On The Frozen Pond: The Magic Of Skating Outside

Winter may be giving way to be spring but there's just something so fabulously primitive, so instinctive and so historic about the simple act of skating outside that lingers in our memories. People started skating on frozen rivers and lakes thousands of years before us and for many years even Olympic and World competitions were held in the throws of mother nature. Competitors battled challenging ice conditions, frigid cold and the elements all in the quest to better their craft, fueled by their love of the ice. From Madison Square Garden to Sun Valley to the Rideau Canal and even the Emera Oval right here in Halifax I went skating only months ago, outdoor skating remains hugely popular to this very day. There's simply something magical about it. That intangible quality is well explained by skaters' affinity for outdoor ice. Shows in Sun Valley draw skaters and audiences alike year round, and many of the world's best skaters have returned to frozen lakes, ponds and even glaciers to carve out moments on the ice.

Kurt Browning's first TV special, 'Tall In The Saddle' featured many outdoor skating scenes with the backdrop of an old western town, including a performance where Kurt skates with Michael Slipchuk and Norm Proft and an old fashioned spaghetti western showdown between Kurt and Gary Beacom. Later in the special, Kurt skates a outdoor "Lake Of Dreams" program full of his energy, flair and that magical something that is definitely Kurt Browning.

Brian Boitano and Brian Orser (Olympic medallists and World Champions both) also turned to outdoor ice in their respective television specials. Orser performed "The Story Of My Life" by Neil Diamond, a signature program dedicated first to his fans then later as a tribute to his late mother and choreographed by both Uschi Keszler and David Wilson over the years, outside in his 1988 TV special Skating Free. I've always loved this program whenever Brian skated to it but there was truly something just that little bit more magical and organic about this outdoor performance that really came from its setting. Likewise, Brian Boitano's well known outdoor "Water Fountain" performance choreographed by Sandra Bezic and skated outside on a rink built on a glacier in Alaska still stands as one of the most beautiful skating moments captured on film. His progression from a waltz jump to single Axel, double Axel and triple Axel and soaring spread eagle in the northern sun were almost as breathtaking as the act of skating in a setting so awe inspiring.

Perhaps the program that captured the mood and the essence of skating outside best wasn't even skated outside at all. Robin Cousins skated an exquisite and haunting program called "On The Frozen Pond" to a recording of him orating the poems "The Skaters" by John Gould Fletcher and "Hawkshead" by William Wadsworth at the 1993 World Professional Figure Skating Championships and you could literally hear a pin drop. Blurring the lines between the beatnik poetry of the Dead Poet's Society and the purity of a frozen pond, Cousins takes you away in this program to another place and another time and captures in its utmost essence the feeling of skating outside that is intangible, magical and bigger than us all. The poetry and skating of "On Frozen Pond":

"THE SKATERS" BY JOHN GOULD FLETCHER

"BLACK swallows swooping or gliding
In a flurry of entangled loops and curves;
The skaters skim over the frozen river.
And the grinding click of their skates as they impinge upon the surface,
Is like the brushing together of thin wing-tips of silver."

EXCERPT FROM "HAWKSHEAD" FROM "THE PRELUDE" BY WILLIAM WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

"AND in the frosty season, when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile
The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom,
I heeded not their summons: happy time
It was indeed for all of us,—for me      
It was a time of rapture! Clear and loud
The village clock tolled six,—I wheeled about,
Proud and exulting like an untired horse
That cares not for his home. All shod with steel,
We hissed along the polished ice in games      
Confederate, imitative of the chase
And woodland pleasures,—the resounding horn,
The pack loud chiming, and the hunted hare.
So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
And not a voice was idle; with the din      
Smitten, the precipices rang aloud;
The leafless trees and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron; while far distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the stars      
Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west
The orange sky of evening died away.
Not seldom from the uproar I retired
Into a silent bay, or sportively
Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng,      
To cut across the reflex of a star
That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed
Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes,
When we had given our bodies to the wind,
And all the shadowy banks on either side      
Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still
The rapid line of motion, then at once
Have I, reclining back upon my heels,
Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs
Wheeled by me,—even as if the earth had rolled      
With visible motion her diurnal round!
Behind me did they stretch in solemn train,
Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched
Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep."

