Figure skating is expensive everywhere so that's not relevant. We are talking only about the cost of travel here.
It is not some obscure science that flying within Europe is cheaper than overseas. And on top of that, skaters need to travel with some entourage. So it makes traveling expenses not only higher for the skater but exponentially higher as the entourage is also brought in.
On top of that, jet lag is an issue. A skater coming from far away may need to arrive a day earlier to recuperate. So that adds in another hotel night. ETC.
As mentioned above, jet lag and time difference can mean even longer stays for skaters from overseas... Other than that, sure, the hotel is the same price for everyone... Not sure why that is an argument? Nobody is saying it's cheap to compete for Europeans. What is being said is that it is much more convenient for them as they have multiple events relatively nearby. The proof is in the pudding or whatever the expression is... who are the skaters competing in many challengers and senior Bs? easy to find out... most of the times, they are European.
Firstly, I should make clear that I wrote most of my post this morning, but then forgot about it when I started watching today's action at the Tirnavia Trophy. So, your post wasn't up at that stage. I hadn't thought about things like jetlag, time differences, etc. putting off skaters from competing because my post was mainly addressing the situation in Europe, and the way that North Americans seem to think that everywhere in Europe is near to each other.
Europe is a big place. To say that Europeans have "multiple events relatively nearby" is simply not true in most cases.
I think the problem is that North Americans and Europeans have totally different concepts of what "nearby" is. And that is all down to the size of your countries compared to our countries. The continental mainland part of Canada stretches for approximately 3,000 miles west to east. That is the equivalent of a crow flying from my house all the way to Astana in Kazakhstan. And I can't be bothered counting how many countries are in between. But for you guys, all that is within a single country.
For me living on a rock in the North Atlantic, the 200 miles as the crow flies from my house to Cork is a long distance. But to you guys in North America, that would probably be classed as nearby.
We just have different concepts of distances. And that is understandable.
There are extra charges on mainstream overseas flight. At sure, a train may not be cheap...but I have never have been able to take a train from Montreal to Paris.
It would be an interesting experience if you could, though.
Exactly why it's even more difficult to accept for Canadian fans and skaters. The funds are limited, the cost is much higher so it means way less events. Some skaters get absolutely 0 outings.
And that is why there need to be more events that count towards the rankings in the Americas every year. Just 2 Senior GP's and one Challenger is not enough. There should be at least 6.
Don't worry, I think all of us are on the same wavelength on this one. It's just the people that can actually make it happen that aren't.
CaroLiza_fan