Why is Figure Skating governed by Retired Speed Skaters?

NymphyNymphy · Feb 20, 2019

Can someone please explain why the highest power positions are held by retired speed skaters that have never figure skated in their lives? Why are we not appointing retired figure skaters at the highest positions of ISU to create good rules and regulations that will push the sport in the right trajectory? Why is figure skating lumped in with speed skating organization? and why isn't hockey also part of ISU? Has there been a push to separate from ISU and form a figure skating organization in which highest power is held by former figure skaters who have Figure skating's interest at heart.

EyesOfLove · Feb 20, 2019

As far as I can recollect, Dick Button's book (published in 2013) poses the same query and gives his own answer, after a fashion.

rikaquegira · Feb 20, 2019

NymphyNymphy said:
whole post

i just want your avatar.
:rofl:

Ic3Rabbit · Feb 21, 2019

NymphyNymphy said:
Can someone please explain why the highest power positions are held by retired speed skaters that have never figure skated in their lives? Why are we not appointing retired figure skaters at the highest positions of ISU to create good rules and regulations that will push the sport in the right trajectory? Why is figure skating lumped in with speed skating organization? and why isn't hockey also part of ISU? Has there been a push to separate from ISU and form a figure skating organization in which highest power is held by former figure skaters who have Figure skating's interest at heart.

Because there was a whole scandal and going to do some research on this will give the answer. Happy reading!

CaroLiza_fan · Feb 21, 2019

NymphyNymphy said:
Can someone please explain why the highest power positions are held by retired speed skaters that have never figure skated in their lives? Why are we not appointing retired figure skaters at the highest positions of ISU to create good rules and regulations that will push the sport in the right trajectory? Why is figure skating lumped in with speed skating organization? and why isn't hockey also part of ISU? Has there been a push to separate from ISU and form a figure skating organization in which highest power is held by former figure skaters who have Figure skating's interest at heart.

Because hockey is a summer sport, which is played on grass / astro-turf. It has nothing in common with either figure skating or speed skating, except that it involves humans!

As for the rest of your post, yes it would make more sense to have people who were involved with figure skating running figure skating, rather than people who were involved with speed skating. After all, they are VERY different sports - the only similarities are that they require ice and ice skates (and very different ice skates at that!)

But, as Ic3Rabbit points out, the Salt Lake judging scandal destroyed the credibility of people from figure skating, and the ISU wanted to distance itself from that. So, it has turned to people from Speed Skating.

I do agree that it would be best for the sport if the 2 disciplines were run by people that know them intimately. Whether that means splitting the ISU into 2 separate governing bodies, or reforming the ISU so that it is essentailly 2 governing bodies but with a thin umbrella over them, I don't know.

CaroLiza_fan

chopinskate · Feb 21, 2019

CaroLiza_fan said:
Because hockey is a summer sport, which is played on grass / astro-turf. It has nothing in common with figure skating or speed skating.

They mean ice hockey

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

CaroLiza_fan · Feb 21, 2019

chopinskate said:
They mean ice hockey Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

I was. (Which was why I immediately added that wee extra bit onto the end of the sentence, to make it clearer. But unfortunately I was not quick enough doing it for your quote to pick it up).

As somebody who went to a school where hockey was the be-all and end-all, it is a major pet hate of mine when people refer to ice hockey as just "hockey".

Ironic, considering that I was no good at it. :laugh:

CaroLiza_fan

chopinskate · Feb 21, 2019

CaroLiza_fan said:
I was. (Which was why I immediately added that wee extra bit onto the end of the sentence, to make it clearer. But unfortunately I was not quick enough doing it for your quote to pick it up).

As somebody who went to a school where hockey was the be-all and end-all, it is a major pet hate of mine when people refer to ice hockey as just "hockey".

Ironic, considering that I was no good at it.

CaroLiza_fan

And the real football as soccer

CaroLiza_fan · Feb 21, 2019

chopinskate said:
And the real football as soccer

To be honest, that one doesn't annoy me too much. It is when people refer to American football or Gaelic football as just "football" that gets on my nerves.

As you pointed out, what they call "soccer" is the real football. :agree:

Right, let's get back on topic, because it is an important question.

CaroLiza_fan

gkelly · Feb 21, 2019

Back in the 1890s, the ISU was formed by people who did speedskating and figure skating, which was a newer discipline. Some of the founders did both.