ON THE FROZEN POND

"And in the frosty season when the sun was set", Robin Cousins did what he did best: bring absolute magic to life and skate the poetry of the ice.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Tim Dolensky

Hailing from Georgia, twenty one year old Tim Dolensky is a skater whose name we'll be hearing a lot more of in the coming years. Have every faith in that fact. A well styled skater with big jumps to match his fluid style, Dolensky has already made his mark on the sport, winning the silver medal in the junior men's event at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. He's also had prime international experience, representing the U.S. at the Junior World Championships and even bringing home a bronze medal at a Junior Grand Prix event in Latvia in 2012. Like many elite competitive skaters, he balances his education with his skating, and is a university student who has still found time to make skating a huge priority. Tim took the time from his whirlwind life to talk about his career to date, short and long term goals, composing his own music and much more in this interview you'll love:

Q: You have won medals at the novice and junior levels at U.S. Nationals, represented the U.S. internationally on the Junior Grand Prix (medalling at the 2011 event in Latvia) and at the Junior World Championships. What are your proudest or most special moments so far in your skating career?

A: I would have to say that my proudest and most special moment in my skating career thus far would be at the U.S. Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City in 2012. It was my highest scoring competition up to that point. I landed my first triple axel in competition, and I helped the U.S. secure all top four places in the men's event. It was also my most memorable kiss and cry moment that I won't easily forget.

Q: This season was your first year competing on the senior level at U.S. Nationals and you skated well, finishing a VERY respectable thirteenth in a very deep field. In your mind, what were the biggest adjustments in moving up to the senior ranks and what did you take from this year's U.S. Figure Skating Championships?

A: This year at Nationals was certainly an experience that I will take with me moving forward into next season. Just being there at the top for the first time was incredible. It was surreal to be there with the same people that I have been watching on TV for years. It was definitely a little scary to compete in front of the large crowd that accompanies the championship events at Nationals, but I am glad for the experience and I WILL do MUCH better next year.

Q: Going forward, what are your short and long term goals and what can we expect to see from you next season? Have you already started working on new programs?

A: My short term goals are to further develop my style and artistic ability, as well as increase my technical content. I would like to finish much higher at Nationals next year. My long term goals are to do everything in my power to make the Olympic team in 2018, and to compete on the Grand Prix circuit in the coming years. I have just started working on something special for my short this year, and I still have yet to decide what I will skate to for my long.

Q: You are born and raised in Georgia and train at the Atlanta Figure Skating Club with coaches Debbie Prachar and Brittney Bottoms. For choreography, you've worked with the AMAZING Catarina Lindgren. What is your relationship with your 'team' like and why are they the best people for YOU to work with?

A: I can honestly say that I love my coaches Debbie Prachar and Brittney Bottoms. I have such a special relationship with them, having been coached by them for almost the whole time I have been skating. They know me so well and use this knowledge to help me on a daily basis. Even though we're close, they both are still not afraid to give me a nice kick in the rear when they need to! I also work with another local coach, Graham Payne, who I've also worked with since I was doing moves in the field as a little boy. We work on mostly my skating skills and edge work as well as choreography sometimes. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to Colorado this year, so Catarina Lindgren will not be able to choreograph for me this year. Brittney and I will be doing the choreographing for my new programs for the coming season.

Q: You play the piano and violin and even composed your own music for your 2011/2012 season short program, which led you to a silver medal in the Junior Men's event at U.S. Nationals that season. Where did you get the idea for "Windfall" and how did it come together? Will you skate to your own music again?

A: "Windfall" went without a name for a long time because I didn't name it before I began writing it and I had trouble thinking of one after I finished. It still was nameless even when it came close to competing the program. The blue outfit that Joyce Jiang made for me had a swoosh on the front and it reminded me of an illustration of wind. I thought about a rainfall, and that became windfall. I also felt like it went along with the feeling of the music. At first I wasn't sure I would actually use "Windfall" because it was just a project to keep me busy while I had to watch nationals at home, for I did not make it my first year as a junior. We realized that with some work I could make it good enough to use! I have also written another piece that I hope to use in the future.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: My three favorite skaters of all time would have to be Michelle Kwan, Jeremy Abbott, and Carolina Kostner. All three of these when they skate well take the sport to a whole different level!

