ISU World No39 October 2009

INTERNATIONAL SKATING UNION OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

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

NO 39 OCTOBER 2009

ISU COUNCIL I have had the privilege to participate in the IOC Congress which was held early October in Copenhagen. The preceding Congress had taken place in Paris in 1994. This impressive event gives the possibility to present ideas and proposals to improve the mission of the Olympic Movement.

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I was given the opportunity to deliver a report to the IOC Congress and I decided to tackle a specific topic, which I will summarize in this October issue of the ISU World. The recently held Congress in Copenhagen was, as I mentioned, that of the IOC and it is therefore obvious that we can now move on to the topic of the Olympic Games, the major sport event in the world, which is under the jurisdiction of the IOC. It is indeed good to know that every morning sport people and a wide part of the world population read the results of the events at the Games and also pay attention to the updated list of the countries with the medals they have been obtaining since the beginning of the edition of the Games in question.

The statistics are not produced by the IOC, these are traditionally composed and presented by media, which usually give priority to the countries having obtained gold medals and consequently, according to the same priority criteria, silver medals follow and then bronze.

It is a consistent procedure to follow the podium order, but considering the value of the universality of sport and the impact of the Olympic Games, it could be advisable to consider an alternative approach.

If instead of taking into account only the medals obtained, one could issue a scoring point that awards points from the first to the tenth or twelfth position, the result would be that countries which have not obtained any medals but whose athletes are in good position (within the ten or twelve best), could appear in the ranking at the position they deserve.

It is not just a question of statistics or simply of printing layout. More importantly it is about acknowledging the merit of countries which, even without any medals, can see the result of their efforts reflected in the list in a duly deserved manner.

Universality is an expression with a wide interpretation. There are indeed many countries at the Games. Why not grant them recognition for what their respective athletes have obtained in the events?

If these criteria encounter a positive reaction, the IOC could possibly proceed with the creation of standing points, where of course due importance would be given to the gold, the silver and the bronze medals. This is clearly a consistent and understandable concept, but after having recommended and pushed all the participating countries and athletes to perform at their best, it is not forbidden to imagine that a revised system of ranking might be an obtainable and well deserved gratification for the participants.

In a period of problems with recruitment of young, good athletes and with promotional actions to have more countries in sport, it makes sense to grant countries the recognition they deserve.

At its June meeting the ISU Council announced the definitive allotment of the 2010 ISU Championships and provisional allotment of pending 2011 Championships.

The Council also decided to maintain again this season the Junior World Cup Speed Skating circuit which was successfully inaugurated last season. Other decisions, including the ratification of 2009/2010 World Records in Speed Skating and in Short Track Speed Skating, are published on the isu.org website under Communication 1570.

SPORTS DIRECTORATE

The annual ISU Figure Skating Seminar in Frankfurt in July was again highly successful, bringing together all three Figure Skating disciplines and partners to present the first educational material for judging the Program Components. Vice President David Dore presented to specific sessions interactive educational tools which will continue to be used for future seminars within the ISU and its Members. 169 persons from all functions and from all Figure Skating disciplines attended the seminar, the results of the exchange of experience also highlighted the importance of such a global seminar in sport and the usefulness of the Frankfurt Seminar as a center for innovative ideas and education.

In preparation of the important Olympic season the Sports Directorate has finalized the guidelines and requirements, in particular to bring these in line with the ISU Council’s decision concerning cost saving measures.

To prepare for the implementation of the new Youth Olympic Winter Games and the ISU Novice Festival, a meeting of the Sports Directorate was held in Lausanne in August.

Preparatory work included the planning and evaluation of qualification systems for these events. Finalized criteria are expected to be defined and approved in coming months, also in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee for the inaugural Youth Olympic Winter Games.

ISU TECHNICAL COMMITTEES Single & Pair Skating

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.

