Championships
earlier in December when he landed three quads – loop, toeloop
and Salchow – but he couldn’t deal with the pressure and and
finished 11th after several errors.
The Russian men are
stepping out of the shadow of the Ladies. Mikhail Kolyada
finally starts to realize his huge potential and leads the
charge of the Russian men. Dmitri Aliev when fully recovered
will be a contender again and Mark Ignatov is developing in a
positive way. Plus there is lot of talent among the next
generation with Mozalev, Kondratiuk, Gumennik, Semenenko and
others.
Tarasova & Morozov are back
Evgenia Tarasova & Vladimir
Morozov struggled with inconsistency and loss of confidence in
the past two seasons. It looked like the younger teams such as
Aleksandra Boikova & Dmitrii Kozlovskii have surpassed them. Now
the two-time European Champions proved that they are back in the
game. They took the lead with a powerful and precise Short
Program to Ravel’s “Bolero” and defended their lead with a
strong performance of their long program to a version Albinoni’s
"Adagio“ with lyrics. They made just one major error – Tarasova
went down on the throw triple Salchow in the Free. The two-time
World silver medalists scored 228.23 points. Their performance
deserves respect considering that Evgenia had missed two weeks
of training as she caught Covid-19 and developed pneumonia.
“I feel great,”
Tarasova assured. “We were in really good shape before Kazan
(Russian Cup event) and so I was able to get back into shape
quickly. We had a total of three weeks to prepare and everything
was a bit extreme.”
Boikova & Kozlovskii had
only one week of full practice before Nationals as she was sick
with a cold. Their 3S and triple twist in the Short were
excellent, but she stepped out of the throw triple flip. She
repeated the same mistake in the Free to “James Bond” and her 3S
was shaky, but everything else was strong (2. & 224.99).
“Obviously, we wanted
to win. Today we fought for each element, for each second of our
program. We didn’t have a real preparation and I am proud of my
partner who was able to pull herself together in spite of the
difficult circumstances and helped me to pull myself together so
that we were able to give good performances,” Kozlovskii
commented.
Daria Pavliuchenko & Denis
Khodykin continued their positive development and turned in two
nice performances. They stand out thanks to innovative lifts and
transitions. She only under-rotated the side by side triple flip
and touched down on the throw triple flip in the Free Skating to “S.O.S. d’un
terrien en détresse” (3. & 221.39). "We are not pleased with
all elements, but we were able to bring across our story,“
Khodykin said.
Anastasia Mishina & Alexander
Galliamov did not perform at their best and made
uncharacteristic errors. He popped the Salchow in the Short
Programm while she did the same in the combination in the Free
Skating. He also stumbled on the 3T and struggled with a lift.
The 2019 ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalists did not really
have an explanation for what had happened (4 & 211.95).
ISU World Junior
Champions Apollinaria Panfilova & Dmitry
Rylov shone in the Short with the excellent pair elements but
they only went for a 2A as the solo jump. They tried the 3S in
the Free Skate, but it was unsuccessful – she landed forward and fell
(5 & 207.03).
Jasmina Kadyrova & Ivan Balchenko are a
promising team that has a triple flip in their arsenal (but she
missed it in the Free Skate).
The Russian pairs
certainly are on their way back to former glory. The top four
teams can compete for World medals and there are some other
young teams coming after them. All the best pairs competed at
Nationals with the exception of ISU World Junior silver
medalists Ksenia Akahanteva & Valeri Kolesov who had to withdraw
due to him suffering from a foot injury.
Golden Comeback for
Stepanova & Bukin
Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan
Bukin competed in their first event this season as she first was
injured and then they both caught Covid-19, but not at the same
time. The multiple European medalists only came back to train
fully about three weeks before Nationals, but they did not look
rough around the edges. They were very nervous before the RD,
but they hid it well. Dancing to “Cry Me a River“ interpreted by
Justin Timberlake, they looked confident and were expressive. In
both programs, Stepanova & Bukin collected mostly a level four for
their elements and took their first national title with ten
points to spare.