Q: If you weren't a figure skater and musician, what's one other talent that you'd love to explore?

A: If I were not a figure skater I would definitely love to do gymnastics. I love to tumble and have always felt in awe of what elite level gymnasts can do!

Q: What's one thing most people don't know about you?

A: Most people don't know that I am second oldest of four boys and I am the only one who skates. My brothers are all very smart and are very successful at their prospective schools. My older brother (24) graduated from Georgia Tech with a 3.9 GPA and is currently in medical school. My younger brother (19) is currently going to Georgia Tech and his major is applied mathematics (yikes!), and my youngest brother (15) is a sophomore in the math and science Magnet program at the high school we all went to. I love my brothers very much and I love it when we are all home together again.

Q:  Confession time: what are the most played songs on your playlist?

A: Well, because I am a musician the majority of my songs on my iPod are classical (my favorites being from the Romantic period), but I love popular music as well. I love anything that is more acoustic though. If you're looking for embarrassing music, I love the Backstreet Boys and Celine Dion, because my Mom used to play their tapes in the minivan we used to ride around in all the time. They're kind of nostalgic for me.

Q: What do you love most about being on the ice?

A: The thing I love most about being on the ice is the gliding feeling. Just going really fast and gliding on one or two feet is just such a cool feeling that most skaters (as well as myself) take for granted sometimes. You get to move really fast without running! How cool is that?

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Justus Strid

Justus Strid started his competitive skating career in Sweden, medalling on the national level in his country of birth, but made a major career change by moving to a new country. His difficult decision paid off and he is now a seven time Danish Champion and four time European and World competitor. The talented Taurus from Denmark was kind enough to take the time to talk to me about his career to date, being coached by his own brother, his future in skating, his thoughts on the way skating is currently judged and much more in this fabulous interview:

Q: Your skating career so far has scanned over ten years and included four trips to the European and World Championships, medals in international competitions like the Nordic Games and Golden Spin Of Zagreb and most importantly, an incredible SEVEN consecutive Danish Championships. What are you proudest of and what moments have been the most special?

A: I have always wanted more and only just recently realized that just getting to the big championships is a great achievement. I have started to feel proud of realizing my childhood dream of competing with the best in the world. Maybe my proudest moment has to be Worlds in Canada in 2013 after my short program when I qualified for the free and skated the short of my life.

Q: You were actually born in Sweden, medalled on both the junior and senior levels as a skater in that country and then moved to Denmark in 2004 and began skating for that country in 2008. Culturally, what was the biggest culture shock of moving to a new country and what are the main differences in the skating programs in both countries?

A: The people are mostly the same. I mainly chose to move there because of the coaches Henrik Walentin (a former worlds competitor from Denmark) and Julia Sandsten and they really worked a lot to make me better as a skater. I also had the choice of Paris and training with Annick Dumont and Pierre Trent who I worked with a lot in summer camps. I did two weeks in their club but did not fit in so I chose Hörsholm, Denmark. The big difference for my skating here is the the ice hockey isn't as big so I get more ice time which is a big problem in Sweden.

Q: You recently placed thirty first at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. What are you most proud about your fourth trip to Worlds?

A: I did everything to prepare. I made a plan of how I would be in the best shape and followed through. I was really in my best shape ever. Unfortunately it's one mistake and you're out but I am really proud that I did all I could. I can't do more than my best. I am also proud of the connection I felt with the audience. We are there to entertain and I feel like I did.

Q: What are your biggest goals for the 2014/2015 season and beyond? 

A: I haven't decided yet if I will do one more year. I said during this season that I would give my answer after Worlds and the answer is coming, but not yet I'm afraid. So plans and programs will have to wait.

Q: You are coached by your brother Kalle, who is a former competitive skater himself, in Copenhagen. What is being coached by your own brother like and do you always get along?

A: Sometimes it is hard because of course, we don't always get a long but who does? Fortunately, I have two coaches and Martin Johansson is a great compliment. We all really want this, so of course there is going to be arguments of what is the best. Our strength is that we can discuss everything and agree on the best course of action. Of course, my coaches have the final say but since I am now an adult, I can give my input and then its great to have my brother who knows me best and knows when to push and when to let go.

