Loss of Eligibility

Plushenko's grand designs on competing again in Sochi may be dashed.

During the ISU June Congress, the ISU yanked his eligibility:

Decision of the ISU Council on Eligibility of Mr. Evgeny Plushenko (RUS)
Based on evidence presented the Council has concluded that Mr. Evgeny Plushenko breached the ISU eligibility rule 102, paragraph 2, i) of the ISU General Regulations and as a consequence has become ineligible under paragraph 7 a) of that rule. The evidence has proved to the satisfaction of the Council that Mr. E. Plushenko, a skater and member of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR), skated in exhibitions held in March and April 2010, in Russia and other countries, without the express prior authorization of the FSFR. Such activity is a breach of the ISU eligibility rules and results in the loss of eligibility

.

But Plushenko has recourse. He has 21 days to file an appeal if he so chooses with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. He must do this and win the appeal if he hopes to compete at an ISU event in the future. A similar situation occurred last season when Joannie Rochette performed on the show "Thin Ice," however, she obtained an exemption allowing her to keep her eligible status, Plushenko did not.

UPDATE: FSFR has released an official statement.

ISU Cheers and Jeers

I'm still waiting for the full full report but here are some of the preliminary changes the ISU has gone ahead and approved.

Speedy remains President of the ISU...JEER!

Compulsory Dances are officially out and the Short Dance is in...CHEER (I know there are mixed feelings about this but I like the change.)!

The ISU is reducing the number of skaters allowed into an event and the number allowed into the free skate...JEER!

ISU World Team Trophy is an official ISU event now...CHEER!

Many of figure skating rules are now consistent across disciplines...CHEER!

2013 European Championships are given to Zagreb, Croatia...JEER (shouldn't that be Sochi's Olympic Test event?)!

2013 World Championships in London, Ontario Canada...CHEER!

ISU June Congress

Tomorrow all the ISU who's who will convene in Barcelona at the annual June Congress. Demonstrations, meetings, lunches, conferences, yadda yadda yadda.

Most importantly this is where all those changes we see year to year get ratified. And there are big changes in store for the upcoming season.

I'll be keeping an eye on all that is happening in Barcelona and try to keep everyone in the loop about the decisions that are made.

You can read the Agenda for this upcoming weeks proceedings here.

Urgent Matters

The ISU has posted "Urgent Matters" to be addressed at the ISU June Congress in Barcelona. One caught my attention in particular...

The French Skating Federation is proposing that in Olympic Years, Europeans and Four Continents Cup go bye-bye and World's be placed before the Olympics. The reasoning:

Olympics after Olympics, the statistics show very clearly that since 1994 the number of Olympic medalists present at the World ISU championships just after the Games is continuously decreasing. After both the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and the 2006 Olympics in Turin the four Olympic winners of the 4 gold medals did not compete in the ISU World Championships (in Minneapolis in 1998 and in Calgary in 2006). Out of the twelve Olympic medalists since 1998, at least half of them did not participate in the World Championships a month later. Therefore, revenge becomes impossible. The Olympic Winter Games should logically be the summit of the Olympic season and the ISU World Championships, if held just before the Games, would become the theater of a much greater enthusiasm due to the increase in top level participation.

Hmmmm....

My initial reaction without giving it much thought is...not a bad idea. But then I really started to think about it. Couldn't the reverse happen and top competitors not show up at World's to instead focus on the Olympics? And then it really hit me! This would be a terrible timeline for North American skaters. The U.S. and Canada in particular hold National Championships relatively close to the Olympics. This season both countries were right on top of the Four Continents Cup, with competitors flying directly from Spokane and London to Korea for the event. I'm envisioning a similar scenario for World's...the biggest annual event in skating, not cool. IF something like this were to pass, the U.S. and Canada would have to change their national championships schedules...and that's a big adjustment.

I say in Olympic years...move those events behind the Olympics and before World's. No matter how you slice it, you're going to have competitors not showing up at one event or another, there is so much at stake when it comes to the Olympics. Or...move the Olympics to mid-March as opposed to February. Forgiving Vancouver, most places still have snow in the mountains in March. A good portion of the events don't necessarily need real snow. And an even bigger portion of events are inside.

In the end I think this may be one of those 'unsolvables.' There really is no good solution. Any ideas?

Other urgent matters included Japan's desire to award bonus points for difficult original elements and the ISU's plan to make sure they have control of a possible (theoretical?) team figure skating event in the Olympics (hadn't heard about that).