“We couldn’t wait to
compete at Nationals. We are fed up with illnesses. After
break of 11 months it felt like we were at a competition
for the first time,” Bukin shared.
Tiffani Zagorski & Jonathan
Guerreiro turned in two dances full of energy to "The Greatest
Showman“ in the Rhythm Dance and "I’m a Survivor“ in the Free
Dance. They, too, got very good levels for their elements.
“Tiffany and I felt a huge support,” Guerreiro explained. “This
music gives us energy and also to the audience and they give us
energy back. We feel that our program is getting improving and
we feel comfortable with it,” he added. The team from Moscow won
their first silver medal at Nationals with 210.94 points.
Anastasia Skoptcova & Kirill
Aleshin have now taken the next step and really look like a
senior team. The 2018 World Junior Champions skated really well
to “Bonnie and Clyde” and to “Never Tear Us Apart”. Their only
error came when she was shaky on the twizzles in the Free Dance.
The Muscovites that train together with Zagorski & Guerreiro took
home bronze, which was their first medal at senior Nationals
(196.97).
The teams ranked third
to sixth were close in points and in ability. Sofia
Shevchenko & Igor Eremenko gave solid performances as well to
finish fourth (194.29).
Elizaveta
Khudaiberdieva & Egor Bazin who have teamed up only this season,
are left a good impression, but she stumbled on the twizzles in
the Free Dance (5. & 192.68). Annabelle Morozov & Andrei Bagin lost
all medal chances when they fell both in the Pattern Dance type
step sequence in the Rhythm Dance. They came back strong in the
Free Dance to “La Terra Rossa” and ranked third in the segment,
but overall they only pulled up from seventh to sixth at 182.86
points.
Russian Nationals
confirmed the current state of Ice Dance in the country.
Sinitsina & Katsalapov, who were missing, and Stepanova & Bukin are
the two top teams and Zagorski & Guerreiro have established
themselves as the third team, but they are catching up. The
younger teams have potential but they are still not yet at the
level of the top three.
World team selection and
further competitions
The Figure Skating
Federation of Russia decided on their meeting to name only the
new champions to the World team. The remaining spots – two for
Ladies, Pairs and Dance plus one for the Men – will be
determined later at the Russian Cup Final end of February.
Valieva, Usacheva and Khromykh are not age eligible for Worlds
anyway.
The Federation also
plans additional competitions in February
and March to keep their skaters motivated.
"Some might criticize us, but we are doing
everything to help figure skating in these difficult times,“
said general secretary Alexander Kogan. "If you really want it
and do it the right way, it is possible to hold competitions
under these conditions.“
Videos of Russian
Nationals are available on YouTube (English commentary with Ted
Barton) and on the website of the Russian Channel One (Russian
commentary):
https://www.1tv.ru/sport/chempionat-rossii-po-figurnomu-kataniyu-2021/vse-video.
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How the Pandemic Affects
Figure Skating in Europe
by Tatjana Flade
While Russia managed to hold all their major planned skating
events this season so far such as the test skates, the national
Russian Cup series, the Grand Prix and Nationals, skaters in the
rest of Europe had much less opportunities to compete at high
level.
In spring most countries in Europe went into the first lockdown
and ice rinks closed for weeks. In Germany (and other countries)
National team members were then slowly allowed to start on-ice
training again, but training was limited and depending on the
region, there were many restrictions. In Bavaria, for example,
ice dancers and pair skaters at first were not allowed to train
elements where they are touching each other, while couples in
Berlin were able to practice together. On ice training resumed
in May in most places.
Germany then was the first country worldwide to hold an
international and “real” (not virtual) figure skating
competition, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, in September.
That was encouraging and optimism grew. However, infection
numbers started to rise all over Europe again in September and
the situation is now dire in most countries. Germany and others
are back to strict lockdowns.