Q: What's one thing most people don't know about you?

A: When I train really hard, I eat vegan. I also have had no serious injury since I was eighteen. I do a lot of public speaking about food and physical training for young skaters in Sweden and Denmark and share what I picked up during my long career. I also love visiting different countries and checking out new and exciting towns.

Q: If you could change anything about the way skating is judged, what would you change?

A: The components scores. Some skaters have great skating skills and some are better at interpretation so give them fair points. There should be more difference between the components for the same skater. Also, focus more on the artistry because we need the audience to make this sport big again so maybe include more components about the artistry so skaters go for more for entertaining and less focus on just making the jumps. We all know if you make the jumps you get components and then we get boring jumping robots.

Q: If you could meet any figure skater in the world that you haven't, who would it be and why?

A: Evan Lysacek. I would like to see how he prepared for his Olympic gold. I have heard he is really a perfectionist so it would be cool to see how he worked for it.

Q: What do you love most about skating more than anything else?

A: The great thing about this sport is the challenge. There is always something new to learn and work on. I love waking up on a Saturday (my day off) being so tired and sore and knowing I worked my ass off to get to where I want to go.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Linda Villella

If the name doesn't ring immediately ring a bell, Linda Villella is her married name. You may know her by her maiden name, Carbonetto. In 1968, Linda Carbonetto finished second at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships behind World Champion Karen Magnussen and earned a berth on the Olympic team that traveled to Grenoble, France. The following season, nineteen year old Carbonetto, who had been touted as "the nation's next great international champion" by the Toronto Star's Jim Proudfoot, traveled to Toronto and unseated Magnussen to win the Canadian title, even earning a perfect score of 6.0 for her flawless free skate. The student of Ellen Burka then traveled to the North American Championships in Oakland, California and won the bronze medal. She followed that up with a sixth place finish at the 1969 World Championships in Colorado Springs. Then as quickly as she rose to the top, she decided to move on. Carbonetto joined the professional ranks, toured with Ice Capades and later married renowned ballet dancer and choreographer Edward Villella and turned her attention to the dance world, taking on a key role with the Miami City Ballet School. Villella took the time to talk about her life in skating, her thoughts on the sport's evolution and her current life both in and out of the sport:

Q: Since you competed at the 1968 Olympics, only three Canadian ladies (Karen Magnussen, Liz Manley and Joannie Rochette) have won Olympic or World medals. Why do you believe Canadian ladies skaters have historically been labelled as "having a hard time laying it down when it counts" and how bright do you think the future of Canadian skating is?

A: I don’t think I am qualified to answer your first question. I was in Miami for twenty five years involved with ballet and Miami really does not make ice skating a priority. It was wonderful to come back to New York where ice skating is so much more appreciated. I have no idea what the training is like in Canada. I do believe consistency is the key to successful competing. It always amazed me, when I was competing, how skaters would put in jumps to their program that they hardly ever landed.

Q: Compulsory figures played a huge part in the scoring when you skated. Do you think that the end of figures was a good or a bad thing? 

A: I think figures are really important. Edges are the key to great skating and figures also teach you control. I don’t believe they should be a part of major competition but I do believe it should be compulsory for skaters to take figures and pass the figure tests in order to compete.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: You skated professionally after your eligible career ended, touring with Ice Capades. What were the most fun and most difficult aspects of a grueling tour schedule?

A: Skating in Ice Capades was very hard for me. I really was not ready to join an ice show but my parents were out of money for my training and I had to put my brother through college. I was heartbroken that I could not compete in the Olympic in 1972. Remember: I had beaten Karen in 1969 and my figures had improved tremendously. I often wonder if I could have medalled in 1972. In Ice Capades, we toured ten and a half months a year, we were in a different city every week and we did nine to eleven shows a week. It was grueling and we didn't have much time for ourselves. We also were doing the same routine for that whole year which made it monotonous. Again, it was a hard time for me anyway so I had trouble adjusting. Ice Capades was very good to me so I think it was more my attitude at the time. I still made some good friends and had a lot of laughs.