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Front cover photograph: Sven Kramer (NED) photo by Christof Koepsel ©Bongarts/GettyImages Photography: ©AFP/Getty Images: Jewel Samad; ©DESG Photo: Lars Hagen; ©Getty Images Sport: Mathew Stockman, Doug Pensinger; ©Ekovision Photos: Marina Johansson; ©AFP/Getty Images Filippo Monteforte; ©International Olympic Committee

Technical Committee activities in this early part of this sporting year have focused on preparatory work for the season. A completely revised edition of the “First Aid” (which from now on will be called “Technical Panel Handbook”) has been put together by the Committee to provide summarized reference information for Technical Controllers and Technical Specialists. Other educational efforts have

ISU NEWS focused on training and as in previous years the Technical Committee participated in the annual Figure Skating Officials Seminar in Frankfurt, Germany. Acting as Technical Controllers at Junior and Senior Grand Prix Events, members of the Technical Committee have also been present at ISU Events in Torun (POL), Zagreb (CRO), Istanbul (TUR), Moscow (RUS) in this early part of the season.

Congress proposals were the focus of discussions at the Committee’s Meeting in Oberstdorf, Germany which was held on the occasion of the Olympic Qualifying Competition – Nebelhorn Trophy (studying ISU Members’ as well as the Committee’s own proposals and preparing proposals for changes in the ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules).

The Nebelhorn Trophy 2009 also hosted the annual Examination for qualification of ISU Championship Judges ( Single and Pair Skating and Ice Dance). This year over 20 candidates took part in the Examination.

Ice Dance

The Ice Dance Technical Committee has worked throughout the summer and early autumn to prepare its proposals to the ISU Congress 2010 to introduce a new Ice Dance format. The results of the Test Event held in Milan, Italy in mid May 2009 have been analyzed and ensuing adjustments applied to establish the requirements for the new «Short Dance». The “Short Dance” would replace the Compulsory and Original Dance parts of the Junior and Senior competitions beginning in the Season 2010/2011.

Ice Dance Committee members also participated in the Figure Skating Officials Seminar in Frankfurt (GER) as part of both the Technical

Specialists/Controller training as well as for the Component Seminar. A specific ISU Dance Judges Seminar has been held in Budapest (HUN) in conjunction with the Junior Grand Prix competition there in August.

An unofficial Committee meeting was held after the Olympic Qualifying Competition – Nebelhorn Trophy and ISU Championship Judges Examination on site, to discuss the upcoming Congress proposals.

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. Recent educational initiatives also included 3 ISU supported development camps starting in the beginning of July with the Regional Synchronized Skating Development Training Camp and coaches seminar in Budapest (HUN) which brought together 9 ISU Members with 8 skaters each and their coaches. The end of July initiatives for development in this discipline moved to Asia for a ten day training camp with 100 skaters and their coaches representing 5 teams in Seoul, Korea. The Scandinavian expertise was then put to use in Vierumaki, Finland in the first month of September where 8 Members each represented by 2 skaters and 2 coaches gathered for a four day coaches education seminar.

Speed Skating

The Speed Skating Committee held its summer meeting in Budapest at the end of June, in conjunction with the ISU Short Track Speed Skating Referees course. This allowed the two ISU Technical Committees to have a joint meeting for discussion on common

challenges for the two sport disciplines, and to exchange views and experiences on issues like event management and education/recruitment of officials. Among the main items on the agenda of the Speed Skating Technical Committee meeting were decisions on the detailed season schedules and regulations for the Essent ISU World Cup and the ISU Junior World Cup 2009-10, as issued in the respective ISU Communications. Also the qualifying time requirements for participation in ISU Championships 2010 and in the Olympic Winter Games 2010 were decided. The Committee made a full review of the current Technical Rules and Special Regulations in view of the forthcoming process of submitting proposals for next year’s Congress.

The bi-annual ISU Speed Skating Starters’ course took place in Kolomna, Russia in the middle of October 2009, with the participation of some 35 ISU and International Starters.

The Technical Committee will have its next meeting on the occasion of the first Essent ISU World Cup of the Olympic season, in Berlin in early November.

Short Track

The Short Track Technical Committee held its first ever Referee’s course in Budapest Hungary at the end of June with remarkable results.

The course covered knowledge, interpretation and application of rules, consistency in rules interpretation, video analysis, Officials organization and team work. The improvement in the officiating has been increasing each season, and this course consolidated the continuation of this trend.