Nevertheless, some European countries organized not only their
National Championships, but even smaller international
competitions. Hungary hosted two international events in the
fall and the National Championships on December 18 and 19.
Following the success of Nebelhorn Trophy, Germany held the NRW
Autumn Trophy in November in order to provide domestic and
international skaters with an opportunity to compete. Belarus,
although shaken by political unrest, had the Ice Star Minsk end
of October and then, with the blessing of the ISU, turned their
National Championship into an open competition, Minsk Winter
Star, with international competitors in December.
Germany moved its Nationals from Hamburg, which was unable to
organize an event under the Corona conditions, to Dortmund on
December 18 and 19. However, the fields were very small as some
skaters were sick (Covid-19 and other illnesses) or injured.
Plus, the Berlin Skating Federation withdrew all their skaters
saying it was too dangerous to travel to Dortmund and to
compete.
Italy organized a national “Grand Prix of Italy” series
consisting of three events leading up to their Nationals in
December. Poland, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have been
holding their Nationals together in the past years and did so
again in Poland this year. Usually Hungary is part of this event
as well, but due to the circumstances they chose to stay home
this time.
Austria cancelled the international events they had planned, but
at least had Nationals in December. Sweden cancelled their
Nationals that were scheduled for December 10-13 but is
preparing for the World Championships in March. Estonia has
moved their Championships from December to the end of January.
Switzerland and Finland for now have postponed their National
Championships and no new date has been announced yet. France has
cancelled everything so far, first the Grand Prix, then
Nationals. Great Britain opened their rinks very late after the
first lockdown and closed them again in the fall. British Ice
Skating was one of the first countries to cancel their
Championships. Their problem is that in Great Britain, ice rinks
have been classified not as sports venues but as entertainment
venues. The English Ice Hockey Association, British Ice Skating
and the Ice Rink Managers Association have written a letter to
the Prime Minister in the beginning of December asking him to
classify ice rinks as sports venues.
So we have seen not many European skaters in action this season.
A few got the chance to compete at Rostelecom Cup – Eva-Lotta
Kiibus from Estonia and the Lithuanian ice dancers Allison Reed/Saulius
Ambruvelicius. Kiibus also used her chance and went to
Oberstdorf and Budapest. A few French skaters including Kevin
Aymoz competed at the Minsk Winter Star. Latvia’s Deniss
Vasiljevs, who trains in Switzerland, and Swiss Champion Alexia
Paganini as well as Matteo Rizzo of Italy were at Nebelhorn
Trophy as were most of the top German skaters.
The options for European skaters to compete were and are very
limited. At least National team members can train in most areas
as they are considered professional athletes and figure skating
is an Olympic sport. However, in many places the younger skaters
and children cannot train and in a worst case scenario many of
them will quit the sport as a result. The danger is big that
European figure skating except for Russia will feel the effects
of the pandemic for many years to come.
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Figure skating in Russia
has been affected by the pandemic as sports have been worldwide.
However, Russian skaters get more opportunities to compete at
high level as national events are held and they might come out
of the crisis even stronger than before. While many
international and national competitions have been cancelled,
Russia managed to conduct the traditional test skates in
September as well as the five events of the national Cup of
Russia series and the Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup. All this gives a good overview of Russian
skating before the Russian Championships December 24-27 in
Tcheliabinsk in the Ural mountains.
<more>
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The Autumn surge in Covid cases has recently resulted in the closure or severe cutback of hours for ice arenas.
Many skaters are without access to ice completely, or can book
only very limited hours in those rinks that are still operating.
These conditions are likely to be in place throughout the
winter. One solution to the problem of skaters not being
able to get to arena ice, is to bring ice to the skaters, by
building a backyard ice rink.