Q: As a professional, you also appeared on a TV show called Ice Palace. What can you tell us about it?

A: Metromedia owned Ice Capades and when we did the Ice Capades television specials they sent a producer named Peter Engel to oversee the show. He then decided to do the Ice Palace variety show where he had different stars like Robert Goulet and Florence Henderson along with skating stars like Tommy Litz. There was also a skating corps. Bob Turk choreographed the show. I did seven of the eight shows.

Q: You are married to legendary U.S. ballet dancer and choreographer Edward Villella and are the founding director of the Miami City Ballet School. What do you love most about dance that skating doesn't offer and vice versa?

A: What I love about dance most is the wonderful choreography by truly brilliant people like George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Paul Taylor that made you "see the music". In ballet, pieces can be thirty minutes long and the theme of the piece can be choreographed on a whole corps of dancers with the lead couple integrated into the piece. Some of this work is very sophisticated and the abstract movements came from the great ideas in history and art. These pieces are in a company repertoire for years. Different dancers will be selected to dance the different leads and you can watch each dancer's interpretation of the piece. In skating, most pieces are done on a soloist or pair skater, they are the only ones to do that choreography and it usually is a five minute piece and then you go on to watch another skater. In skating, I love the flow that the ice gives you and the movement it can create. There is such a wonderful freedom to moving across the ice and when I used to jump I felt like I was flying.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: You competed against skaters like Peggy Fleming, Gaby Seyfert, Trixi Schuba, Karen Magnussen and Janet Lynn. What were your impressions of these iconic skaters? 

A: All the skaters I competed against were incredible athletes. They all had special qualities in their skating. With Trixi, her figures were amazing. Peggy had grace and beautiful jumps, and Gaby and Karen were incredibly powerful. I leave Janet Lynn for last because she was the skater that I loved to watch most. She was ethereal on the ice. Her calm, her beautiful lines and beautiful jumps were the epitome of ice skating to me.

Q: What's one thing about you most people don't know? 

A: Most people don't know I was crippled and wore iron braces on my legs when I was three years old. I started skating at seven because my dad heard about children who had polio and were strengthening their legs through ice skating.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: What are your feelings on competitive skating today - the new system, no more 6.0, no figures, no compulsory dances.... so much has changed. Is it for the best?

A: I really don't like the new system of judging. It is too complicated for most people who don't know skating and even a lot of us older people who used to skate. I worry that it will take a toll on developing an audience. The freestyle numbers have so many requirements that sometimes the quality of the skating is not what it should be. My recommendation would be to judge each requirement individually (like in gymnastics) and then go back to the original way the long program used to be judged with two sets of marks, one for content and the other for your presentation. I would have nine judges and throw the high mark and the low mark out in order to prevent favoritism.

Q: Skaters of the 70's and 80's like Brian Boitano, Midori Ito, Dorothy Hamill and Liz Manley (for instance) are still actively performing. When is the last time you were on the ice and would you ever perform again? 

A: I did not skate for about fifteen years in Miami and started to skate again last year when I moved back to New York. Skating is like an old friend. It is always there for you. I would never perform again. I am just not the skater I used to be, although I still skate and it makes me very, very happy.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Age (Like 6.0) Is Just A Number: Ageism And Skating

At the risk of sounding like Peter Griffin (which absolutely isn't a bad thing), do you know what really grinds my gears? Ageism, especially in figure skating. American civil rights activist Maggie Kuhn once said, "I think of age as a great universalizing force.  It's the only thing we all have in common.  It doesn't begin when  you collect your social security benefits.  Aging begins with the moment of birth, and it ends only when life  itself has ended.  Life is a continuum; only, we -- in our stupidity and blindness -- have chopped it up into  little pieces and kept all those little pieces separate." 

The culture and emphasis on youth in the figure skating community lends people to think they're 'too old' and their careers are over in their early twenties. They're 'over the hill' at legal drinking age and 'need to step aside to allow a new generation to move up'. Bitch please. Yes, our bodies change as we get older and don't always do things the way we always might like... or as easily. Judging by the evidence of so many skaters having both "amateur" and professional careers that extended well past their teens and twenties and all of the incredibly talented adult skaters out there, is there any reasonable excuse for the belief that people should hang up their skates at twenty one because 'the clock is ticking'? It's really a quite delusional mentality. I started the conversation on this issue a little in my May 2013 article Midori Ito And Why Adult Skating Makes Me Smile, but I wanted to delve a little further into some of the history of 'older' skaters in the sport and their talk about their achievements.

