under 17
The planned congress of the International Skating Union (ISU) started in Phuket, Thailand. On June 6, the event was opened and the first seminars were held, and on June 7, the official three-day session began. And the first meeting of the figure skating division brought the most important news that would affect the development of the entire sport.
Congress has decided to raise the age limit for adult competitions to 17.
The minimum age for figure skaters and female skaters to compete in senior international competitions will be gradually increased. In the 2022/23 season, everything will remain unchanged and it will be possible to start an adult career from the age of 15, from the 2023/24 campaign the bar will be raised by one year and from the 2024/25 season the minimum age for figure skaters in international competitions for Adults will be 17.
The decision was taken by an overwhelming majority. 100 members of Congress voted in favor of raising the age limit, 16 voted against, and two abstained.
Are you trying to extend your career?
The idea of raising the age limit in figure skating has been on the agenda at the ISU convention in recent years. It is believed that in this way it will be possible to extend the careers of figure skaters and make women’s figure skating “more feminine”.
In the current realities, athletes reach the peak of their abilities very early, and young girls have much higher opportunities than older skaters, since puberty significantly reduces the body’s ability to perform complex jumps, especially quads.
As a result, in all major competitions in recent years, figure skaters who have just left the junior competitions have won. The other side of the coin is that they quickly cross the top and fall from the contenders for victory, which leads to an early end to their careers.
One example is PyeongChang 2018 Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, who won the main event and nearly all major competitions in her first year as a senior, and then managed to stay at the same level for just one more season. And even in it, Zagitova was inferior to the younger generation, but still managed to win the world championship, where the students of the new generation Eteri Tutberidze could not yet perform.
But after Alina, she no longer competed, although she did not officially announce her retirement. And Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova and Alena Kostornaya, who replaced her, lost the status of the main favorites at the next Games to the even younger Kamila Valieva.
When it comes to adult athletes, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who is the current top 25-year-old in female figure skating, is a super veteran and a rare exception to the rules. At the same time, a student of Alexei Mishin claims that at best he fought for bronze in the main starts and did not get into the Olympic team.
decision against Russia
Experts believe that the introduction of an increased age limit, although reasonable, will primarily hit Russia, because it is the young Russian skaters who win almost all major competitions and often take the entire podium.
Therefore, the representative of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKR), Sergey Sviridov, at the first seminar at the ISU congress opposed the introduction of new age rules.
“We think career extension in figure skating is very important and should be done. These goals are good and we support them. However, Sviridov said that the thesis that women’s singles skating athletes left as soon as they won Olympic victories is not entirely true.
– If we look deeper, it’s not just girls – with a few exceptions, in all disciplines that they left after the Olympics. Then someone comes back, someone skates like Yuzuru Hanyu but most of them go.
Why? Why? This is a commercial matter. In the show, figure skaters sometimes win almost more than prize money in competitions.
We think we need to give them financial motivation to keep them in the sport. Raising the age limit might be a good solution, but it won’t fix the problem. If we really want to extend careers, we should consider giving skaters the opportunity to earn money to support the educational process and daily life. ”
Akatieva’s tragedy
The new rules will hit Russia’s rising skating star Sofia Akatieva the hardest. The two-time Russian junior champion and one of the most promising figure skaters in the world was born on July 7, 2007, a week late to receive adult status in the new season.
But now, instead of a year, she will wait until she has been in adult figure skating for three years, because in a year she will not turn 16 on the deadline, and two – 17.
There is only one happy thing in this situation: Akatieva will receive the status of an adult skater for the 2026 Olympics, where she can become one of the main favorites of the competition.
“We have to fulfill”
As for other decisions of the first days of the congress, the ISU extended the expulsion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions. Sanctions also apply to ISU officials from Russia and Belarus. Competitions will not be held on the territory of these countries under the auspices of the union.
This applies to both figure skaters and speed skaters and short track skaters suspended from international competitions in early spring due to a special Russian military operation on the territory of Ukraine. The decision will remain in effect until further notice.
“The decision is known, I think it is quite subtle: it was not removed immediately for two years, it was made gradually. First a year, then another year. The decision has been made, we just have to fulfill it, ”says the famous Soviet skater Irina Rodnina, commenting on this decision for socialbites.ca.
In addition, the Congress did not accept the proposal put forward by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to increase the maximum age allowed to be elected to the position of an official of the organization. The age had to be increased from 75 to 80, but only 38 voted in favour, three abstentions, and 77 against.
Thus, Alexander Lakernik will have to leave the post of vice president of the ISU, as his powers have expired, and in February the officer turned 77. Lakernik has served as vice president of the association since 2016.