<more>
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Former French ice dancer Nathalie
Pechalat, bronze medalist at Worlds in 2012 and 2014,
gold medalists at Europeans 2011 and 2012 and fourth at the
Olympic Games of 2014, all with dance partner Fabian Bourzat,
was elected president of the French Ice Sport Federation in
March 2020. This organization covers not only figure
skating, ice dance and synchronized skating, but also speed
skating, short track, sledding and bobsledding. She was elected the
successor of Didier Gailhaguet who retired in February 2020
under pressure from different sources, including the
French minister of sports, who accused him of knowing
about but not stopping several scandals during his presidency,
an accusation he denies.
<more>
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The NHK Trophy is named after the Japanese TV station which
has sponsored and covered the event for many years. It takes
place in different rinks in Japan every year. This year it was
the fourth and last Grand Prix after the three in the USA, China
and Russia, and was held at the Towayakuhin RACTAB Dome,
in Japan’s second largest city of Osaka.
<more>
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2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships Relocated to Las Vegas
San Jose to Play Host to 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure
Skating Championships
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Nov. 9, 2020) - The 2021 Toyota U.S.
Figure Skating Championships, originally scheduled to take place
in San Jose, California, Jan. 11–17, 2021, will relocate to Las
Vegas and the Orleans Arena Jan. 11–21, U.S. Figure Skating
announced on Monday. U.S. Figure Skating also selected San Jose
and SAP Center as host of the 2023 U.S. Figure Skating
Championships. Both of these decisions were made unanimously by
the U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors at its Nov. 7
meeting.
“This has been a season unlike any other, and we’re appreciative
of our local organizers and the skating community in San Jose
for their willingness to be flexible during these challenging
times,” U.S. Figure Skating President Anne Cammett said. “We are
also confident that the proven bubble concept we will implement
at the Orleans Arena will ensure the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure
Skating Championships are a successful event for all
competitors, coaches and officials.”
U.S. Figure Skating successfully staged 2020 Guaranteed Rate
Skate America in a bubble-type environment at the Orleans Arena
in Las Vegas in October. For January’s U.S. Championships in Las
Vegas, U.S. Figure Skating will be able to use Skate America’s
operational plan, which had been approved by the Nevada Gaming
Control Board, streamlining both the preparation and on-site
execution of the competition. Championship-level competition
will take place from Jan. 11–17, 2021, and junior-level
competition from Jan. 19–21, 2021. As with Skate America, no
spectators will be permitted, though fans will be able to watch
extensive coverage on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock Premium.
“SAP Center at San Jose was prepared to safely and successfully
host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January 2021,”
added Jonathan Becher, president of Sharks Sports &
Entertainment and SAP Center at San Jose. “While we are
disappointed to wait, we are excited to host the Championship in
2023 and showcase the City of San Jose and SAP Center to a
national audience."
“While certainly disappointed, we understand the difficult but
necessary decision made by U.S. Figure Skating to move the U.S.
Figure Skating Championships in San Jose to 2023,” said John
Poch, executive director of the San Jose Sports Authority. “As
always, the care and safety of the athletes, staff and fans is
our top priority. I would like to thank the San Jose Local
Organizing Committee for the tremendous amount of work that
they’ve already put in to make the 2021 event a success and look
forward to working with them over the next two years to ensure
that the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San
Jose will be a safe, successful and memorable event for
everybody involved.”
San Jose will play host to the country’s most prestigious figure
skating competition for the fourth time in 2023 (1996, 2012,
2018).
For fans who had planned on attending the 2021 Toyota U.S.
Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, refunds will be issued
to all existing ticket holders. Refunds are only issued to the
original form of payment; those who did not pay via credit card
or debit card will be sent a check to the address on file.
Please note that customers should expect to receive their refund
in as soon as 30 days. If a customer’s credit card or debit card
number has changed, or expired, they should contact SAP Center
at grouptickets@sharkssports.net and
a member of its team will be in touch.
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A
Not So Grand Prix - Details are finally
emerging for the organization of the 2020/21 ISU Grand Prix
Competitions. About all that can be said of this
year's series is, It's better than nothing, but not much
better.
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The anatomy of a fully rotated quad Salchow, executed by
Yuzuru Hanyu.