Some national federations that make up the membership of the ISU cover both figure skating and speedskating. Other countries have separate federations for each.

There are vice presidents for Figure Skating and for Speedskating, and the ISU technical committees for each discipline (Singles/Pairs, Ice Dance, Synchronized Skating on the Figure Skating side) are responsible for making the technical rules for their respective competitions. But the ISU council as a whole governs broader decisions about organizational structures of competitions, etc. Especially, I guess, when it comes to economic impacts.

Speedskaters have more often been elected to the role of President of the ISU. That probably has to do with ongoing politics of the ISU council and member federations. And they tend to get reelected for several terms once they're in.

It seems the most recent ISU president who came from Figure Skating was Jacques Favart, who was ISU president from 1967 to 1980.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Skating_Union

noskates · Feb 21, 2019

I laughed out loud when I read the title of this thread!!!

Edwin · Feb 21, 2019

I hope all board members have proven management and communication skills, some bookkeeping experience won't go amiss either.

Many sports governing bodies have too many former sportspersons amongst them, I often think they are elected/chosen/manipulated/bribed into position because of their sports merits and 'moldability' alone instead of the skills and qualities required to rule and govern their sport.

jenaj · Feb 21, 2019

CaroLiza_fan said:
But, as Ic3Rabbit points out, the Salt Lake judging scandal destroyed the credibility of people from figure skating, and the ISU wanted to distance itself from that. So, it has turned to people from Speed Skating.

That may be a rationale in hindsight, but the ISU at the time of the SLC judging scandal was headed by Ottavio Cinquanta--AKA Speedy.

CaroLiza_fan · Feb 21, 2019

jenaj said:
That may be a rationale in hindsight, but the ISU at the time of the SLC judging scandal was headed by Ottavio Cinquanta--AKA Speedy.

Good point. Although Speedy was not involved in the scandal himself, it still happened under his watch. So, it should have had an impact on his credibility too.

But, the scandal was a figure skating issue, not a speed skating issue. And the smell of the scandal was still hanging around. Which probably made sticking with a speed skating president a better prospect to those voting. Hence why Speedy was re-elected at the next elections. And why another speed skater succeeded him at the most recent elections in 2016.

Although, it probably didn't help that somebody who WAS involved in the scandal, Didier Gailhaguet, was also a candidate at the last election. Because him being there brought the scandal back to the forefront of everybody's minds.

CaroLiza_fan

Mathman · Feb 21, 2019

A good place to start is the book "Cracked Ice" by Sonia Bianchetti. Here is a review. (Scroll down to the section The ISU Council Years, 1988-1992 about Olaf Poulsen and the political shenanigans that brought fellow speed skater Ottavio Cinquanta to power.

https://adivinesport.com/2015/09/20/sonia-bianchetti-garbatos-cracked-ice-what-can-we-learn/

In the election for a successor to Cinquanta, the leading candidate from the figure skating side was Didier Gailhaguet, who had his own unsavory baggage.

Mathman · Feb 21, 2019

By the way, the first ISU President, Dutchman Pim Muller) competed in long distance skating (200 kilometers).

He also introduced tennis, cricket and hockey to the Netherlands.

Not to mention the sport of bandy.

https://www.itv.com/news/2017-02-28...-after-teams-score-20-own-goals-between-them/

According to the link provided by gkelly, the ISU still maintains some sort of association with the Federation of International Bandy.

chopinskate · Feb 21, 2019

Mathman said:
According to the link provided by gkelly, the ISU still maintains some sort of association with the Federation of International Bandy.

Must resist joke that comes to mind about fibbing.

Sam-Skwantch · Feb 21, 2019

When I watch the way the sport operates from within in combination with how it’s judged at events I’m not so upset that it’s not the same people governing the sport :slink:

NymphyNymphy · Feb 21, 2019

rikaquegira said:
i just want your avatar.

The Sochi podium standings taken from a parallel universe where things turned out right. :cool14:

zanadude · Feb 21, 2019

There really isn't any thread connecting the two disciplines. The closest thing is that figure skaters and short track speed skaters share the same rink, but the same can be said of ice hockey as well.

Why is Figure Skating governed by Retired Speed Skaters?

NymphyNymphy

EyesOfLove

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Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

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EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

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