Change Management

Assuming they are approved by the ISU Congress in June, there are some pretty substantial changes coming to the way figure skating is judged.

First, it would appear the entire rule book on Ice Dance has been rewritten! Lots of changes on levels, lifts, requirements blah blah blah all coming down the pike. They aren't releasing the details yet on the new "Short Dance" that's associated with the elimination of compulsories. Check out the changes here (downloadable PDF file).

One of the really cool things they are proposing are these bullets that give the judges clearer guidelines on how to assign GOE's. They have tables with 8 bullet points and you get GOE based on how many bullet points you hit. For example, Spiral Sequences in Singles, they have the following bullet points:

*Good flow, energy, and execution.
*Good speed during sequence.
*Good body line and full extension.
*Minimal delay between spiral positions.
*Good Flexibility.
*Creativity and originality.
*Ability to attain positions and variations quickly and effortlessly.
*Element matched to the musical structure.

You have to do two of these to get a +1, four for a +2, and at least six for a +3. At least now judges have some basic guidelines to guide them as far as GOE's are concerned. Now each judges opinion on if certain bullets were achieved is still subjective, but there isn't much way around that. Any time a sport is "judged" there is subjectivity.

But of course what will no doubt be the big talking point for all the pundits is the new jump rule (downloadable PDF file)...already being passed around the internet (unfairly I believe) as the Asada Rule. In addition to the values jumps have, jumps values will also now exist on a scale. They are going to break the under-rotation rule up a bit by assigning a new point level for those barely cheated jumps. The ones that are more than a quarter rotation cheat but less than half a rotation cheat. These jumps will now be worth 70% of the base value of the jump.

Why are people calling it the Asada rule? Well the base value of a triple axel is 8.5 points. So if you do two in a program you stand to gain upwards of 17 points (perhaps more because one will likely be performed in combination). Mao Asada was often only earning a base value of 3.3 points for her axels because she was getting downgraded to a double. Now that just slightly downgraded triple axel is still worth 6 points. Two in your program is still earning you upwards of 12 points. It's a hit, but not nearly the hit it was before and still is a pretty lucrative jump element even with the downgrade. Quads, like axels, will also still be hefty point grabbers with the slight under-rotation. In short, everyone thinks this rule has been pushed to help Asada out.

Rather it was or not, it's a smart rule. I've said countless times that almost nailing a perfect triple axel should not be counted as a crappy double axel. That's just stupid. And as much as this rule helps Asada, it helps others too. This rule would have worked wonders for Flatt and Nagasu at the Olympics. Speaking of Nagasu, she'd probably be the reigning U.S. National Champ with this rule. Kim Yu-Na wouldn't have lost the short program to Miki Ando at the Grand Prix Final with this rule. It's a smart rule and I hope people don't use it as an excuse to continue petty bickering.

Help for Asada and Dick Button gets his way!

So the ISU has published all the changes they have made to the figure skating rule book. I'm usually very good at deciphering these but there are a couple I find quite confusing.

If you care to see the whole list, do so by clicking here.

Dick Button has finally gotten his way on sit spins. A sit spin will only be counted as a completed spin if the buttock is not above the knee and the upper part of the leg is parallel to the ice (as demonstrated by The Grinch)!

Also, the wrong edge deduction for skaters has been scaled back a bit. Skaters will only receive the nasty "e" on the jump if it was one of those clearly flutzed things with a long, drawn out entrance. If the flutz is shorter or not as prominent, than skaters only get an "!" and the judges can decide what to take off, if anything. Meaning, flutzes no longer mean mandatory point loss.

This is the part I don't get, maybe someone can explain:

Have one element less in a Well Balanced Free Program of all the categories with the following
result:
a) Senior both Men and Ladies: maximum of three (3) spins, one of which must be a spin
combination, one a flying spin and one a spin with only one position;
b) Junior Men: maximum of one (1) step sequence;
c) Junior Ladies: maximum of one (1) step sequence and no any Spiral Sequence;
d) Senior and Junior Pairs:
maximum of 1 Step Sequence and no Spiral Sequence (seasons 2008-2009, 2010-2011);
maximum of 1 Sequence of Spirals and no Step Sequence (season 2009-2010).

Junior skaters can now do a Triple Axel in their short programs...that's fun! And Pairs Teams will now get more points for lifts after the halfway point in their programs in addition to the jumps.

Also...no more dramatic waiting and pacing around the ice after they call your name...now you get 60 seconds!