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The Next Olympic Ladies Champion Revealed
- The next Olympic Winter Games are about two years away, but already the writing is on the wall
for who will be the next Olympic Ladies Champion.
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The
Perfect Air Position
- What is it? What does it look like? Why does
it matter?
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Technical Stuff/p>
News Nuggets
Past News Nuggets are in the Archive
12 January 2021 - Skate Canada
announces the cancellation of the 2021 Canadian Tire National Skating
Championships and the 2021 Skate Canada Cup. The
championships were to occur from February 8-14, 2021 in Vancouver, B.C.,
at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre while the 2021 Skate
Canada Cup was planned to be a virtual event in replacement of the
pre-novice and novice competitions at the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge.
“We are deeply
saddened for all athletes, coaches, and supporting individuals who are
impacted by this decision and appreciate the incredible efforts to
overcome ever-evolving training and access challenges to best prepare
athletes for these events,” said Leanna Caron, President, Skate Canada.
25 Dec 2020 - Morry Stillwell, past
president of U.S. Figure skating passed away today, at age 93, from cardiac arrest
after battling pneumonia for several months. Morry was
born in Everett, Washington, on November 17, 1927.
Morry was U.S. Figure Skating president from 1995 to
1998 when skating was at the peak of it's popularity in the United
States. While president, he led the negotiations for the TV
contract with ABC that put U.S. Figure Skating on the road to financial
security.
He was a key participant in the creation of the ISU
Champion Series in 1995 along with representatives from Canada, France,
Germany and Japan. This series later became the current ISU Grand
Prix of Figure skating. Morry served for five years as chairman of
the management committee of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
Morry was a National U.S. Figure Skating judge and
referee in singles, pairs and showcase He also held an appointment
as a dance judge and technical controller. Together with Jack
Curtis he created the discipline of Showcase skating. He
originally began his involvement in amateur sports in roller skating.
Originally from the Seattle area, Morry, who was
named after Maurice Chevalier, spent most of his adult life in
Southern California. Following his term as U.S. Figure Skating
president he remained active in local skating, promoting skating at the
grass roots, in which he took great joy. He was president of the
Escondido (now North County) figure skating club for many years. Prior
to that he was active in the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club and for a
time its president. Before that he was a member of the All
Year Figure Skating Club and president of that club.
Morry began as a roller skater and competed in three
roller skating national championships in dance. Later he switched
to ice skating, winning a bronze medal in Bronze dance at Pacific Coast
sectionals.
After passing the silver dance tests, Morry was
drafted into the army and served at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,
Alabama working as a technician for Werner von Braun. While in Huntsville, he started an artistic roller
figure skating club called the Rocket City Roller Club.
Morry was the devoted husband of Elda Stillwell.
They were married for 65 years. Elda is a U.S. Figure skating
National Accountant. Together they were fixtures at Southern
California competitions for many decades. He is survived by wife
Elda and daughter Lisa.
17 Dec 2020 - Today the ISU released
the following statement.
The ISU welcomes the annulment by the General Court judgment on 16
December 2020 (Case T-93/18) of the provisions of the European
Commission of 8 December 2017 requiring the ISU to amend its Eligibility
Rules with respect to the CAS arbitration system. The General Court has
confirmed that the CAS arbitration system is fully consistent with EU
law.
The ISU also notes with satisfaction that the General Court has
recognized the legitimacy of the ISU’s pre-authorization system intended
to ensure that any organizer of sporting competitions “comply with
common standards, seeking in particular to ensure that competitions take
place fairly and the physical and ethical integrity of sportspeople is
protected”. The ISU also notes that the General Court has expressly
recognized that it was legitimate for the ISU “to establish rules
seeking to prevent sports betting from creating risks of manipulation of
competitions and athletes”.
