ISU World No36 October 2008

INTERNATIONAL SKATING UNION OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

INSIDE • ISU NEWS • ISU SCHOLARSHIPS • ISU EVENT CALENDAR • CONGRESS REVIEW • SEASON PREVIEW

NO 36 OCTOBER 2008

ISU COUNCIL The true involvement of a sport administrator in the sport activity automatically affects wider areas of the domain. The competition and its main actor, the athlete, remain crucial in sport. Of this there is no doubt, but today allow me to focus on a totally different area.

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More and more it is said that information is the basis of any kind of success. I believe that in sport visual communication is developing fast and maybe it has already gained so much ground that it can now form an alternative to what has positively accompanied sport for many decades, the announcer.

To translate in a few words what is visual communication one can mention the screen at the stadium and the video screen at home. To avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, I am not referring to the images of a competition. On the contrary I would like to say that what is normally announced or explained by an announcer using the traditional system is followed and understood by the public to a limited extent due to language barriers and the ambient noise of the arena. For the TV viewer, even if it is different, the result is the same.

A TV spectator is watching the screen to see the athlete in action. Commentary that is not inherent to the athlete’s performance receives only passing attention. I therefore believe that the system of communication should be radically changed.

To communicate a result, to inform on the program or change of it, to give technical explanations it could be certainly better to expose a message on a screen, so that people in attendance can learn much more than through the loud speakers. Of course this innovation has a cost, not so much when used on TV, but screens in a stadium mean remarkable expense since, in addition to the screen price, sometimes they may take up space resulting in the reduction of the number of seats available for the public. On the other hand the future is to serve spectators at best and the screen could become the ideal solution to meet the spectator’s essential need to be informed, to know and to understand.

It is clear that it is not enough to type and expose a message, because the organization needs to learn when to expose the message in order not to have a clash between the competition image and the text on the screen.

Bearing in mind that many sports face difficulty in finding financial resources on the market, the screen could be ‘appropriately’ used to expose commercial advertising. ‘Appropriate’ use means also protecting the true spirit of sport from the profit making business of advertising, which is welcome provided that it does not interfere with the essence of the event and aspirations of those gathering at the stadium. It is a complicated mission, but we are all prepared and aware that today nothing is easy with sport.

At the end of the day the project to expand what already exists, because we do not have the illusion of having invented anything, can prevent the costly exploration of using other systems. However I personally believe such alternatives are not as efficient as a sufficiently large screen with adequate visual scripts and positioned in the right place. As you may imagine, complications exist. I do not go further, hoping that the organizers will have a similar idea as the one I presented today on this ISU World issue.

Ottavio Cinquanta President, International Skating Union ISU World is the official newsletter of the International Skating Union Published and produced by ISU, Chemin de Primerose 2, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland Telephone: +41 21 612 66 66. Facsimile: +41 21 612 66 77.

Editorial board: Fredi Schmid, Devra Pitt Getaz, Rodney Lajoie.

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Front cover photograph: Carolina Kostner (ITA) photo by Koichi Kamoshida © Getty Images.

Photography: © Getty Images,© AFP, © VANOC, © Getty Images/AFP, Koji Watanabe, Joe Klamar.

At its June meeting the ISU Council announced the definitive allotment of the 2009 ISU Championships and provisional allotment of pending 2010 and 2011 Championships. Further decisions including the introduction this season of a new Junior World Cup circuit have been published in Communication 1513.

ISU Vice President David Dore has been elected as a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Over history less than 500 persons have held this honour across both winter and summer sports. Mr. Dore will be the first “builder” to be elected in Figure Skating and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on November 5, 2008 in Toronto (CAN).

Mr. Dore has previously received a number of honours including being twice awarded the Canadian Governor General Medal of Honour, inducted in the Skate Canada Figure Skating Hall of Fame and granted the Olympic Order.

SPORTS DIRECTORATE

As part of preparation for all major upcoming ISU Events, the Sports Directorate has updated the ISU Memorandum for holding ISU Events for each discipline. Youth activities have also been given attention with the further development of the Novice category and foundation of the ISU Junior Speed Skating World Cup. The implementation of the decisions of the 2008 Congress in Monaco have been discussed with the ISU Council and ISU Technical Committees and, among a number of documents prepared, a paper providing guidelines for advertisements and trademarks in Speed Skating is now available. Sport project development and Committee budget analysis work have also been completed. Finally the annual ISU Figure Skating Seminar in Frankfurt in July was again successful, bringing together all three Figure Skating disciplines and partners with 160 participants from 35 countries.

