Well, that's a different issue, but okay. The total number of Olympic spots available isn't determined by the ISU; it's set by the IOC. And in recent cycles the IOC has been cutting, not increasing, the number of figure skating spots (and spots in other sports--figure skating isn't being singled out). I'd love to see more skaters have an opportunity to compete at the Olympics, but I don't think that's going to happen. So assuming that the number of spots remains the same for this cycle, what is the fairest way of distributing them?I'm not saying world's should go on, or people should be required to go to world's - what I'm saying that they shouldn't go on 2019 rankings. Best thing is to give max spots to every single country, or gives 2019 spots and allow additional ones to be earnt by participants who choose to go.
One solution would be to use the 2019 Worlds results; another would be to use the 2021 Worlds results. Neither of these, I think we agree, is ideal, and both risk being unfair to some skaters (with, probably, some overlap in the group of skaters who are most negatively affected under each plan). Another solution would be to award some fraction of the spots using the 2019 Worlds results, and make more spots available to be earned at Nebelhorn. Perhaps the current rule that a country can earn a spot at Nebelhorn only in a discipline in which it currently has no spots could be suspended for this year, giving skaters from countries whose depth in a particular discipline has increased a chance to earn a second or third spot for their country. But then the skaters/countries who would have received spots (or more spots) based on the 2019 Worlds results and who see those spots put up for grabs at Nebelhorn would feel that the new system was unfair. What's the formula that results in the least unfairness to the smallest group of skaters?
(Remember that in all cases, spots are earned for one's country, not for oneself--"participants who choose to go" to Worlds or Nebelhorn to compete are earning spots for their federation, which the federation may choose to award to another skater. And, of course, they aren't simply choosing to go or not; they're choosing whether to accept their federation's assignment to compete, but they have to be assigned to the event by the fed first.)
Edited to fix typo.
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