The ISU maintains that its Eligibility Rules have never been enforced
with a view to preventing the organization of third-party skating events
and regrets that the judgment does not address the substantial evidence
put forward by the ISU confirming this. Following the adoption of the
2017 Commission decision, the ISU amended its Eligibility Rules in 2018
pursuant to implementation discussions with the European Commission. The
Court judgment relates to a version of the Eligibility Rules which is no
longer in force and therefore has no impact on the ISU’s current
operations.
The ISU is currently further evaluating the judgment and reserves an
appeal to the European Court of Justice.
This is the culmination of a complaint that was
brought before the European Commission in 2017. The original case
brief states:
The complaint was lodged by two professional
speed skaters domiciled in the Netherlands, Mr Mark Tuitert and Mr Niels
Kerstholt ("the Complainants"). Both of the Complainants are members of
the Royal Netherlands Skating Federation ("KNSB") and, in the past,
regularly participated in the activities and competitions of the ISU at
the highest level. As individual members of the KNSB, which is itself an
ISU Member, the Complainants are subject to the ISU Statutes and General
Regulations, including the Eligibility rules and to decisions taken by
the ISU Congress and the ISU Council.
The Complainants
alleged in their complaint that the 2014 Eligibility rules establishing
a lifetime ban for athletes and officials taking part in competitions
not authorised by the ISU were in
breach of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty. In particular, the
Complainants stressed that such rules prevented them from participating
in an international speed skating event to be organised by Icederby International co., Ltd ("Icederby"),
offering athletes an opportunity to make a better living out of their
profession, thanks to the significant prize money and other sources of
revenues (for instance, sponsoring).
The European Commission ruled against the ISU in 2017
and 2018 finding that
the ISU eligibility rules breached EU competition law. The ISU
appealed to the EU General Court which on 16 December, 2020, ruled in
favor of the ISU.
17 Dec 2020 - Today the Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the Russia’s previous four-year
suspension for systematic doping violations to two years.
Russia’s name, flag and anthem are banned from the next two Olympics and
any world championships through December 16, 2022.
Only Russian athletes who are not
implicated in doping or covering up positive tests can compete as
individual athletes at major sporting events. For figure Skating
this includes the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games, and ISU world
championships in all disciplines.
Russian Government representatives are also barred from attending such
events unless they are invited by
the Prime Minister or head of state of the host country.
The ruling also prevents
Russia from hosting or bidding to host major sporting events during its
ban during the suspension. Any events already awarded must be
rescinded and
re-assigned to another country, with the wiggle room that events can be
hosted if "it is legally or practically
impossible" to do so.
This case arises out of a ruling in December 2019 by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
which declared the Russian
Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) non-compliant and imposed four years of sanctions on Russia for
falsifying results at the Moscow Laboratory.
RUSADA appealed these sanctions to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld WADA’s finding that RUSADA
was non-complaint but halved the duration of the ban.
The case will cost
RUSADA a pretty penny, being ordered to pay a fine of either 10% of its
2019 income or $100,000, whichever is less, to WADA. They must also pay
$1,270,000 for the costs incurred by WADA, will also have to pay 80 per cent of the costs of the case, and
to pay WADA
400,000 Swiss francs (about $452,000) for its legal and other expenses incurred in
the case.
10 Dec 2020 - The ISU today
announced the cancellation of the 2021 European championships, which had
been scheduled for 21-31 January, 2021 in Zagreb Croatia. The rink
to be used for the competition is currently be used as a Covid-19
hospital ward and will be unavailable for the competition. There
is no other facility in Zagreb to hold the competition, the former arena
being condemned due to earthquake damage.
The ISU also announced the cancellation of the Synchronized Junior
World Championships which were supposed to take place in Lyon, France in
March 2021, and the final cancellation of the 2020 Grand Prix Final,
which to this point was only described as postponed.
The future of the test event for the Beijing Olympic
Winter Games remains undecided. The 2021 World Figure Skating
Championships currently remains on the schedule, as an event that will
be held without spectators.
24 Nov 2020 - The ISU
today announced the cancelation of the World Junior Figure Skating
Championships which had been schedule to be held In Harbin, China on
March 1-7, 2021.