The number of participants and nations competing in Short Track continues to grow and this is expected to be maintained in this Olympic season. The Olympic Qualifying events will take place in Montreal, CAN and Marquette, USA, with again a record number of participants expected. The Committee has also begun preparations for the upcoming Congress in 2010.

ISU SECRETARIAT

Ms. Géraldine Knobel of Swiss nationality has joined the ISU Secretariat on a short term basis as Figure Skating Administrative Assistant while Céline de Joffrey is on maternity leave.

Ms. Ruth Beck has also joined as Assistant to the Director General. Ruth is of Canadian and Swiss nationality and previously held similar positions with the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Olympic Committee and Nestlé S.A. The XIII Olympic Congress - Copenhagen, Denmark (see the ISU President’s message on page 2)

ISU WEBSITE: WWW.ISU.ORG

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ISU SCHOLARSHIPS 2009 / 2010 FIGURE SKATING Ladies

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1. Joshi Helgesson

SWE

2. Sarah Hecken

GER

3. Ivana Reitmayerova

SVK

4. Miriam Ziegler

AUT

5. Svetlana Issakova

EST

6. Eleonora Vinnichenko

UKR

7. Ming-Junk Kwak

KOR

8. Katsiarina Pakhamovich

BLR

9. Mimi Tanasom Chindasook

THA

10. Alexandra Rout

NZL

Men 1. Artem Grigoriev

RUS

2. Denis Ten

KAZ

3. Peter Reitmayer

SVK

4. Javier Raya

ESP

5. Petr Coufal

CZE

6. Min-Seok Kim

KOR

7. Viktor Romanenkov

EST

8. Matthew Precious

AUS

9. Bela Papp

FIN

10. Engin Ali Artan

TUR

Pairs 1. Anais Morand / Antoine Dorsaz

SUI

2. Camille Foucher / Bruno Massot

FRA

3. Marylie Jorg / Benjamin Koenderink

NED

4. Anna Khnychenkova / Sergei Kulbach

UKR

Ice Dance

Denis Ten (KAZ) - an ISU scholarship winner in 2009

1. Lucie Mysliveckova / Matej Novak

CZE

2. Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi

ITA

3. Xueting Guan / Meng Wang

CHN

4. Sonja Pauli / Tobias Eisenbauer

AUT

5. Nikola Visnova / Lukas Csolley

SVK

6. Dora Turoczi / Balazs Major

HUN

7. Anastasia Galyeta / Alexei Shumski

UKR

8. Oksana Klimova / Sasha Palom채ki

FIN

9. Lora Semova / Dimitar Lichev

BUL

ISU Scholarships are one of the most important projects of

SPEED SKATING Ladies 1. Olga Fatkulina

RUS

2. Katarzyna Wozniak

POL

3. Karolina Erbanova

CZE

4. Yvonne Daldossi

ITA

5. Andrea Jirku

CZE

6. Jennifer Bay

GER

7. Jekaterina Ajdova

KAZ

8. Wang Tingting

CHN

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Men 1. Jan Daldossi

ITA

2. Milan Sablik

CZE

3. Jevgenij Nazarenko

KAZ

4. Sverre Lunde Pedersen

NOR

5. Pavel Kulma

CZE

6. Aleksandr Razorjonov

RUS

7. Artur Nogal

POL

8. Longjiang Sun

CHN

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Ladies 1. Arianna Fontana

ITA

2. Elise Christie

GBR

3. Andrea Keszler

HUN

4. Elisa Lenke

GER

5. Tatiana Bodova

SVK

6. Paula Bzura

POL

7. Inna Simonova

KAZ

8. Raya Zaharieva

BUL

Men 1. Viktor Knoch

HUN

2. Semion Elistratov

RUS

3. Rafal Piorecki

POL

4. Jack Whelbourne

GBR

5. Timothy Dewispelaere

BEL

6. Loudin Vojech

CZE

7. Jekabs Saulitis

LAT

8. Edin Brankovic

BIH

the ISU Development Program.

