On the Scene: World Figure Skating Championships in L.A.

International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)

Judging Still Inspires Debate at World Figure Skating Championships

The 2009 World Championships ended without a major judging controversy, although there was grousing about the men's and ice dancing scoring and results.

International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta told Around the Rings the current scoring system which began in 2004 is widely accepted.

"This doesn't mean that it's perfect," he said, "because if it's perfect, you cannot improve it."

Cinquanta said the scoring system -- in which singles skaters can score more than 200 points -- is better than the old 6.0 system which ranked skaters. That's because it quantifies what the skaters do on the ice with point values and pluses or minuses for quality.

"You have to move a step back and to consider what is figure skating?" Cinquanta said. "Is it a sport? Or is it entertainment? If it is a sport, I am the president of the ISU and I have to determine how you win a competition. If it is a show, you can do what you want."

He compared the quality of skating to someone dining at a restaurant in London. "Do you pay for an omelette the same price of a filet?" he asked, "If I do a triple jump, it's better than a double, provided the triple is a good jump. If it is no good, I will not get the total number of points."

He also defended the emphasis on elements over artistry.

"Artistry is in the museum, not in the ice rink," he said. "I am a sport administrator, I am not an entrepreneur, earning money with shows and exhibitions. And those athletes who skate in the Olympic Games, they want to win the medal on the podium. They are not there to get the encore applause like the Scala or Covent Garden.

"This is the progress. And due to the fact that I am not a genius, but I am not an idiot, I use the progress, the technology, the video replay system and computer. Why not? Would you undergo surgery in a hospital where they don't have high technology? No. Why should I conduct the ISU and figure skating events in a cowboy system? Tell me."

Skaters Speak Out

Men's silver medalist Patrick Chan of Canada scored lower on components than bronze medalist Brian Joubert of France in both the free skate and the short program. After Chan's short program score was announced, some members of the crowd at the Staples Center booed.

Joubert fell badly on a triple Axel in the free skate, dropping from first place.

When told he had scored lower than Joubert on the components, Chan said, "No kidding?" according to Canadian press reports. "That's bad, that's really disappointing. I was watching Brian last night and said, 'Are you serious? Are you kidding me? This is his program?' That's really unfortunate, I'm really disappointed and hopefully they discuss it."

"I don't know who the boss is," he added, "but I'm pretty sure he's going to be upset about what happened. I think it's good that it's happening now and this didn't happen at the Olympics, I think that would be really bad. They'll be discussing it and hopefully spread the word to more judges."

There were also boos after the free dance score was announced for U.S. couple Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who placed second.

Belbin said she was disappointed there was no U.S. judge on the panel for any of the three dances.

"But that's our sport," Belbin said. "That's what we have. Obviously, I want the same advantage everybody else has."

System Still Confusing to Spectators

David Raith, executive director of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, said skating organizations need to provide more education about how the new judging system works.

U.S. Figure Skating Association executive director David Raith. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)"It is much more objective now," he said. "There's still some subjectivity to it, and -- welcome to figure skating. That's why we love figure skating. There's a balance between subjectivity and objectivity, whereas before it was all subjectivity."

Raith said he's heard from fans who liked the old subjective way better. "Well, it's changed," he said. "The sooner we can educate people the better."

Television and the Economy

Cinquanta was disappointed that NBC, the U.S. broadcaster, did not show the men's final live on television.

"The situation here (United States) may not be good for TV but in Asia it is still good," he said.

"If last night's event was not live on TV it is not the ISU's fault. We asked for it. If figure skating is going down in TV in this country, we are sorry, but the standard is very high. We are improving the quality. If it is not acceptable by the market what can we do? We are not a marketing company."

In addition, Canadian national broadcaster CBC announced that it was scaling back its figure skating coverage as part of an overall cost cutting plan.

"Unfortunately, I see a very dark horizon for sport," Cinquanta said. "Sport is too expensive and it's becoming more and more expensive, regardless of the current economic crisis that we see on the front page of every newspaper and they talk about on every newscast. Even before the crisis we had problems and after the crisis we still have problems.

"Maybe the golden moment for sponsorship and TV is over. The ISU is satisfied, we are still keeping a certain speed. I don't say satisfied in the sense that we are enthusiastic, but we are in good shape. We survive very well. We are strong enough."

Canadians Unhappy with Time Schedule

The pairs short program ended at 2:45 a.m. Eastern time -- 11:45 p.m. on the West Coast, which is still late.

"It might as well be in Asia," Canada's high performance director Mike Slipchuk told Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun. "It's on our own continent, but a lot of people are not going to find out the results until the next morning. It's out of our control. In Canada, we're in the position where interest is building again."

Too Many Competitors?

Cinquanta said he will make a proposal to the ISU Council about reducing the number of competitors at Worlds by establishing new qualifying standards. The 2009 Worlds had 216 entrants from 52 countries. There were 54 competitors in the ladies event, so the short program took a whopping eight hours. Only the top 24 advanced to the free skate.

"I believe that you cannot in a championship have a skater who's performing more than 200 points and another skater performing 90 points," Cinquanta said. "This is a championships, not a festival.

"If the standard of skating is so poor, the ISU should change it.

The full ISU Congress in Barcelona in June 2010 would have to approve a resumption of the qualifying round that ended in 2006.

Now any ISU member can send at least one skater per discipline to Worlds. Countries can send up to three entrants in each event if they've qualified at the previous Worlds.

Too Few Judges?

The United States may put forth a proposal about the number of judges in the pool. Raith said the USFSA has a study group working on a proposal to the ISU. Proposals for rule changes are due in September.

Originally, there were 12 judges in the pool, with nine chosen for the panel. The high and low scores would be dropped and seven scores would count. Earlier this season, the pool became nine judges, with seven picked for the panel. When the high and low are dropped, that leaves five scores.

"We felt that having more judges provided a bigger selection," Raith said. "If you bring the sample down to a smaller number, it starts to create a perception that a fewer number of people are making that decision versus a larger number."

Cinquanta scoffed at the idea of more judges. "Why not 75?" he told ATR.

Turin Reintroduces Itself

The organizing committee for the Turin 2010 World Championships put out a lavish brunch spread, including various desserts.(ATR/Panasonic: Lumix)Turin hosted a lavish brunch to remind the skating world of their 2006 Winter Olympic experience and provide a sneak peek at plans for the 2010 World Championships March 21-28. The event will be held at the Olympic venue, the 8,250-seat Palavela. More than 30,000 spectators and 350 journalists are expected.

The 2010 event will celebrate 100 years of the World Championships. Even though the competition began in 1896, 14 were cancelled because of World War I, World War II and the tragic plane crash en route to the 1961 Worlds that claimed the lives of the U.S. team.

Shuzuka Arakawa, the 2006 women’s gold medalist, has agreed to be a spokesperson for Turin’s events and spoke at the brunch.

"Torino is the most precious moment of my life," Arakawa said.

Written by Karen Rosen

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