ISU TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

Further to the decisions of the 52nd ISU Ordinary Congress in Monaco the ISU Technical Committees have prepared the Special Regulations and Technical Rules 2008 for each ISU discipline. These publications are available on the ISU website.

Single & Pair Skating

The Technical Committee has also prepared key documents for the coming season including ISU Communication No. 1504 summarizing the main Congress decisions; ISU Communication No. 1505 providing a new approach to marking positive aspects of the Grade Of Execution (GOE) and an

ISU NEWS updated “First Aid” in Single and Pair Skating providing summarized reference information for Technical Controllers and Technical Specialists. ISU Education continued with members of the Committee serving as Moderators at the Judges Seminars in Frankfurt GER, Toronto CAN; Courchevel FRA and Winterthur SUI. In conjunction with the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf GER the Examination for qualification of ISU Championship Judges was held with 22 candidates taking part. For the first time the practical part of the Examination included programs shown on the screen with the task of identifying the elements and establishing their GOE’s

Ice Dance

In recent months the Technical Committee has focused on the Congress Resolution to change the format for Ice Dance to 2 parts for the Season 2010/2011 taking into account input from all concerned. A successful Asian Regional Novice/Junior/Senior Ice Dance Coaches/ Couples Seminar has been conducted in Beijing (CHN) with 54 participants. The Committee also provided technical training input at the Judges Seminar in Frankfurt and issued a PostCongress Communication. Ice Dance Judges Seminars were held in Brisbane, Australia and in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The 2008 ISU Judges Examination was held in Obersdorf GER, at the end of September.

Synchronized Skating

As part of the annual ISU Figure Skating Seminar in Frankfurt in July the Technical Committee Members moderated training sessions for Technical Specialists and Controllers and also conducted a Synchronized Skating Judges Seminar on the occasion. Recent educational initiatives included two ISU Recognized Global Coaches

Seminar, firstly in North America which was attended by 13 coaches from 2 Members and secondly in Europe attended by 36 coaches from 13 Members. Later in the month an ISU Recognised Judges seminar was also held in Helsinki Finland, moderated by Joanne Shaw, Inka Bister, Paolo Pizzocari and Mika Saareleinen.

Speed Skating

An ISU Referees course was held in Thun (SUI) in September (ISU Comm. 1508) with the participation of around 40 ISU Referees and International Referees. The Speed Skating Technical Committee also held its first post-Congress Committee meeting on this occasion. The Committee has prepared the annual ISU Communication for the Speed Skating World Cup, implementing a few adjustments in the competition program and special World Cup rules compared to the previous season (ISU Comm. 1517). Further to the June Council decision to introduce a Junior World Cup Speed Skating, the Committee, in cooperation with the Sports Directorate, has prepared the detailed competition program and rules for this new series (ISU Comm. 1518). The Committee has assigned its representatives for each of the 2008/2009 ISU Speed Skating Events and is maintaining close contact with the organisers.

Short Track

This season marks two years since the implementation of the new World Cup format.

The Technical Committee reported that the initial goals set have now been reached. This includes record participation in the World Cups with an enhanced number of nations competing in the events and a subsequent growth in the World Championships, as well as other events around the world. The bi-annual Officials seminar was successfully held in Denver, Colarado (USA) in September.

The course was well attended with over 70 Officials on-site. The Technical Committee also met on this occasion to address the main issues of the pre-Olympic season.

ISU GOLD AWARD OF MERIT

Ann Shaw (CAN) has been honored with the ISU Gold Award of Merit in recognition of her valuable contribution and service to the ISU in Ice Dance. Ann Shaw retired from the Ice Dance Technical Committee in 2006 after first being elected to the Committee in 1992 and re-elected three times to remain another 14 consecutive years. She is currently an ISU Judge, ISU Referee and Technical Controller in Ice Dance. Ann Shaw will be formally presented with the ISU Gold Award of Merit on the occasion of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2009 in Los Angeles (USA).