Olga Fatkulina (RUS) - an ISU scholarship winner in 2009

SPEED SKATING

SINGLE AND PAIR SKATING / ICE DANCE

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August 26 - 30 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Budapest HUNGARY

November 6 - 8

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

September 2 - 6 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Lake Placid, NY USA

November 13 - 15

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

September 9 - 13 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Torun POLAND

November 19 - 22

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

September 23 - 27 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Minsk BELARUS

September 30 - ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating October 4

Dresden GERMANY

November 21 - 22

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

October 7 - 11 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Zagreb CROATIA

November 21 - 22

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

October 14 - 18 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Istanbul TURKEY

November 21 - 22

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 1500m, 5000m Men: 1500m, 10000m

October 15 - 18

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating TrophĂŠe Eric Bompard Cachemire

Paris FRANCE

October 22 - 25

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup

Moscow RUSSIA

December 4 - 6

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

October 29 -

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Beijing

December 11 - 13

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

November 1

Samsung Anycall Cup of China

CHINA

November 5 - 8

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Nagano

January 9 - 10

Essent ISU European Speed Skating Champion

NHK Trophy

JAPAN

January 16 - 17

Essent ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Champion

November 12 - 15

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Lake Placid, NY

Cancer. Net Skate America

USA

January 23 - 24

ISU Junior World Cup Ladies: 500m, 1000m, 1500 Men: 500m, 1000m, 1500

November 19 - 22

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Kitchener, ON

HomeSense Skate Canada International

CANADA

December 3 - 6

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Tokyo

January 30 - 31

ISU Junior World Cup Ladies: 500m, 1000m, 1500 Men: 500m, 1000m, 1500

Final (Junior and Senior)

JAPAN

January 18 - 24

ISU European Figure Skating Championships

Tallinn ESTONIA

January 25 - 31

ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

February 12 - 28 Olympic Winter Games

March 5 - 6

ISU Junior World Cup Final Ladies: 500m, 1000m, 1500 Men: 500m, 1000m, 1500

Jeonju City REP. OF KOREA

March 6 - 7

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

February 12 - 28 Olympic Winter Games

Vancouver CANADA

March 12 - 14 ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships

March 8 - 14

The Hague NETHERLANDS

March 12 - 14

Essent ISU World Cup Spee Ladies: 2x500m, 1000m, 15 Men: 2x500m, 1000m, 15

Torino ITALY

March 19 - 21

Essent ISU World Allroun Speed Skating Champion

ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships

March 22 - 28 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

ISU EVENT CALENDAR 2009/ 2010 SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

ed Skating 00m, 3000m 00m, 5000m

Berlin GERMANY

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

Heerenveen NETHERLANDS

500m, 3000m 500m, 3000m

500m, 3000m 500m, 3000m

500m, 3000m 500m, 3000m

Calgary CANADA Groningen NETHERLANDS Harbin CHINA

ed Skating

Hamar NORWAY

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

Calagry CANADA

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

Salt Lake City USA

September 17 - 20 ISU World Cup Short Track

Beijing CHINA

September 24 - 27 ISU World Cup Short Track

Seoul REP. OF KOREA

November 5 - 8

ISU World Cup Short Track OWG Qualifying Competition

Montreal, CANADA

November 12 -15 ISU World Cup Short Track

OWG Qualifying Competition

Marquette USA

January 8 - 10

ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Taipei City CHINESE TAIPEI

January 22 - 24 ISU European Short Track

Speed Skating Championships

Dresden GERMANY

February 12 - 28 Olympic Winter Games

Vancouver CANADA

March 19 - 21

ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Sofia BULGARIA

March 27 - 28

ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championships

Bormio ITALY

SYNCHRONIZED SKATING

nships

Hamar NORWAY

nships

Obihiro JAPAN

March 11 - 13

ISU Synchronized Skating Junior World Challenge Cup

Göteborg SWEDEN

Collalbo ITALY

April 9 - 10

ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships

Colorado Springs USA

0m, 3000m 0m, 5000m

0m, Team Pursuit 0m, Team Pursuit

Baselga di Piné ITALY Vancouver CANADA

0m, 3000m, Team Pursuit 0m, 3000m, Team Pursuit

Berlin GERMANY

ed Skating 2x1000m

Erfurt GERMANY

Moscow RUSSIA

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

Heerenveen NETHERLANDS

nd nships

Heerenveen NETHERLANDS Team Canada 1

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SINGLE AND PAIR / ICE DANCE

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The Olympic 2009/10 season kicked off with the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in late August followed by the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in October leading up to the Grand Prix Final for Juniors and Seniors. In early 2010, the focus will be on the Olympic Winter Games and on the ISU Championships.