The ISU also announced that the rescheduling of the
Beijing Winter Olympics test event (which was to
have been the now cancelled Grand Prix Final) remain under discussion.
19 Oct. 2020 - The ISU
today announced the cancelation of the Internationaux of France, what
would have otherwise been the fourth stop of the 2020 Grand Prix of
Figure Skating.
Currently, China, Japan and Russia remain on the
Grand Prix schedule.
16 Oct. 2020 - The
ISU today announced the cancelation
of the Four Continents Championships in Figure Skating and Speed
skating. This follows on the heels of the announcement of
the cancellation of Skate Canada International, the second
previously planned stop for the 2020 Grand Prix, earlier this
week.
The 2021 Four Continents Figure Skating
Championships were to have been held in
Sydney, Australia. Sydney now has the provisional
allotment for the 2023 Four Continents Championship.
2020 Skate America remains on track to be held next week
using a stringent "bubble" approach; while cancellation of Skate
France and Rostelcom Cup in the near future is a strong possibility.
Russia
is undergoing a recent surge in Covid cases in a second wave,
with outbreaks among athletes in several sports reported. Cases are
also on the rise in Europe, with localized lockdowns being
reimposed, and more expansive lockdowns under consideration.
6 Oct. 2020 - U.S. Figure
Skating announced today two-time U.S.
National Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates have
withdrawn from 2020 Skate America.
“After much consideration, we have decided to withdraw from
Skate America,” Chock and Bates said. “Our training and
preparation have been affected by the pandemic and at this time
we are 100% focused on our preparation for the 2021 Toyota U.S.
Figure Skating Championships. We will be staying at our training
base in Montreal, but will certainly miss the thrill of
competition and seeing our U.S. Figure Skating family. We wish
everyone good health and good luck!”
30 Sep. 2020 - The ISU
announced today the cancellation of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final,
originally scheduled for Beijing/China - December 10-13, 2020
Regarding the test event, the ISU said, "Concerning
the Olympic Test Events in Beijing there were also a number
of logistical points raised by potentially participating teams that
meant that hosting the competitions on the scheduled dates (close to the
end of year holidays and National Championships) would have impacted on
the number of participants, given the potential need to quarantine on
returning to their home country."
In it's announcement the ISU also stated,
"The ISU, in consultation with
all stakeholders and considering the pandemic developments, is
evaluating the continuation of the 2020/21 season, in particular the
re-scheduling possibilities for the important Olympic Test Events. The
ISU will communicate the conclusions at a later date."
29 Sep. 2020 -
French pairs figure skater Morgan Cipres and his partner, Vanessa James,
retired from the sport on Tuesday amid allegations that Cipres sent lewd
photos to a 13-year-old American figure skater on Instagram. Cipres is
under investigation by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in Florida for
allegedly direct messaging two photos of his penis to a 13-year-old
American figure skater in 2017.
2020 / 2021 Season
November Competitions
Nov 06 - Nov 08, 2020,
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Cup of China, Chongqing, CHN
Nov 13 - Nov 15, 2020,
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Internationaux de France, Grenoble
FRA
Nov 20 - Nov 22, 2020,
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Rostelcom Cup, Moscow, RUS
Nov 27 - Nov 29, 2020,
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, NHK Trophy, Osaka, JPN
December Competitions
Dec 10 - Dec 13, 2020, ISU Grand Prix of figure Skating Final, Beijing,
CHN
2020-2021 ISU Grand Prix
Event |
Location |
Date |
Skate America |
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
October 23–25 |
Skate Canada |
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Oct 30– Nov 1 |
Cup of China |
Chongqing, China |
November 6–8 |
Internationaux de France |
Grenoble, France |
November 13–15 |
Rostelecom Cup |
Moscow, Russia |
November 20–22 |
NHK Trophy |
Osaka, Japan |
November 27–29 |
Grand Prix Final |
Beijing, China |
December 10–13 |
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