Reducing the number of components and qualifying for the World Championships: what changes were made to figure skating at the ISU Congress

The Congress of the International Skating Union (ISU) is coming to an end in Phuket.

In addition to the gradual increase in the age of admission of athletes to adult tournaments from 15 to 17 years old, other changes in the rules of figure skating competitions were also considered.

They are aimed, first of all, at simplifying and improving the quality of the work of judges.

Thus, the ISU approved a proposal to reduce the number of components from five to three.

Previously, the second assessment included "skating", "composition", "connecting elements", "performance" and "interpretation of music".

Now the first two will remain, and the rest will be combined into the concept of “presentation”.

Doubts about the necessity of adopting these amendments were expressed only by the representatives of Finland.

They offered to test the innovation first, but the majority of the delegates voted for the proposal, since, according to the participants of the ISU congress, it simplifies not only the life of the judges, but also makes figure skating more understandable to the audience.

Reducing the number of components has led to an increase in their cost.

In women's singles, for example, marks for them will be multiplied by 1.33 instead of 0.80 in the short program and by 2.67 in the free program (previously 1.60).

Thus, it turns out that the role of “skating” and “composition” in the performances of figure skaters is growing.

However, according to the three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina, these adjustments will not affect anything globally.

Another change was made to sequences and cascades.

At the congress it was decided to equalize their grades.

Now, in both cases, the amount will be the sum of the base cost of the elements.

According to coach Inna Goncharenko, this decision will lead to an increase in the number of sequences in programs, since it is much easier to perform them.

“For an experienced athlete who is good at triple jumps, this is not difficult, the cascade is more difficult to perform.

Still, they calculate how not to lose, but to gain, ”the specialist noted in a commentary to TASS.

ISU tried to make the points given more objective.

To this end, the system of control of judges has been reformed.

According to the previous regulations of the international federation, the reason for checking the activities of an arbitrator was a deviation of more than 1.5 points from the average value in each of the components.

According to representatives of the Netherlands, this form of control creates the phenomenon of "groupthink".

Judges, trying to avoid punishment, are afraid to put too high or low marks.

You can solve the problem if you calculate the average value not for each criterion separately, but in total for all components.

As the authors of the initiative noted, this will give the arbitrators more freedom and will allow them not to “adjust” the scores to each other.

The proposal was accepted by an overwhelming majority of congress participants - 56 out of 63 delegates voted in favor.

It should also improve the quality of refereeing and the division of the brigade into two parts: one will evaluate only the execution of technical elements, and the second - the components.

Moreover, each should consist of 5-7 arbitrators, depending on the status of the competition.

However, this innovation has not yet been approved.

It was decided to test the effectiveness of the system during the season and return to the issue at the next congress of the organization.

Reformed and the World Cup.

It introduced a qualification that allows you to increase the number of participants in men's and women's singles up to 54, in ice dancing - up to 40, in pairs - up to 32. In this regard, the tournament will become one day longer, but the number of official training sessions will be reduced before start of the competition.

The cost of the event will also increase by $500,000, but ISU is ready to take on all additional costs.

In the qualifying round, athletes will show only free programs.

24 figure skaters in women's and men's singles, 16 couples and 20 dance duets will get to the final stage.

At the same time, ISU provided for participation in the tournament without selection for a number of athletes based on the best results of the previous World Championship.

However, the entertainment of the competition is unlikely to benefit from this.

According to the champion of the Universiade-2019 in ice dancing Betina Popova, the fans will not follow the qualifications.

“Many and so often watch only the last warm-ups at the competition.

In fact, it’s great that many people will have a chance to compete at the World Championships at least in qualifying, this is a kind of popularization of sports, but on the other hand, it will be difficult to keep the viewer’s attention, because 15-minute pours, six-minute warm-ups and more five-minute grading does not contribute to increasing interest for viewers, ”Popova believes.

Perhaps the qualification system for the Olympic Games will change in the near future.

The working group should prepare its proposals for the ISU congress in 2024.

Now the number of quotas in figure skating for each country is determined by the results of the performance at the World Championships, as well as at the Nebelhorn Trophy tournament.

The plans of the international federation to create another qualifying competition.