Figure skatingGrand Prix dilemma has no easy fix

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Surgery to both shins have put Canadian ice dancer Tessa Virtue's Grand Prix plans on hold. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

As I walked around the K-Rock Centre arena in Kingston, Ont., during the recent Skate Canada International competition, I was struck by the number of fans who came up to me, wanting to talk about the athletes who weren't competing during the Grand Prix events.

For Canadian fans, it meant disappointment in not seeing Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, along with Canadian champions Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, who are sidelined with injuries. Olympic bronze medallist Joannie Rochette is also taking some time off from competition.

This initiated my iAsk question - asking fans if they thought that skaters who chose not to compete during the Grand Prix season should be ineligible to compete at world championships. Although there were answers supporting both sides, the overwhelming sentiment sided with my Bold co-commentator, Olympic and world pairs champion David Pelletier, whose opinion was that skaters cannot be forced to compete.

Turning to the "big picture," I spoke with ISU first vice-president and former director general of Skate Canada, David Dore, to get his take on the situation.

When the skaters choose not to participate in one of the ISU Grand Prix events, which suffers most: the event or overall series?

"It hurts both," said Dore. "The event, because by the time withdrawals happen, appropriate substitutions have already been spoken for at other events, and the ISU because it throws off the balance of competitors at an event."

For instance, with the medical withdrawal of Virtue and Moir at Skate Canada - their next closest competitors, Olympic and world silver medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S., have long since been assigned to their two Grand Prix events.

Dore is the first one to say that the ISU has been very conscious about making the rules "skater-friendly," and agrees that you can't force people to do what they don't want to, but that the ISU's own rules about skater eligibility have been complicating things and may need revisiting.

Approval from federations

At this point, the skaters need only to have the approval of their own federation for their skating activity, and the federation, by virtue of belonging to the ISU, has the governing body's support.

The Grand Prix series has in fact been designated a "blackout" period for non-participating skaters. All parties understand that if a skater is able to participate in a non-ISU skating activity for compensation, then he or she should be able to participate in the Grand Prix event.

Dore says that "the process [of putting together entry lists for the Grand Prix events] is quite complicated as we set out to create a road map for the competitions in June with our own best intentions."

The first list of competitors is put together at that time in order to accommodate the skaters, coaches and federations, who then know when and where athletes will be skating.

In June, when the selections are completed, it all looks great on paper. But by the time October rolls around and the unforeseen happens, "it doesn't have any equity any longer," said Dore.

He equates the whole process to putting together a large and complicated puzzle where missing a couple of pieces can create a huge hole because the pieces cannot be easily replaced.

Achieving the balance between protecting the integrity of the events and respecting the individual needs of the skaters and federations is something that is important to Dore.

"The ISU does a pretty good job of protecting the interests of the skaters. Right now skaters are front and centre on the whole thing. The series of rules around eligibility is to protect skaters and make the ISU secondary," said Dore, adding that he has no problem with this focus.

Changes to skating landscape

Since the start of the 21st century, the changes to the skating landscape have been dramatic, in particular with the widespread use of the Internet.

"I think I would have to admit that it has impacted skating hugely. We still don't know enough yet to be able to take any action in the sense that it is impacting the sport and we need to figure out how to capitalize on it," said Dore.

According to Dore, while the ISU is aware that there is a need for more serious exploration and that "the skating community seems to think TV is the way to go in the absence of anything else," it should also be aware of the other options.

Keeping figure skating front and centre on the world stage requires a branding strategy for the ISU that Dore says is two-fold: the events and the people.

Where the people are concerned, short-track star Apolo Anton Ohno or Olympic gold medallist Evan Lysacek's involvement with the TV show Dancing With The Stars indirectly supports the ISU brand as both men are a result of the federation's system.

As for events, Dore recognizes that in these economic times, there is a need for event hosts and the ability to have their own name-brand recognition. There is a fine balance, though, between hosts and the ISU sharing branding opportunities while at the same time the ISU aims at improving its own branding displays over the next year or so.

Allowing his mind to wander when I asked him about how the sport will evolve by the time the 2022 Olympics roll around, Dore responded: "How people will evolve in the way they watch the sport will be what will likely change the most considerably."

He acknowledged that the 6.0 judging system was in place for about a hundred years and its replacement system should still be in place in 2022 while it continues to be adjusted and improved.

"I don't know what will change in skating in the coming years or that it would be possible to really predict or be on top of that at the moment," Dore said.

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