ISU DIPLOMA OF SERVICE

The ISU Council has awarded former ISU Judge and ISU Referee Mr. Hideo Sugita (JPN) with an ISU Diploma of Service in recognition of his valuable contribution and service to the ISU over many years in Single and Pair Skating. He will be formally presented with the ISU Diploma of Service on the occasion of the ISU World Team Trophy 2009 in Tokyo (JPN).

MR. JAN CHARISIUS

Mr. Jan Charisius of Netherlands died at Holdalsfoss, Fagernes in Norway on July 3rd, 2008, at the age of 81. At the time of his passing he was an ISU Honorary Member, a role to which he was elected in 1998. Mr. Jan Charisius began his involvement in skating as an athlete before taking up a distinguished career as a speed skating official and Dutch team leader. This included acting as an ISU Referee for more than two decades from the early seventie s. He was also a member of the ISU Speed Skating Technical Committee 1984-1992 and then Chairman 1992-1998.

The ISU pays tribute to Mr. Charisius and will remember him fondly. His wife Mrs. Romkje Charisius wishes to thank the ISU family for the numerous letters of condolence.

ISU SECRETARIAT

A travel booking system has been installed in the offices of the ISU Secretariat and Nathalie Katz (SUI) has joined the ISU staff on a part time basis to handle ISU travel and other administrative tasks. All ISU travel arrangements are now to be made via the ISU Secretariat directly at travel@isu.ch HSH Prince Albert welcomes the ISU family to Monaco on the occasion of the 52nd ISU Ordinary Congress

ISU WEBSITE: WWW.ISU.ORG

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ISU CONGRESS REVIEW

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The 52nd ISU Ordinary Congress which took place in Monaco on June 16-20, 2008 was attended by over 200 delegates from over 70 Members from all continents. HSH Prince Albert welcomed the delegates to Monaco before ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta officially opened the first session on Monday 16.

Among the key decisions were the following: The Congress decided to change the rules on the size of trademarks on clothing and technical equipment to facilitate sponsor support for competitive athletes. In the Speed Skating branch a motion to allow an additional advertising marking on the upper body was also passed.

In Speed Skating significant changes were brought in to the Olympic Winter Games qualification system consistent with the general qualification principles of the International Olympic Committee. The newly adopted system is based on similar criteria as those currently used in the qualification system for the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships.

There have also been some changes to the drawing procedure for the Olympic Winter Games for the Team Pursuit event.

Congress decided to remove a preliminary time trial phase in the team pursuit event which had initially been used at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. This stems from the qualification process changes and from the decision of the International Olympic Committee to retain the Team Pursuit event in the Olympic Winter Games program after its provisional entry in 2006. An extension to the program of the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships was passed, allowing single distance titles in addition to the allround titles previously in place.

Changes to the entry quotas and format of the last distance of the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships were approved. The number of skaters in the last group was reduced to 24 (12 pairs) thus making the final part of the competition more compact.

The initiative is expected to raise the profile of the event providing heightened quality and excitement in the final stage. The use of different time keeping technologies was reviewed and changes giving greater recognition to the photo finish system were adopted.

In Short Track Speed Skating significant changes were also brought in to the Olympic Winter Games qualification system so as to simplify the procedure.

The format of the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships was also revised to give additional importance to Relay at Junior level. Under the newly approved rules Members can enter four competitors in the Ladies and Men’s relay team respectively (as opposed to three in the past) and the relay races will take place over 3000 meters (as opposed to 2000 meters in the past).

In the Super Final over 3000m, the first skater to cross the finish line after 1000m would be entitled to 5 extra points thus raising the strategic importance of the first part of the race and improving attractiveness of the competition (note that if the skater is disqualified then these extra points would not be awarded to any skater) In Single and Pair Skating and Ice Dance, the Congress ratified the introduction of a new Compulsory Dance called the “Finnstep”; the dance was created by former European Ice Dancing Champions Susanna Rahkamo/ Petri Kokko of Finland and their coach Martin Skotnicky and is based on Rahkamo/Kokko’s Original Dance from 1995, the year they became European Champions.