Grand Prix of Figure Skating The 2009/2010 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 Tokyo, Japan (3-6 December). Like last year, the Junior Grand Prix Final and the Grand Prix Final will be held together as the experiment was very successful and received positive feedback from athletes, officials and media.

Contrary to the past years, the order of the Grand Prix events has changed and it starts one week earlier. The first event will be the Trophée Eric Bompard Cachemire in Paris, France (15-18 October), followed by the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow (22-25 October). The series then moves to Asia with the Cup of China in Beijing (29 October-1 November) and the NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan (5-8 November). The last events of the series are Cancer. Net Skate America in

Lake Placid (12-15 November) and HomeSense Skate Canada International in Kitchener (19-22 November).

Seeded and non seeded skaters are assigned to two events. The top six from the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in each category are seeded and the remaining spots in each event are awarded in accordance with the ranking of the 2009 World Championships and ISU World Standings and Season’s Best lists.

The Grand Prix series will be highly competitive as current World and European Champions and medalists will be challenged by experienced veterans who make a comeback in the Olympic season. There will also be stiff competition from up and coming skaters rising from the junior ranks.

Reigning World Champion Evan Lysacek (USA), silver medalist Patrick Chan (CAN), World bronze medalist and European Champion Brian Joubert (FRA) will face among others 2006 Olympic Champion Evgeni Plushenko (RUS), 2008 Four Continents Champion Daisuke Takahashi (JPN), reigning Grand Prix Final Champion Jeremy Abbott (USA), 2008 World bronze medalist Johnny Weir (USA). Other contenders are Nobunari Oda (JPN), 2009 World Junior Champion Adam Rippon (USA), 2008 European Champion Tomas Verner (CZE). Newcomers on the senior scene are 2009 World junior silver medalist Michal Brezina (CZE) and Junior Grand Prix Final Champion Florent Amodio (FRA). Twotime World Champion Stéphane Lambiel (SUI) has announced his comeback to competition.

Competition in the Ladies field will be tough as well. World Champion Yu-Na Kim (KOR), World silver medalist Joannie Rochette (CAN) and World bronze medalist Miki Ando (JPN) will compete against 2008 World Champion Mao Asada (JPN), two-time European Champion Carolina Kostner (ITA), 2009 World Junior Champion Alena Leonova (RUS), European Champion Laura Lepistö (FIN), two-time European silver medalist Sarah Meier (SUI). Others to watch include Caroline Zhang (USA), Yukari Nakano (JPN), Rachael Flatt (USA).

Caroline Zhang (USA)

In the Pairs, all top teams are back on the circuit to challenge two-time World Champions Aljona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER).

Reigning World silver medalists Dan Zhang/ Hao Zhang (CHN) and bronze medalists Yuko Karaguchi/Alexander Smirnov (RUS) will also have to watch out for 2006 World Champions Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN), 2008 World bronze medalists Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison (CAN), two-time European medalists Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov (RUS) and other talented couples such as Tatiana Volosozhar/Stanislav

THE SEASON AHEAD 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.

The winners of the first two Junior Grand Prix in Budapest and Lake Placid have good chances to qualify for the Final: Richard Dornbush and Ross Miner (both USA), Polina Shelepen (RUS) and Kristine Musademba (USA), ice dancers Elena Ilynikh/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) and Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) as well as pair skaters Kaleigh Hole/Adam Johnson (CAN).

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 The Europeans will determine their best at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2010 in Tallinn (EST) on 18-24 January while athletes from North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia/Oceania will compete at the Four Continents Championships 2010 in Jeonju City (KOR) on 25-31 January. The World’s top Juniors will meet at the World Junior Championships on 8-14 March in The Hague (NED). The season will conclude with the World Championships in Turin (ITA), on 22-28 March

Olympic Winter Games

Tess Virtue and Scott Moir (CAN)

Morozov (UKR), Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA), 2009 World Junior Champions Lubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze (RUS).

Everybody is also excited to find out what two-time World Champions and Olympic bronze medalists Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao (CHN) will do in their comeback.