1964 and 1968 Olympic Gold Medallists Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov still perform regularly in their golden years (Ludmila's in her late seventies and Oleg's in his early eighties) but the ISU have even imposed ageism in their own international adult figure skating competition. Skaters in their 80's have competed at the U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships but the ISU International Adult Figure Skating Competition held annually in Obertsdorf, Germany only allows skaters under the age of seventy one to compete. I think it's pretty ludicrous that you'd offer a competition to adults in the spirit of inclusiveness and then exclude people based on their age. The Queen Of England is eighty seven years old. I most certainly wouldn't be telling her what she could and couldn't do based on her age and with the fine lines blurred between "amateur" and professional these days (World Champion and World Professional Champion Midori Ito competed at the Oberstdorf event), you would think the ISU would want to include skaters like The Prototopovs, should they ever wish to compete, to raise the profile, interest in (and in turn, money for) their biggest international adult competition. We all know how much sense the ISU likes to make, after all.

Midori Ito competing at the 2013 ISU International Adult Competition

Skating wasn't always so immersed in the culture of ageism. U.S. Champion and Attorney Joseph K. Savage competed at the 1932 Winter Olympics with his pairs partner Gertrude Meredith at the age of fifty one and continued his competitive career for over a decade after that, winning the silver medal in the 1943 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with partner Nettie Prantel when he was sixty three years young. Similarly, Norway's Martin Stixrud, who went on to coach Sonja Henie, was forty four years old when he won the Olympic bronze medal in the men's figure skating competition at the 1920 Summer Olympics in London, England and 1924 Olympic Bronze Medallist Ethel Muckelt of Great Britain was thirty eight at the time of her Olympic medal win. Chris Christenson, who won the 1926 U.S. men's title at the age of fifty one, remains the oldest U.S. champion of all time. Skating was a very different sport in those times. The emphasis wasn't on quadruple jumps but on compulsory figures and even the free skating performances were largely based on the evolution of figures. A 1926 newspaper account of Christenson's winning free skate stated "his figures were smooth and precisely correct. He looped and spread-eagled with an unhurried calm that must have piled point after point in his favor on the score-pads of the judges. But his was an exhibition of mathematical certainty. It was a typically masculine performance, devoid of teeming nervous energy and one of cold and accurate calculation." Rather than discount the efforts of these early champions based on the fact that their programs didn't feature of a host of different triple jumps, we have to consider that compulsory figures were incredibly difficult in themselves and many skaters today would undoubtedly struggle with them based on the way they have been trained right from the beginning of their careers.

In winning the 2010 Olympic pairs title with partner Xue Shen at the age of 36, Hongbo Zhao became the oldest person to win an Olympic medal in figure skating since Muckelt in 1924. Zhao, however, is the exception - not the rule. While we don't see many skaters competing in 'amateur' competitions outside of adult events in their thirties, forties and fifties these days, that's not say that skating ends when you stop competing or that you can't. As long as you have two feet and a heartbeat, you can go out and do anything your little heart desires. People have, and people can.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Tim Wood

It's interesting. Almost every interview that I do usually begins with whatever wonderful skater I'm lucky enough to be interviewing either asking me about Nova Scotia or telling me about a connection they have had to the area. My interview with Olympic Silver Medallist and two time World Champion Tim Wood was no different. Tim's Nova Scotia connection came from his brother, who came here and ended up out on lobster boats... which led to an annual family tradition of a lobster boil, which being a proper Nova Scotian I think is right some fantastic! It's nice to see we're rubbing off on the rest of the world! At any rate, speaking with Tim was an absolute pleasure. His incredible career which also included three U.S. titles and a North American title speaks for itself, but there's so much about his career that a lot of people probably don't know and would be fascinated by: how he lost the Olympics on a technicality, his work with Elvis Stojko, the fact he still skates three times a week at age sixty six and was landing double Axels - yes, you read that right - just a few months ago. Another thing that I think you will all really appreciate about this interview is Tim's frankness and honesty when it came to the very timely topic of Ottavio Cinquanta and the current state of skating. Grab yourself a coffee or tea (or a nice martini as Tim will soon suggest) and get ready for a fantastic read!