A resolution was passed accepting the principle that the Ice Dance discipline be composed of two parts commencing in the 2010-2011 competitive calendar. The Congress also adopted guidelines for the implementation which foresees testing and analysis of a new dance format for the first segment of the Ice Dance event.

The Congress decided to reduce the required elements in the free program to allow increased innovation.

In Synchronized Skating, the Congress also decided to remove some elements from the Free Skating program so that the coaches would have more leeway to work in innovative choreography. A number of other rule changes were brought in essentially to reflect current practice and align the rules with the other disciplines in the Figure Skating branch.

ISU SCHOLARSHIPS ISU SCHOLARSHIPS 2008-2009 FIGURE SKATING

SPEED SKATING Ladies

Ladies 1. Jenni Vahamaa

FIN

1. Katarzyna Wozniak

POL

2. Chunyan Fu

CHN

3. Natalia Czerwonka

POL

4. Angelina Golikova

RUS

2. Alena Leonova

RUS

3. Sonia Lafuente

ESP

4. Sarah Hecken

GER

5. Olga Fatkulina

RUS

5. Hyen-Jeong Kim

KOR

6. Andrea Jirku

CZE

6. Stefanie Berton

ITA

7. Ida Niatun

NOR

8. Yekaterina Ajdova

KAZ

9. Franceska Lollobrigida

ITA

10. Cristina Radu

ROU

7. Miriam Zeigler

AUT

8. Cheltzie Lee

AUS

9. Ivana Raitmayerova

SVK

10. Eleonora Vinnichenko

UKR

Men

11. Katherine Hadford

HUN

1. Xingyu Song

CHN

NZL

2. Marco Cignini

ITA

3. Christian Pichler

AUT

4. Daniele Berlanda

ITA

12. Alexandra Rout 13. Svetlana Issakova

EST

Men

5. Timofej Skopin

RUS

6. Roman Kretsj

KAZ

7. Milan Sablik

CZE

1. Michal Brezina

CZE

2. Florent Amadio

FRA

8. Mateusz Kasprzyk

POL

3. Javier Fernandez

ESP

9. Niko Rasanen

FIN

4. Nicolai Bondar

UKR

10. Marian Christian Ion

ROU

5. Denis Ten

KAZ

6. Jakub Strobl

SVK

7. Viktor Romanenkov

EST

8. Bela Papp

FIN

9. Atrem Grigoriev

RUS

Pairs 1. Ekaterina Sheremetieva / Mikhail Kuznetsov

RUS

2. Maria Sergeeva / Ilja Glebov

EST

3. Anais Morand / Antione Dorsaz

SUI

4. Amanda Sunyoto-Yang / Darryl Sulindro-Yang

TPE

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Ladies 1. Arianna Fontana

ITA

2. Elise Christie

GBR

3. Olga Belyakova

RUS

4. Veronika Dénes

HUN

5. Vera Antanenka

BLR

6. Paula Bzura

POL

7. Marissa Earle

AUS

8. Inna Sominova

KAZ

9. Bianca Walter

GER

10. Tatiana Bodova

SVK

Men

Ice Dance

1. Semion Elistratov

RUS

2. Marco Bertoldi

ITA

CZE

3. Ian Upcott

GBR

GEO

4. Rafal Piorecki

POL

4. Anastasia Gavrylovych / Maciej Bernadowski POL

5. Jekabs Saulitis

LAT

6. Robert Seifert

GER

7. Viktor Dimitrov

BUL

8. Nurbergen Zhumagaziyev

KAZ

1. Alisa Agafonova / Dmitri Dun

UKR

2. Lucie Mysliveckova / Matej Novak 3. Isabella Tobias / Otar Japaridze

5. Nikola Visnova / Lukas Csolley

SVK

6. Irina Shtork / Taavi Rand

EST

7. Emese Laszlo / Mate Fejes

HUN

9. Arno Jaspers

BEL

8. Xueting Guan / Meng Wang

CHN

10. Bence Béres

HUN

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SPEED SKATING

SINGLE AND PAIR SKATING / ICE DANCE

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August 27 - 31 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Courchevel FRANCE

November 7 – 9

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 2x500m, 1000m, 150 Men: 2x500m, 1000m, 150

September 3 - 7 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Meran ITALY Mexico City MEXICO