An interesting and close competition can also be expected in Ice Dance. Reigning World Champions Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin (RUS), World silver medalists Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) and World bronze medalists Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) are chased by 2009 Four Continents Champions Meryl Davis/ Charlie White (USA), 2009 European Champions Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski (RUS), Sinead Kerr/John Kerr (GBR), Frederica Faiella/ Massimo Scali (ITA), Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian

Bourzat (FRA). 2008 World Champions Isabelle Delobel/ Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA), who missed the 2009 World and European Championships due to injury, are planning to compete in the last two events of the Grand Prix series although Delobel is expecting a baby in September. 2009 World Junior Champions Madison Chock/Greg Zuerlein (USA) are debuting at the international senior level.

Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating started with the first of seven events in Budapest (HUN) end of August and Lake Placid (USA). The remaining events take place in Torun (POL), Minsk (BLR), Dresden (GER), Zagreb (CRO) and Istanbul (TUR). Turkey will

The Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver (CAN) are an important highlight of the season. 30 Ladies and Men, 20 Pairs and 24 Ice Dance couples will compete in the Olympic event. The majority of countries qualified their spots according to the results of the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships. Six Ladies and Men, four Pairs teams and five Ice Dance couples earned a spot at the Olympic Qualifying competition in Oberstdorf (GER) end of September.

SYNCHRONIZED SKATING Synchronized teams will compete in a number of major international events this season, beginning in January 2010. The highlights of the season will be the ISU Synchronized Skating Junior World Challenge Cup in Gothenburg (SWE) on 11-13 March, leading up to the World Synchronized Skating Championships in Colorado Springs (USA) on 9-10 April.

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THE SEASON AHEAD SPEED SKATING

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All ISU competitions for senior skaters will again this season take place at indoor ice rinks kicking off in November with the first of seven events in the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating series. In the busy Olympic season (Olympic Winter Games Vancouver, 12-28 February), there will be only 7 World Cup weekends, generally held over three days each weekend (with the exception of Hamar and Erfurt). This brings together both sprinters and allround skaters in Berlin, Germany and Heerenveen, Netherlands in November. In Hamar, Norway skaters will compete on the 1500m and the longest distance only at the end of November before racing in North America for two events in December. The sprinters will compete in Erfurt (GER) in March ahead of the final competition in Heerenveen (NED).

The 100m has been taken off the World Cup program this year.

On 6-8 November in Berlin (GER), skaters battle out 2x500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m ladies and 5000m men. The following week in Heerenveen (NED) races will be held over the same distances as well as the Team Pursuit.

On 21-22 November, long distance skaters

Martina Sablikova (CZE)

will travel to Hamar (NOR), the only World Cup weekend where they can contest the 5000m (ladies) and 10,000m (men), with also the 1500m on the program. All skaters meet again on December 4-6 in Calgary (CAN) with the exact same distances as in Heerenveen.

In Salt Lake City (USA) this program is repeated on 11-13 December. Then there is a long break in the World Cup series to allow for ISU Championships and the Olympic Winter Games, after which the sixth World Cup of the series will be for sprinters in Erfurt (GER), where the schedule includes the 500m and 1000m, both twice. A week later, the Essent ISU World Cup culminates with the Final on 12-14 March in Heerenveen (NED), the distances are again all Olympic distances except the 5000m ladies and the 10,000m men.

The Championships season begins on 9-10 January in Hamar (NOR) with the Essent ISU European Speed Skating Championships, a two-day event this year. The Essent ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Championships follows on January 16-17 taking place in the new venue of Obihiro (JPN). Heerenveen (NED) will host the Essent ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships which concludes the season on 19-21 March.

Beixing Wang (CHN) and Jenny Wolf (GER) are expected to remain in the spotlight on sprint distances. Wolf will aim to maintain her dominance of the 500m, while several Chinese ladies could make the 1000m podium. Anni Friesinger (GER) also remains in contention while Martina Sábliková (CZE) who won the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships last season and dominated the longer distances throughout the season will be an athlete to contend with. Kristina Groves (CAN) has traditionally rivaled Daniela Anschütz (GER) and vice versa. This season some Dutch skaters may also spark additional rivalry at the top. There are several Canadian ladies working hard towards Vancouver and who may be expected to put in some high level results. Last year gave some nice surprises from Germany, Russia and Japan, and Czech ladies in the Team Pursuit. The Polish also did well. Therefore Speed Skating for the ladies promises high excitement in this crucial Olympic season.