Q: Your career was nothing short of amazing. You won the Olympic silver medal in 1968 in Grenoble, the World Championships in 1969 and 1970 and three U.S. titles and the North American Championships to boot. Looking back on your competitive skating career, what moments or memories stand out as the most special for you?

A: Well, in those days your focus was really different. There was no short program and your free skating was five minutes long. A lot of the focus was on figures, so I'd have to say I had two standout moments - one in figures and one in free skating. For figures, I wouldn't have to say the Grenoble Olympics. In figures, we had thirty six figures (in six groups) and you had to practice all thirty six... and I did for four to five hours a day for ten years. The problem was that in figures if you were getting scores of 4.5-5.5 you were winning, which is weird. The scores were lower on figures. When you added all of the scores out, it really was 60% in favor of figures. I realized that if you didn't get where you needed to be in figures, you were never going to win a championship. Look at Janet Lynn. You can't climb from that far behind and win. She should have been World Champion!  At any rate, the left backward change loop and the left backward paragraph loop were the ones everyone feared. I worked especially hard to make sure my left foot was strong. Guess what we ended up having to do at the Olympics? There were nine judges, they'd just made ice and I had to do the very first figure. No pressure there! Whatever happened out there on that figure, I could do no wrong. It was like somebody did it with a protractor. I just got in a groove and couldn't get out of it. It was really a once in a lifetime experience at the right time. When I finished, the audience was clapping and then I turned at judges and all nine judges were clapping. That just never happened! The freestyle performance would probably be Worlds in 1969 when I won my first world title. The problem with skating in competition is that there's so much in the way of nerves and compression through it all. It's so internal. Those perfect skates like you have in practice are very, very rare in World and Olympic competition. They're once in a blue moon things. Everyone is so focused and directed. I watched Elvis Stojko do it when he won his first World title in Japan, Michelle Kwan has had those moments and I'd have to say Meryl Davis and Charlie White had a moment like that in Sochi too.

Q: You decided to retire from competitive skating when you were on top after winning the 1970 World Figure Skating Championships. Did you give thought to continuing until 1972 and going for the gold at the Sapporo Games or was it simply time?

A: I considered continuing strongly. I wish I would have stayed in to do that. I was coming out of university, I was twenty one and I was really fed up with my coach at that time. Ronnie Baker was an old world English guy who wanted his skaters to be completely dependent. It became suffocating. When I won my second World title, I was so mad at him that halfway through the figures, I told my father to tell him I didn't want to see him anymore. I skated the rest of the Championships by myself. My father was a surgeon and he paid for my skating and education but we had four boys in my family who all got advanced degrees. My poor father had nothing left. It was time. I just couldn't ask him to support me for another two years. You weren't allowed to have support from outside back then but I knew other people were getting anyway, even if you weren't allowed to. No one came and offered to help and I was just DONE with my coach. I suppose I should have gone with Carlo Fassi if I wanted to stay. I should have jumped over to him. I needed someone to keep me interested. I didn't need someone technical; I needed someone to motivate me. He was a much better personal coach. He knew how to keep a kid inspired and motivated. That said, if I had become Olympic Champion maybe my life would have been different and maybe I wouldn't be doing what I am today. It is what it is.

Q: You still skate regularly every week at sixty six. I think that's incredible! Would you ever get out there and perform professionally again?