November 14 – 16

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 2x 500m, 1000m, 15 Men: 2x 500m, 1000m, 15

September 10 - 14 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

September 17 - 21 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Ostrava CZECH REPUBLIC

November 22 – 23

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 1500m, 5000m Men

September 24 - 28 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Madrid SPAIN

November 29 - 30

ISU Junior World Cup Single Distances, Juniors A

October 1 - 5 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Gomel BELARUS

December 6– 7

ISU Junior World Cup Single Distances, Juniors A

October 8 - 12 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Cape Town SOUTH AFRICA

December 6– 7

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies and Men: 100m, 2x 5

October 15 - 18 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Sheffield GREAT BRITAIN

December 13 – 14

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies and Men: 100m, 2x 5

October 23 - 26

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Skate America

Everett, WA USA

January 9 - 11

Essent ISU European Speed Skating Champion

October 31 -

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Ottawa, ON

November 2

HomeSense Skate Canada International

CANADA

January 17 - 18

Essent ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Champion

November 6 - 9

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Beijing

Cup of China

CHINA

January 17 - 18

ISU Junior World Cup Single Distances, Juniors A

November 13 - 16

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Paris

Trophée Eric Bompard Cachemire

FRANCE

January 24 – 25

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies and Men: 100m, 2x 5

November 20 - 23

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Moscow

Cup of Russia

RUSSIA

November 27 - 30

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Tokyo

January 30 - February 1

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 2x500m, 1000m, 150 Men: 2x500m, 1000m, 150

NHK Trophy

JAPAN

December 10 - 14

SBS ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Goyang City

February 7 - 8

Essent ISU World Allroun Skating Championships

Final (Junior and Senior)

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

January 19 - 25

ISU European Figure Skating Championships

Helsinki FINLAND

February 14 – 15

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 1500m, 5000m Men

February 2 - 8

ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

Vancouver, BC CANADA

February 23 - March 1

ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships

Sofia BULGARIA

February 20 - 22 ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships February 28 - March 1

ISU Junior World Cup Final. and Team Pursuit, Juniors A

March 23 - 29 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

Los Angeles, CA USA

March 6-7 Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 100m, 500m, 1000m

Men: 100m, 500m, 1000m

16 - 19 April ISU World Team Trophy 2009

Toyko JAPAN

March 12 - 15

Essent ISU World Single Speed Skating Champion

ISU EVENT CALENDAR 2008/ 2009 SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

ed Skating 00m, 3000m, Team Pursuit 00m, 5000m, Team Pursuit

Berlin GERMANY

ed Skating 500m, 3000m, Team Pursuit 500m, 5000m, Team Pursuit

Heerenveen NETHERLANDS

ed Skating n: 1500m, 10000m

Moscow RUSSIA

A/B

Inzell GERMANY

A/B

Asker NORWAY

ed Skating 500m, 2x 1000m

Changchun CHINA

ed Skating 500m, 2x 1000m

Nagano JAPAN

nships

Netherlands HEERENVEEN

nships

Moscow RUSSIA

A/B

Collalbo ITALY

ed Skating 500m, 2x 1000m

Kolomna RUSSIA

ed Skating 00m, 3000m, Team Pursuit 00m, 5000m, Team Pursuit

Erfurt GERMANY

nd Speed

Hamar NORWAY

ed Skating n: 1500m, 10000m

Heerenveen NETHERLANDS

October 17 - 19 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track

Salt Lake City USA

October 24 - 26 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track

Vancouver CANADA

November 28 - 30 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track

Beijing CHINA

December 5 - 7 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track

Nagano JAPAN

January 9 - 11

ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Sherbrooke CANADA

January 16 -18

ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Torino ITALY

February 6 - 8 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track

Sofia BULGARIA

February 13 - 15 Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track

Dresden GERMANY

March 6 - 8

ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Vienna AUSTRIA

March 14 - 15

ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championships

Heerenveen NETHERLANDS

SYNCHRONIZED SKATING April 3 - 4 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships

Zagreb CROATIA

Zakopane POLAND

. Single Distances A/B

Groningen NETHERLANDS

ed Skating Final m, 1500m, 3000m. m, 1500m, 5000m.

