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Blog

ISU official: 'Radical change' could be on the way

SYWTW FS

Highlights:

Lowering quad BVs in men’s and pairs:

The change would involve substantially lowering the base values of quadruple jumps and, for pairs, quadruple throws. For three of the five quads being done in men’s singles, the reduction would be more than 10 percent, according to proposed numbers obtained by icenetwork.

Possible “athletic program and artistic program”:

Another change may include replacing the current short program and free skate with what would effectively be an athletic program and an artistic program. Each would award full medals in events like the Olympics and the world championships, and there also would be a full medal for the all-around winner.

“Everything is possible,” Bianchetti wrote. “At the moment, it is absolutely too early to say anything. The intention is to have three different medals: one for technical, one for artistic and one all-around, but how it will be for sure is impossible to say now.”

While the scoring changes could go into effect for the 2018-19 season, the plan for new programs may have to wait until after the 2022 Olympic Games.

Reducing BV of 3A:

The ISU proposal also calls for a 6 percent reduction in base value of the triple axel and double-digit percentage reductions in the base values of quad throws in pairs. In the latter case, the ISU is concerned not only about one element having an outsized effect on the results but also the occurrence of injury with the top pairs trying quad throws.

Reducing program lengths, removing a jumping pass, new GOE scale:

The ISU already has approved changes that will impact the TES totals in men’s singles and pairs beginning with the 2018-19 season: reducing the free skate time by 30 seconds, to four minutes, and eliminating one of the men’s eight jumping passes. Because there is not a finite TES maximum like there is with PCS, removing one major element should bring the scores closer together.

The ISU also has already signed off on another scoring change for 2018-19, increasing the number of Grade of Execution (GOE) scores from seven (+3 through -3, including 0) to 11 (+5 through -5, also including 0). The interval between the scores would be set at 10 percent of the base value, as opposed to the current system, which has no standardized relationship to the base value.

For instance, a +2 on a triple lutz now adds 1.4 to a base value of 6.0, a 23 percent bonus, while a +2 on a quad lutz adds 2.0 to a base value of 13.6, a 14 percent bonus.

Bianchetti said the decrease in base value of “some elements that at present is extremely high…should also produce a better balance between the technical and components scores that now is in favor of the technical part.

"But the biggest effect,” he continued, “would be to give in the technical mark more credit to the quality of an element (with the wider range of GOEs), enlarging the difference between a very good element and a very bad one.”

Reactions of coaches to these changes/proposals:

“If the intent is to weight artistry differently, cutting the program is contrary to that,” Ade said. “What allows artistry is more time. One of the things (skaters like Jason) do so well is use music to tell a story. The current length is comfortable for him to get into the story.”

Brian Orser, who coaches world champions Hanyu and Fernández, also thinks a shorter program will make it more difficult to display the sport’s ideal: a “total package.”

“You will have to be a very good skater to manage doing all the elements and have a program with attention to transitions, choreography, meaning and cohesiveness,” Orser said. “It’s going to be very difficult physically, even for top skaters, to do this. And I have junior men who tell me it is easier to do a senior long program (4 minutes, 30 seconds) than a junior program (four minutes).”

One of the reasons quads have become so valuable, Ade believes, is judges being overly generous with the GOEs they award for the jump.

“I haven’t seen anyone with intricate steps or connections into a quad,” she said. “The bullet points for GOE are not adhered to for quads.”

Timeline of proposals:

Bianchetti said there will be a test event to evaluate all the new criteria “so we can make sure we can submit the best proposal to the next ISU Congress.” He did not know if it would be possible to have a proposal on the replacement of the short program and free skate ready for consideration by the 2020 Congress.