ISU bans Russia and Belarus from competitions

[icetug]

Post-olys worlds still have a more competitive fields than this year worlds.

I"m not sure. There are still 6 olys medalists to compete in Montpellier, comparing to 5 in Milano and Saitama.
Surely pairs will lack of many excellent skaters, and I think not only about medalists...

 

[lariko]

18 excellent skaters will be missing, some of them who didn’t medal or participate in the Olympics.

 

[el henry]

Worlds will be a great competition because it will have great skaters from all around the world. Will it have Russians or Belorussians? No, and that is a shame for those skaters and their fans. It is the correct decision, but one that without a doubt hurts those skaters. But it doesn’t detract from Worlds.

It also will evidently be missing Jason Brown, which from a strictly personal skating perspective for me, means it is missing one of the world’s best men’s skaters. The sixth best, as a matter of fact. That doesn’t make it any less Worlds and does not detract from the competition.

As skating is such an individual enterprise, I have never really understood national pride in figure skating or loving all skaters from a certain country. I certainly don’t love all American skaters just because they are American. I adore Donovan Carrillo and I have no personal ties to México or Latin America; I just love Donovan.

Worlds will be fine as is. Now if I could only trust Peacock to have replays

 

[icetug]

18 excellent skaters will be missing, some of them who didn’t medal or participate in the Olympics.

Much more than 18. But 168 elite skaters will participate, and that's a relief.

 

[4everchan]

I just thought I would share an athlete's perspective.

Laurent Dubreuil who is right now competing in the ISU sprint world championship (speed skating) on the exclusion of Russian and Belarussian athletes from the ISU events. (He placed 1st in the 500 meter today)

Je suis désolé pour les patineurs puisque ce n’est pas leur faute, affirme l’athlète. Ils subissent eux aussi. Mais quand un pays déclare une guerre comme ça, au 21e siècle, il faut prendre les mesures nécessaires pour dissuader le pays de continuer dans cette folie-là. Les athlètes russes sont des victimes, mais ils sont moins des victimes que les Ukrainiens qui se font bombarder. C’est un mal nécessaire pour faire changer les choses. Même si ce n’est pas de leur faute, il y aurait eu un malaise d’avoir des Russes sur la ligne de départ.


My translation

I feel sorry for the skaters because it's not their fault. They also suffer. However when a country declares such a war, in the 21st Century, sanctions are necessary to dissuade that country to continue in such craziness ! The Russian athletes are victims, but not as much as the Ukrainians who are getting bombarded. It is necessary to have things change. Even if it's not their fault, the Russian athletes' presence on the start line would have been very uneasy to accept for the other athletes.

 

[ladyjane]

I am looking forward to Worlds. It is such a great competition after the Olympics. I like Worlds especially in Olympic years. Some medallists will not take part, nor will any Russian, Belarussian or Chinese skaters. So? We will see some new talents, skaters from many countries in all disciplines. Wow!

 

[ladyjane]

I just thought I would share an athlete's perspective.

Laurent Dubreuil who is right now competing in the ISU sprint world championship (speed skating) on the exclusion of Russian and Belarussian athletes from the ISU events. (He placed 1st in the 500 meter today)

Je suis désolé pour les patineurs puisque ce n’est pas leur faute, affirme l’athlète. Ils subissent eux aussi. Mais quand un pays déclare une guerre comme ça, au 21e siècle, il faut prendre les mesures nécessaires pour dissuader le pays de continuer dans cette folie-là. Les athlètes russes sont des victimes, mais ils sont moins des victimes que les Ukrainiens qui se font bombarder. C’est un mal nécessaire pour faire changer les choses. Même si ce n’est pas de leur faute, il y aurait eu un malaise d’avoir des Russes sur la ligne de départ.


My translation

I feel sorry for the skaters because it's not their fault. They also suffer. However when a country declares such a war, in the 21st Century, sanctions are necessary to dissuade that country to continue in such craziness ! The Russian athletes are victims, but not as much as the Ukrainians who are getting bombarded. It is necessary to have things change. Even if it's not their fault, the Russian athletes' presence on the start line would have been very uneasy to accept for the other athletes.

He's right!

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

After thinking about this for the past few days, I don't support banning the Russian skaters from all ISU competitions indefinitely.
Looking through social media there is already so much hate and resentment on both sides and this just escalates it further. You've got to keep some doors open for a dialogue to solve this conflict, otherwise we will have the iron curtain all over again and it will be everybody's loss.
Another thought, couldn't it be even beneficial to get the Russian teams out of the grasp of state propaganda just for a week and show them the other side of the story? The skating community is very small and maybe if some of the Russian athletes hear about the plight of their Ukrainian neighbours first-hand they will think twice about attending that post-Olympic meeting with Putin and stay instead (unfortunately, of course) at home in bed with a possibly contagious illness...