Salt Lake City USA

e Distances nships

Richmond CANADA The new Richmond Olympic Oval gets ready for the 2009 Championship season ahead of the 2010 Olympics

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FIGURE SKATING ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

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The 2008 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series will consist of six events in six countries with the top six skaters and couples qualifying for the Grand Prix Final in Goyang City, Korea (10-14 December). For the first time, the Junior Grand Prix Final and the Grand Prix Final will be held together to guarantee more exposure to the up and coming young skaters. As in the past years, the first event of the Grand Prix Season will be Skate America in Everett (23-26 October), followed by HomeSense Skate Canada International in Ottawa (31 October-2 November) and the Cup of China in Beijing (6-9 November). The series then continues

with the Trophée Eric Bompard Cachemire in Paris, France (13-16 November), the Cup of Russia in Moscow (20-23 November) and the NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Japan (27-30 November).

Seeded and non seeded skaters are assigned to two events. The top ten from the 2008 World Championships in each category are seeded and the remaining spots in each event are awarded in accordance with the ranking of the 2008 World Championships and ISU world standings. The Grand Prix series will be highly competitive as World and European Champions and medalists face not only their long-time rivals but also challenges set by newcomers rising from the junior ranks.

World silver medalist Brian Joubert (FRA) and bronze medalist Johnny Weir (USA) are

up against, among others, Four Continents Champion Daisuke Takahashi (JPN), two-time World Champion Stephane Lambiel (SUI), US Champion Evan Lysacek, European Champion Tomas Verner (CZE). Other contenders are Canadian Champion Patrick Chan, Russian Champion Sergei Voronov, Kevin van der Perren (BEL). Newcomers on the senior scene are 2008 Junior World Champion Adam Rippon (USA) and World junior silver medalist Artem Borodulin (RUS). World Champion Jeffrey Buttle (CAN) announced his retirement from competitive skating in September.

The Ladies field once again shows a wealth of talent. Among the top contenders are 2008 World Champion Mao Asada (JPN), European Champion and World silver medalist Carolina Kostner (ITA), World bronze medalist Yu-Na Kim (KOR), 2007 World Junior Champion Caroline Zhang (USA), European silver medalist Sarah Meier (SUI), Yukari Nakano (JPN) and Four Continents silver medalist Joannie Rochette (CAN). 2008 World Junior Champion Rachel Flatt and World Junior bronze medalist Mirai Nagasu (both USA) will debut in the senior Grand Prix. 2007 World Champion Miki Ando (JPN) is looking for a comeback after withdrawing from Worlds due to injury.

In the Pairs, all top teams are back on the circuit and chasing the new World Champions Aljona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER). Reigning World silver medalists Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang (CHN) and bronze medalists Jessica Dubé/ Bryce Davison (CAN) as well as 2006 World Champions Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) up and coming couples such as Tatiana Volosozhar/ Stanislav Morozov (UKR), Yuko Kawaguchi/ Alexander Smirnov, Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov (both RUS) and 2007 World Junior Champions Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) are ready for the challenge.

Johnny Weir (USA)

The Ice Dance event will feature an interesting battle between the current top teams, World Champions Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA), World silver medalists Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN), World bronze medalists Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski (RUS) and those who want to be back on top – 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA), ranked 4th at Worlds, and 2008 European Champions Oksana Domnina/ Maxim Shabalin (RUS) who missed the World Championships due to injury. Talented teams such as Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA), Sinead Kerr/John Kerr (GBR), Frederica Faiella/Massimo Scali

THE SEASON AHEAD The winners of the first Junior Grand Prix in Courchevel have good chances to qualify for the Final: Michal Brezina (CZE), Kristine Musademba (USA) and ice dancers Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA).

Future stars can be discovered on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. Most current top skaters started their ascent in the Junior Grand Prix in the past, such as World Champion Mao Asada, two-time World bronze medalist Yu-Na Kim or World silver medalists Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir, who are all Junior Grand Prix Champions. All ISU Members can enter athletes for the Junior Grand Prix. This year approximately 500 skaters representing over 50 countries in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and South Africa are expected to participate in the series.

ISU Championships Europe’s best skaters will meet at the European Figure Skating Championships 2009 in Helsinki (FIN) on 19-25 January while athlete from North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia/Oceania will compete at the Four Continents Championships 2009 in Vancouver (CAN) on 2-8 February. The highlight for the Juniors will be the World Junior Championships The season will conclude with the World Championships in Los Angeles (USA), on 23-29 March.

