ISU bans Russia and Belarus from competitions

[Arigato]

I'm glad he showed his stuff at the Olympics but I think he's had his moment to shine this season, and giving Malinin the opportunity to slay at Worlds is the right thing to do.

Jason:

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Ilia:

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4 quads in the program and he still couldn't outscore Jason. Is this a good look for the sport?

 

[Ziotic]

Jason:

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Ilia:

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4 quads in the program and he still couldn't outscore Jason. Is this a good look for the sport?

Absolutely!

 

[lariko]

Are they closing sports schools in Canada? There aren't that many of them around already...

I am in Calgary and our Olympic school got shut down just before pandemic, despite the parents protesting. I thought it was sad.

 

[gstrain]

The dangers of publicly speaking out against the war and Putin is real. Ask the 7000+ detainer Russians who protested...

A great many of the very top Russian chess players are publicly speaking out against the war, despite possible consequences to themselves:

'Stop the war.' 44 Top Russian Players Publish Open Letter To Putin

Forty-four top Russian chess players published an open letter to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, voicing firm opposition to the war in Ukraine and expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Signees include the most recent world championship challenger, GM Ian...

www.chess.com

Of course chess players are generally older than figure skaters and also perhaps spend more time on analytical thinking.

 

[lariko]

Sorry, Russia kids' access is not a priority at this juncture. Ukrainian kids could only wish that such a problem was on their radar. Creating pressure to overthrow Putin is only priority right now.

This is not for this thread, but tbh, the priority number 1 is to stop the war, then rebuild Ukraine and ensure its safety. If Russians couldn’t establish a society ruled by law, overthrowing Putin will change absolutely nothing except for the last name.

 

[el henry]

.....

4 quads in the program and he still couldn't outscore Jason. Is this a good look for the sport?

Yes.

ETA: The best look ever for the sport of figure skating, to see all the elements rewarded instead of just one isolated element.

 

[theblade]

Many skaters are born in countries with *very* different political and social systems than our own. In every country, most citizens are not necessarily fully represented by their government. So a blanket condemnation of citizens and/or athletes can often lack nuance. Athletes are informed by the traveling that they do and the other countries that they see. To think that they want to live in a time of war when they've achieved a high level of excellence during more peaceful times - that would probably be reflective of precious few athletes.

The covert use of banned performance-enhancing substances is a separate but also intertwined aspect of this mess. Skaters don't want to feel like they are participating in two events at one competition - one for "augmented" athletes, and another for clean participants. And since doping/enhancements are always a step ahead of the testing agencies, competition results feel murky, with a potential asterisk attached to them. Russian skaters always bring something to a competition - many are legends of the sport - so between the Olympics and recent current events, things have changed dramatically since less than a month ago.

There are few winners in this situation. Wishing peace and safety for Ukrainians - and Russians. Anyone who has had parents that fought in WW2, as my father did, or lived under a repressive regime, knows that citizens - and that includes athletes - are often caught in the middle.

 

[lariko]

Yes.

ETA: The best look ever for the sport of figure skating, to see all the elements rewarded instead of just one isolated element.

But all elements are always rewarded. I will never understand that insistence that it’s the case. Like, I wish it was so, then finally I can see Grassl medal… but no, Cha without quads outscores him. Like, if quads are the only thing rewarded, where are my beloved quadsters winning?

 

[anonymoose_au]

That’s what I keep hoping for.

I'm not sure this is the cure-all though.

I'm 100 % sure the next step is that no-one who trains in Russia with Russian coaches will be allowed to compete no matter what country they represent. Heck they may not even need to be former Russians - for example Brendan Kerry trains in Russia, but he is an Aussie citizen, also Sara H and Kirill K who train with Zhulin, but they are Spanish citizens, but I can see the sports bodies refusing to allow them to compete to prevent this loophole.

So sure the ISU could loosen the restrictions, but I'm quite sure it will be with the provision the skater not train in Russia. Skaters like Anastasia G, Moris K, Ekaterina Ryabova will need to leave in order to continue their careers.

The sporting world is trying to apply pressure to get the Russian Government to stop. Allowing Russian-trained sportspeople the compete just because they're using a different flag is contrary to what they're trying to do.