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

As much as it sucks to not have Russian skaters compete, I actually think it's super intriguing to see who will pull out all the stops and rise to the pressure of a potential medal whereas before the stakes weren't as high if they were presumed to be off the podium because of Russians competing. I would love for the Japanese pair for example to snag a medal (although if it's J/R I'd be happy with that too, lol!), and of course, ladies will be very interesting with Korea potentially winning a medal or the US winning their first Worlds medal in a while. Hendrickx snagging a medal would be amazing too!

Arguably, there's MORE pressure on these countries with Russia removed from the equation, which makes it exciting.

This also opens up a lot of country spots as well, with several disciplines having the potential to give their countries more opportunities next season if they get multiple spots instead of being restricted to only 1 or 2 with Russian presence. Georgia, for example, is on the rise and has a huge opportunity to gain more spots in all disciplines, which could set the groundwork for an amazing quadrennial from them.

I mean, it was still a likelihood, but I'm glad Spain will (hopefully!) FINALLY get 2 damn spots for their dance teams, lol!

 

[Myr]

Another thought, couldn't it be even beneficial to get the Russian teams out of the grasp of state propaganda just for a week and show them the other side of the story?

I do not think that it is necesarry to allow the Russian skaters to attend Worlds just so they can see the other side of the story, they are young they have acces to the internet, they know what is going on.

 

[millie]

Minus the Quads for women,
the World Figure skating Championships will be all about skating not the tricks. Enjoy

 

[Erin9]

Plushenko: Everyone wants peace.

Also Plushenko: I believe in our President.

At least his jumping was consistent.

Well said.

That makes no sense at all.

 

[lariko]

Much more than 18. But 168 elite skaters will participate, and that's a relief.

I don’t see how it is any relief???

I hoped so much for this season to go so differently, with pandemic receding and the competitions opening up, starting to travel and seeing the skaters live. To finally have 3 Russian men in the worlds. Maybe travel to see JWC. Wait for the next year’s GP assignments.

And what do we have?

Completely ruined Olympics, my personal favs all doing so badly there, and now there is a war.

Now, about the only thing that could go even worse, is for Calgary to drop the 2023 JWC.

 

[cisum88note]

This. I hope we are blaming certain Russian individuals who are doing the wrong thing, not Russia or Russians. Of course Russian culture has bad parts, but so does every culture. I am grateful for all that Russian athletes and coaches have contributed to figure skating over the decades, and I love the beautiful Russian culture as a whole. I pray for Ukraine, and I also pray for all the people in Russia who have been funneled into following a man who does not have their best interests in mind. I hope we can all have compassion on them too.

There are 150,000 Russians currently invading Ukraine. None of them are Putin, his high-level officials, or oligarchs. There must be true costs for invading a democratic and peaceful country that did nothing to provoke action. Bans from sports are some of the lesser consequences, especially when those athletes are funded by the government and used for direct propaganda.

 

[whatif]

There are 150,000 Russians currently invading Ukraine. None of them are Putin, his high-level officials, or oligarchs. There must be true costs for invading a democratic and peaceful country that did nothing to provoke action. Bans from sports are some of the lesser consequences, especially when those athletes are funded by the government and used for direct propaganda.

We should. Let's take note of this post the next time USA decides to liberate another country. We should not wait too long. I am sure.

 

[skatedreamer]

It also will evidently be missing Jason Brown, which from a strictly personal skating perspective for me, means it is missing one of the world’s best men’s skaters. The sixth best, as a matter of fact. That doesn’t make it any less Worlds and does not detract from the competition.

This is why I sometimes get really annoyed about quads. With or without quads, Jason is a wonderful skater and deserves far more recognition than he gets, especially for his artistry. And his split jumps...!

Worlds will be fine. I just think it would be better with Jason in it.

 

[lariko]

Minus the Quads for women,
the World Figure skating Championships will be all about skating not the tricks. Enjoy

I don’t like skating without quads. Why are you calling the quads tricks? They are jumps that require mastery, just like every other element. How's a spin good, 2Lo good, but a 4T, oh, no, no, that's bad? I don't understand the logic. Like, should Wakaba not jump 3A now? Because it's one rotation too much? Also, if people don't want quads, nobody should jump quads...

 

[Ganya]

This is why I sometimes get really annoyed about quads. With or without quads, Jason is a wonderful skater and deserves far more recognition than he gets, especially for his artistry. And his split jumps...!

Worlds will be fine. I just think it would be better with Jason in it.

In Jason's case, it's strictly without quads

 

[el henry]

In Jason's case, it's strictly without quads

A deliberate choice that he made for Olympics, and look how it turned out. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that he decided to omit the quad attempt and just lay down those athletically intricate programs, filled with difficult elements, that are Sinnerman and Schindler's List. And that in particular I will be able to watch that version of SL again and again and again.

That he was scored ahead of so many skaters who landed quads is just icing on the cake.

 

[yyzskater]

Russia is appealing the FIFA and UEFA decision to not allow their teams to play in upcoming international competitions. I wonder if they will do the same with the ISU?