Proposals for rule changes that will be discussed and voted on at the ISU Congress in Seville, Spain, June 4-8, 2018.
Summary of some interesting new proposals for figure skating under the cut. See this post for more proposals.
This post will be updated with news of accepted/rejected proposals during the ISU Congress.
PROPOSAL 194. NETHERLANDS (pg. 84): Split judging panels so that 5-7 judges will mark only GOE and 5-7 judges will mark only PCS at international ISU events. No less than 3 judges on a panel will judge either PCS or GOE. Whether a judge scores PCS or GOE is decided by draw 45 minutes before each segment of a competition. Reasoning: To improve efficiency and fairness by making judges’ duties more specific. [Rejected]
PROPOSAL 212. NETHERLANDS (pg. 89): If Proposal 194 passes, increase panel of judges at the Winter Olympics to 14: 7 for GOE and 7 for PCS. [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 197. CANADA (pg. 84): Maximum of 2 jumping passes in the singles short program and 4 in the free skate will receive a 10% base value bonus when performed in the second half of the program. Reasoning: To promote well-balanced programs. [Rejected]
PROPOSAL 198. JAPAN (pg. 84): Maximum of 1 jumping pass in the singles short program and 3 in the free skate will receive a 10% base value bonus when performed in the second half of the program. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 199. JAPAN (pg. 85): Bonus points given to skaters who cleanly execute 6 different types of triple or quad jumps in a singles free skate. [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 201. NETHERLANDS (pg. 85): Change PCS factor in men’s singles skating to 1.2 in the short program (previously 1.0) and 2.4 in the free skate (previously 2.0) in order to rebalance PCS and TES. [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 203. NETHERLANDS (pg. 85): Remove deductions for falls entirely. Reasoning: 1) Reductions are already taken in the form of GOE; 2) Judges should make mandatory reductions in PCS instead since falls disrupt a program; 3) Absolute point reductions for falls have an unequal impact on different disciplines and levels; 4) Reduce tech panel review time. [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 204 (pg. 85): The ISU will publish team results per national federation after each international competition, based on individual results in each discipline at the competition. Reasoning: To support the development of all skating disciplines. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 205. AUSTRIA (pg. 86): Separate World Standings for junior and senior skaters. [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 206 (pg. 86): Starting in the 2020-21 season, “if the number of entries for the World Figure Skating Championships is less than 42 in Single Skating, 28 in Pair Skating and 35 in Ice Dance, entered Skaters/Couples who have not reached the Minimum Total Elements Score will be allowed to participate in the Championships to fill the remaining open spots until the maximum numbers indicated above are reached. For this purpose, the Skaters/Couples will be listed based on the sum of their best Total Elements Scores in both programs (Short Program/Short Dance and Free Skating/Free Dance)… The Minimum Total Elements Score for each segment taken in consideration may be reached at different competitions. Skaters/Couples with the best sum of the Total Elements Scores will earn the right to fill the remaining open spots. In case of ties all the tied Skaters will participate.” [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 211 (pg. 89): Countries that earn 2 or 3 spots for the Olympics at Worlds will no longer automatically receive those spots. They will only receive 2 or 3 spots if 2 or 3 of their skaters, respectively, qualified for the free skate at Worlds. A country that earned 2 or 3 spots at Worlds but did not have enough skaters qualify for the free skate can send one skater to the Olympic Qualifying Event (Nebelhorn) to earn spot(s). This skater cannot have qualified for the free skate at Worlds. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 237. NORWAY (pg. 93): “An official should not post specific comments about the results of ISU events or post pictures/videos of competitive athletes on social media.” To improve professionalism in judging. [Withdrawn]
PROPOSAL 243. NETHERLANDS (pg. 95): The Officials Assessment Committee will publish a report on scoring anomalies and suspected national bias after each competition. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 245 (pg. 96): “Men must wear full length trousers and must not wear tights.” Delete “must not wear tights” from men’s singles costume restrictions. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 250 (pg. 97): Draws for the short program at senior Grand Prix events; see the agenda for more info. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 253 (pg. 98): Changes and clarifications regarding interruption of programs; see the agenda for more info. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 256 (pg. 101): “A jump sequence consists of 2 (two) jumps of any number of revolutions, beginning with any jump, immediately followed by an Axel type jump with a direct step from the landing curve of the first jump to the take-off curve of the Axel jump.” Only axels can be the second jump in a jump sequence. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 259 (pg. 101): Remove requirement for steps preceding the solo jump in the singles short program. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 261 (pg. 103): Amended - “Of all triple and quadruple jumps only two (2) can be executed twice. Of the two repetitions only one (1) can be a quadruple jump.” Only one quad can be repeated in the singles free skate. In order to reward skaters who have multiple types of quads. [Accepted]
PROPOSALS 265 & 266 (pg. 103): Remove the pair combination spin from the pairs’ short program and include only side-by-side spins. Remove the side-by-side spins from the pairs’ free skate and include only pair combination spins. Addition: Retain the choreographic sequence in the pairs’ free skate. [Accepted]
PROPOSAL 267 (pg. 104): All lifts in senior and junior pairs’ free programs must be from different groups. [Accepted]
Please see the document for more information. None of these proposals are set in stone until after the Congress. Proposals that have already passed at the previous ISU Congress, such as reducing the length of programs and changing the GOE scale from -5 to +5, remain unchanged. Changes in ice dance rules for the 2018-19 season can be seen here.