 

[chuckm]

Ekaterina Kurakova was born in Russia, but skates for Poland. She was previously trained by Brian Orser, but had to change coaches because the Canadian CoVid isolation requirements were tough for international competitors. She now trains in Italy with Lorenzo Magri.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Jason:

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skatingscores.com

Ilia:

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skatingscores.com

4 quads in the program and he still couldn't outscore Jason. Is this a good look for the sport?

Well firstly you’re comparing two very different competitions. So I don’t know how anyone would claim it to be a bad look when the two skaters weren’t competing head to head.

Jason’s score at the Olympics was pretty darn inflated, as Olympic scores tend to be but he still skated well and visually had no errors. If someone saw Malinin’s skate they would have been like oh he fell.

And, along with lacking Brown’s artistry, Malinin has nowhere nearly the same international clout as Brown so of course he isn’t going to get a Kondratiuk style PCS boost that would help him clear 180.

Are you honestly musing that a quad less Brown managed to beat Malinin - who hasn’t even had a GP event yet - at a non head to head at some random event compared to the Olympics?

(FYI Malinin’s FS score at Challenge Cup was better than all of Brown’s other free skates this season.

And FWIW it was kind of a bad look that Brown lost to a two-fall Hanyu and a one-fall Cha but Brown’s relative lack of tech difficulty does make it easier to explain to people.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Perhaps, the best place for discussing Brown is US Men Thread or the World’s entries discussion if you want to talk about multiple World entrants. Brown also has a fan fest. There is, perhaps, no need to turn every thread into a discussion of Brown, Brown and Brown.

But we are talking about *Russian* splits! Totally on-topic.

 

[icetug]

Like, I wish it was so, then finally I can see Grassl medal… but no, Cha without quads outscores him. Like, if quads are the only thing rewarded, where are my beloved quadsters winning?

4S and 4T are not "quads"? I'd say it's better to have one of the best 4S in the business than so-so 4Lz with q and an edge call... You just have to know how to be a quadster

 

[mirai4life]

wow, a Women's competition without the Russian? What a dream for me. Now, it's unpredictable and exciting. No stupid quads to make the competition so boring and predictable. Anyway, i do feel bad for the athletes who have gone through a lot due to the doping incident and now this.

 

[pearly]

wow, a Women's competition without the Russian? What a dream for me. Now, it's unpredictable and exciting. No stupid quads to make the competition so boring and predictable. Anyway, i do feel bad for the athletes who have gone through a lot due to the doping incident and now this.

*prerotated quads. Thanks.

 

[Lechat]

A great many of the very top Russian chess players are publicly speaking out against the war, despite possible consequences to themselves:

'Stop the war.' 44 Top Russian Players Publish Open Letter To Putin

Forty-four top Russian chess players published an open letter to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, voicing firm opposition to the war in Ukraine and expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Signees include the most recent world championship challenger, GM Ian...

www.chess.com

Of course chess players are generally older than figure skaters and also perhaps spend more time on analytical thinking.

Many russian people are against this war. Honestly, I don´t know what Putin wants. What’s the point to destroy Ukraine ?
Even his own army is left alone (out of gas) and the irony is ukrainian people help them, allowing their mums to take them.

 

[lariko]

4S and 4T are not "quads"? I'd say it's better to have one of the best 4S in the business than so-so 4Lz with q and an edge call... You just have to know how to be a quadster

Cha fell on his only one? Mozalev has beautiful 4T, but he has to get a second quad or he will never compete. Well, he might never compete regardless, but still. Those unwritten rules are too convoluted to follow.

 

[lariko]

But we are talking about *Russian* splits! Totally on-topic.

thank you for this one. It made me feel even more depressed on this awful morning as a fan and as a person.

 

[icetug]

Cha fell on his only one?

On his only one 4T, yes. But his 4S both in SP and FS got high GOE, 3.33 and 3.19 respectively. Only Kagiyama got better score for his 4S

 

[Myr]

Cha fell on his only one? Mozalev has beautiful 4T, but he has to get a second quad or he will never compete. Well, he might never compete regardless, but still.

Cha had two quads in the FS a 4T (which I think he fell on) and a beautful 4S. Grassl outscored him in the FS by about 5 points.

However Grassl was 9 points behind due to his SP, where he got a warning on both his lutzes and a q on his quad while Cha skated perfectly with a very nice 4S.