ISU World Team Trophy

Sinead and John Kerr (GBR)

(ITA), Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA) are entering the mix, and reigning World Junior Champions Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates (USA) are looking to leave a strong impression in their debut in the senior Grand Prix. In other news Ice Dancers Luca Lanotte, Anna Cappellini (ITA) and Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir (CAN) received thanks for their goodwill and sporting attitude last season towards Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (USA) who fell during the warm-up session for the Free Dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Event - Skate Canada. The Italian and Canadian couples interrupted their warmup sessions at this important event in order to lend support and assistance to

their competitors immediately following the accident.

ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating kicked off with the first of eight events in Courchevel, France end of August. At the time of writing, the remaining events are to be held in Merano (ITA), Mexico City (MEX), Ostrava (CZE), Madrid (ESP), Gomel (BLR), Cape Town (RSA) and Sheffield (GBR). South Africa will host a Junior Grand Prix event for the first time. The top eight skaters and couples in each category will advance to the Junior Grand Prix Final in Goyang City.

With the ISU World Team Trophy, a new event has been introduced to the ISU figure skating calendar. The inaugural event will be held on 16-19 April in Tokyo (JPN). The World Team Trophy will feature the top performing six national teams of the season, including the host country. The teams will be selected based on skaters’ results primarily in the Grand Prix of Figure Skating and ISU World Championships. Each team will be composed of two Men, two Ladies, one Pair Skating Couple and one Ice Dance Couple (see Communication 1490).

SYNCHRONIZED SKATING

A number of major international competitions are scheduled for this season, beginning in January 2008. The highlights of the season will be the World Challenge Cup for Juniors in Neuchâtel (SUI) on 12-14 March, leading up to the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Budapest (HUN) on 28-30 March.

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THE SEASON AHEAD SPEED SKATING

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For the first season in history, all ISU competitions for seniors are held at indoor rinks. The season takes off the second weekend of November with the first of nine events in the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating series. Races will be held over a range of distances at each of the first eight events in Europe and Asia before the final competition in Salt Lake City (USA), where all distances, with the exception of the 5000m for ladies and the 10,000m for men, will be contested.

On 7-9 November in Berlin (GER), races will be held over 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m ladies and 5000m men, as well as in the team pursuit. The following week in Heerenveen (NED) skaters take to the ice to battle out the same distances. On 22-23 November, long distance skaters will travel to Moscow (RUS) to contest the 5000m (ladies) and 10,000m (men), with also the 1500m on the program.

The sprinters meet again on December 6-7 in

Joji Kato (JPN)

Changchun (CHN) with the 100m as well as twice the 500m and 1000m. In Nagano (JPN) they will repeat that on 13-14 December.

The sixth World Cup of the series is again for sprinters, a week after the Essent ISU World Sprint Championships, in Kolomna (RUS) on 24-25 January. On January 30 to February 1 sprinters and allrounders meet in Erfurt (GER), where the schedule includes the same races as in Berlin and Heerenveen: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m (ladies) and 5000m (men), as well as the Team Pursuit. The allrounders meet again on 14-15 February in Heerenveen (NED) for a weekend with the 1500m, the 5000m for ladies and the 10,000m for men, like in Moscow. Three weeks later, the Essent ISU World Cup culminates with the Final on 6-8 March in Salt Lake City (USA).

This season also sees the introduction of an ISU Junior World Cup Single Distance and Team Pursuit. This is a series of three World Cup competitions for Juniors A and B, taking place in Inzell (GER) on 29-30 Nov., Asker (NOR) on 6-7 Dec., and Collalbo (ITA) on 17-18

January, building up to the Junior World Cup Final in Groningen (NED) from 28 February to March 1, a week after the World Junior Championships.

The Championships season begins on 9-11 January in Heerenveen (NED) with the Essent ISU European Speed Skating Championships.

The Essent ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Championships follows on its heels on January 17-18 taking place in Moscow (RUS).

Hamar (NOR) will host the Essent ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships on 7-8 February and Zakopane (POL) will be the host for the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships on 20-22 February.

