All is Quiet on the Western Front


All is Quiet on the Western Front

Originally published Sept/Oct 2017 PS Magazine


 It has been a little over a year since Ottavio Cinquanta finally left office as the President of the ISU. I’ve missed writing about him. There has been little to complain about that I haven’t already written about. So I went to the ISU website and poked around. Interesting…
There are currently fifty-seven ISU office holders which include only two Russians. Yes you read that right. Of the people that run the events and make the rules only two are from Russia. There are thirteen Council Members and only one who is Russian- 2nd Vice President for Figure Skating, Alexander Lakernik. What strikes me as a significant change is that Cinquanta, who once said, “I don’t know figure skating so well,” was a polar opposite from the new ISU president, Jan Dijkema of the Netherlands. Mr. Dijkema, who will be president until the spring of 2018, has stayed away from influencing the direction of figure skating. He is letting the “experts” set the agenda. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Please don’t take this as a condemnation of Mr. Lakernik, who chaired the Singles and Pairs Committee for almost 15 years. Ottavio Cinquanta wanted figure skating to be quantitive. Who better to quantify a sport than a mathematician? Unfortunately, the quantification of the sport has taken a toll on the artistic side. Maybe not so much at the very top of the sport, but as I wrote regarding Nathan Chen and the weight of the quad, the technical scores are becoming overly dominant.

Now enter the new chair of the Singles and Pairs Technical Committee, Fabio Bianchetti. At the recent Broadmoor Open, Mr. Bianchetti, held an open meeting to discuss the future of IJS. Very interesting to say the least. Beginning after the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeong Chang, the scale of values will reduce the base values of the triple Axel and all quads. This will be needed because the grade of execution will be expanded from -5 to +5. All senior programs will be 4:00 minutes in length, all juniors 3:30, with the men in both levels eliminating one jump pass. 
Moving forward from there will be crucial. Mr. Bianchetti talked about the vision. The possibility of moving away from a short program and free skate, and introducing a technical program and artistic program. Even more interesting is the fact that a title could be awarded separately for each program and a third for a combined event. Each program will be judged using the IJS system but designed separately for each program. The technical program would be very similar to today’s IJS with a few minor modifications. Program Components would factored at 33% and no vocal music would be allowed. The artistic program, however, would be very different and include vocal music. No quads would be allowed and the program components would be weighed at a factor of 66%. Jumps would have a GOE but no edge or rotation calls.
On paper it looks very interesting. What actually happens…who knows? One thing for sure is someone is finally thinking outside the box. I wish Mr. Bianchetti the best and I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

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