- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
I'm sure we are all aware of that.Mathman said:It seems a little extreme to me that parents would go out and buy a house in the Pacific Northwest just so their daughter might have a better chance of finishing third in novices.
As for the World Championships, the problem is that the event is the ISU World Championships. Each ISU member has the right to send its champion to worlds, however bad he or she may be. That is one of the perks you get when you sign up and pay your dues.
The idea of an open championship where the athletes are at center stage instead of the member federations -- that would require a complete re-thinking of what the ISU is all about.
We are just discussing hopping regions and other sundry matters of skaters trying to get to their Nats or Worlds. The ISU is a well established Organization which has organized figure skating based on nationality rather than on skaters themselves. We are not trying to change anything. (Impossible anyway.) It's a discussion on what the purpose of a Nationals or World Championships means?
Is the purpose of the ISU to come up with the most proficient country? or to come up with the most proficient skater(s)?
If one believes in the former, then the ISU is doing the right thing by limiting the number of participants from any given nation. The USFS has certain powers and it regulates its own Nationals. If it allows region hopping, then perhaps more proficient contestants will emerge. If not, lesser proficient contestants have a shot at the Nats. What should it be?
In the cases of the ISU where nationality is the limiting factor one has to think of a skater like Yukina Ota. A beautiful skater who will never see the World Championships and yet, if permitted to participate, would more than likely be a top 10 skater in the World.
Some skaters have been successful in country hopping, but I don't think Yukina will be that lucky.
Joe