The season concludes with the Essent ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in the brand new 2010 Olympic Venue of Richmond/Vancouver (CAN), on 12-15 March.

Jenny Wolf (GER) will be looking to defend her titles on the sprint, the 100 and 500 m against Annette Gerritsen (NED) and Beixing

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From left to right: Charles Hamelin (CAN) and Yoon-Gy Kwak (KOR)

Wang (CHN). A knee-injury hindered the preparation of Anni Friesinger (GER), and it remains to be seen what this will mean for her domination on the 1000m. The greatest rivals of world allround champion Paulien van Deutekom (NED), both for allround and middle distance skating, will be Kristina Groves (CAN) and Ireen Wüst (NED). Canadian ladies are heading towards a strong performance in Vancouver and showing gathering strength this season. Dutch talent Marrit Leenstra is also expected to be watched this season.On the longer distances Czech Martina Sábliková is likely to be in for some tough competition.

In the men’s field, the shorter distances will be exciting, with high level athletes such as sprint champion Kyou-Hyuk Lee (KOR) and 500m world record holder Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN), Kang-Seok Lee (KOR), Joji Kato (JPN) and Dmitrij Lobkov (RUS).

1000m world-record holder Pekka Koskela (FIN) will seek some confirmation after a season hampered by injury, and also Mikka Poutala (FIN) will be in the puplic spotlight.

On the 1000 and 1500m, Shani Davis (USA), Denny Morrison (CAN) and Simon Kuipers

(NED), will make competition exciting. On the 1500m and the longer distances naturally Enrico Fabris (ITA) and Sven Kramer (NED) can be expected to add their blend of racing magic faced with stiff competition from American Chad Hedrick and other Dutchmen.

SHORT TRACK The Short Track season begins in October with the Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track series, which is again comprised of six events across Asian, European and North American segments. The series kicks off with the North American competitions in Salt Lake City (USA) on October 17-19, before moving to the 2010 Olympic venue in Vancouver (CAN) the following week. Short Trackers will compete in Asia for the second segment of the series in Beijing (CHN) in the last week of November and Nagano JPN in the first week of December. February 2009 sees the action move to Sofia (BUL) before the sixth and final event in Dresden (GER) in the second week of February. At each competition the men’s and

ladies races will be held over 500m, 1000m and 1500m and single distances determine the winners. The first Championship of 2009 will be the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sherbrooke (CAN) on January 9-11. Shortly afterwards the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships will take place in Torino (ITA) on January 16-18. In March the focus turns to the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, which will held on March 6-8, in Vienna (AUT). The Short Track season ends with the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championships in Heerenveen (NED) on March 14-15. In the ladies competitions reigning World Champion Meng Wang (CHN) will be looking to consolidate her winning streak this season alongside her team and can be expected to face stiff competition from traditional rivals including Sun-Yu Jin (KOR) who topped both the 1000m and 1500m World Cup distances last season. In the men’s competitions current World Champion Apolo Anton Ohno (USA) will be up against, among others, a strong Chinese, Korean and Canadian contingent.

PAST MASTER

ARD SCHENK (NED) BORN 1944 Olympic Winter Games 1500m Silver Medallist-1968 Olympic Winter Games 10000m Gold Medalist-1972 Olympic Winter Games 5000m Gold Medalist-1972 Olympic Winter Games 1500m Gold Medalist-1972 ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships, Gold Medallist 1970, 1971 and 1972 Silver Medallist 1966 and 1967 Bronze Medallist 1965 and 1968 ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Bronze Medallist 1971 and 1972 ISU European Speed Skating Championships, Gold Medallist 1966, 1970 and 1972 Silver Medallist 1971 Ard Schenk dominated Speed Skating in the late sixties and early seventies, setting 14 ISU Recognized World Records between 1966 and 1972. In 1971 he became the first skater to officially complete the 10’000 meter distance in less than 15 minutes and the 1’500m distance in less than two minutes. His finest year of racing however was 1972 when he won the European title, three Olympic Gold medals and all races of the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships to scoop the World title for the third consecutive year. Such was his popularity that a flower which blooms in the height of the Speed Skating season was named after him, the “Crocus Chrysanthus Ard Schenk”. He was a member of the ISU Speed Skating Technical Committee from 1998-2006.