For the men Chinese sprinter Fengtong Yu joined the winners last year in the 500m.

Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN) was injured last season but will be looking for a comeback and his final victory this season. Keiichiro

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left to right: Arianna Fontana (ITA) and Erika Huszar (HUN)

Nagashima and Joji Kato both from Japan are looking strong. Kyou-Hyuk and Kang-Seok Lee will be looking to keep Korea on the podium, Mika Poutala and Pekka Koskela from Finland should be watched as should Dmitrij Lobkov (RUS).

On the 1000 and 1500m, Shani Davis (USA) and Denny Morrison (CAN) and Simon Kuipers and Stefan Groothuis (NED) saw stiff competition from Trevor Marsicano (USA) last season.

Marsicano may also threaten Sven Kramer (NED) and his rival Håvard Bøkko (NOR) on the longer distances. Chad Hedrick (USA), Enrico Fabris (ITA) and other Dutchmen can also be expected to perform well this season.

Sweden put in an impressive season last year in the team pursuit and may create some surprises this season.

Last year’s inaugural ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating series was a resounding success and will again be held this season.

To alleviate travel requirements events have been planned for specific regions. The weekend of November 21-22 sees the first ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating events in three continents: starting already on the 19th in Calgary (CAN). Groningen (NED) and Harbin

(CHN) start on November 21. In January skaters travel to Italy for races in Collalbo (January 23-24, 2010) and Baselga (January 30-31, 2010). The final ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating event will be held in Berlin on March 5-6, 2010. A week later the ISU Junior World Speed Skating Championships will take place in Moscow.

SHORT TRACK The Short Track season got off to an early start this season in September with the ISU World Cup Short Track series, which is this year comprised of four events across Asia, and North American segments. The format of the World Cup series differs from previous years in that there are two days of qualification instead of one, thus allowing more skaters to compete. At each competition the men’s and ladies races will be held over 500m, 1000m and 1500m and single distances determine the winners. The series kicked off with the Asian competitions in Beijing (CHN) on September 17-20 and Seoul (KOR) on September 24-27. Short Trackers will compete in North America for the second segment of

the series in Montreal (CAN) in first week of November and Marquette (USA) the following week. Both Marquette and Montreal will serve as Olympic Qualifying Competitions.

The first Championship of 2010 will be the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Taipei City (TPE) on January 8-10. Shortly afterwards the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships will take place in Dresden (GER). The action then moves to Vancouver in February for the Olympic Winter Games. In March the focus turns to the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, which will held on March 19-21, in Sofia (BUL). The Short Track season ends with the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championships in Bormio (ITA) on March 27-28. In the ladies competitions reigning World Champion Meng Wang (CHN) will be looking to consolidate her position this season and can be expected to face competition from team mate Yang Zhou and last year’s World silver medalist MinJung Kim (KOR) among others. In the men’s competitions current World Champion Ho-Suk Lee (KOR) will be up against, among others, a strong Chinese, Korean, Canadian and American contingent.

PAST MASTER HERMA PLANCK-SZABO (AUT) 1902-1986 Olympic Winter Games Ladies Gold Medal 1924 ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Ladies Gold Medal 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 Ladies Silver Medal 1927 ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Gold Medal 1925, 1927 (with Ludwig Wrede) Pairs Bronze Medal 1926 (with Ludwig Wrede) Herma Planck-Szabo took the Ladies Figure Skating Olympic gold at the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924. Szabo was renowned not only for her excellence as an athlete but also for her avant-garde influence on women’s skating wear. In 1923 she became the first women skater on the international circuit to wear a “short” skirt, thus allowing greater freedom of movement. Short in those days was anything above the ankle and in Szabo’s case was sometimes at a daring knee length. She remains to this day one of the most titled female figure skaters of all time having taken the World Ladies title five times as well as the World Pairs title two times. In 1925 she was both Pairs and Ladies Champion an exploit never done before nor after.