A: Well, I am sixty six and still skate three times a week! I recently had to have a new hip put in on December 10 but I started back on the ice in March after being off for a few months. I'm not allowed to jump anymore. Up until thirty days before my surgery, I was still doing each of the double jumps up to a double Axel. I just go out and put my headphones and iPod on and have a blast. I am currently involved in a major project building a sports recreation/family entertainment area in a fifty acre zone. It will house venues for thirty two to thirty four different World and Olympic sports, and will also have a new high school, new hotel, performing arts center, pool, huge medical and sports performance center and gymnastics complex. We'll also be building a theatre similar to what they use on Dancing With The Stars as a dance center/nightclub kind of place. It's a new concept of mixed use space in real estate development and no one's done that in the country. This project will be the flagship for us and we hope to do something similar and bigger in Colorado.  I hope to be able to skate in the opening of that. I'm still alllowed to do things like ballet jumps, I just should not be doing double jumps and certainly not triples, although when I turned sixty and worked really hard to get all of my doubles back, I did try and land one but then I thought, wow... but I shouldn't be doing be that. The only triple I can do is copious amounts of gin with three olives.

Q: You actually lost the 1968 Olympic title to Wolfgang Schwarz on a technicality. Can you explain what happened?

A: They actually all thought I had won. Back then, at the Olympics the factor of scoring was ten and the factor was twelve at Worlds. You had a smaller margin you could give to someone if you were judging. The Canadian judge Ralph McCreath wanted me to win but he mismarked me and realized he made a mistake but it was on paper and you couldn't change it back then. He went to the referee Josef Dědič and there was nothing he could do. I lost the Olympics by one judge by one tenth of a point. Can you imagine that? My coach came over and could not have been worse about it. He just couldn't compliment anyone and give them credit. That was just him. He was more impressed with John Misha Petkevich than me, his own student. So here I am - I am the World Champion and he's telling me to skate like John. We were just at each other's throats and it was a shame it had to end that way. I think going through those kinds of experiences made me much more sensitive to the human being and sensitive side when I coach; when I work with kids. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: Janet Lynn for sure. Janet was a combination of Dorothy, Peggy and maybe Katarina Witt. She had all of the interpretive qualities and the power and energy, yet she had this delicacy about her. I remember specifically becoming aware of the ballet side of her skating. Janet had that. Her feet were magnificent and nobody has come anywhere close to that. I remember a footwork sequence she did where she got a standing ovation almost in a wave while she was going down the rink doing to a step sequence. It was one of the most incredible things I've seen. Michelle Kwan as well. Now there's a person who could perform! What she did out there transcended ice skating. It was like she was going on a journey and she was taking you with her. On the men's side, John Curry was one of my favourites. He could do camel spins and jumps in both directions, but there was just this talent there that was unbelievable. Another skater as well I'd have to say would be Doug Ramsay. He was a favourite of mine and we trained at the same club. I think Doug Ramsay without question would have been a World Champion.

Q: The loss of Doug Ramsay and the entire U.S. team in the Plane Crash in 1961... how do you look at all of that now?

A: I am sixty six and I have enough history behind me to look at things differently although it was so hard at the time. You tend to look at the bigger picture. They were saying that because the team and the coaches were all gone, it would take fifteen to twenty years to develop another team to get to that level. We did it in seven years. 1968 was one of the strongest years at the Olympics for the U.S.

Q: What don't people know about you? 

A: I used to play guitar and sang all the way through high school and college. I sang to my own vocals in a show as well. Music was always a big part of me. I used to write music. I wrote love songs. Also, my wife was my childhood sweetheart. We met in high school in Bloomfield Hills High School in Michigan. I was a senior, she was a junior. Our first date was a sweetheart's dance on Valentine's Day. Get out the saccharine, right? I need some insulin here! We have been married since August 1970. I first came to California when I signed Ice Capades in 1970 and I had family in the Van Nuys area. We bought a place and moved to California in 1976. I was the first person to put show in Knott's Berry Farm Good Time Theatre. That show still plays and I think Willy Bietak does it. I haven't had chance to see it recently.

Q: In skating with Ice Capades and later Ice Follies and producing and starring in the show at Knott's Berry Farm, you really did so much professionally as a skater beyond your eligible career. What did you love most about skating professionally?

A: I really enjoyed it. I did Ice Capades for two years then went to Ice Follies (we were the first to do the Vegas show), then I did two years with Holiday On Ice and moved on to do my own shows at Knott's Berry Farm. I decided to stop skating professionally regularly by around 1978. There wasn't anything for us to do beyond tours and shows back then. We really didn't have professional competitions just yet. I was tired of being on the road, there wasn't any new place to go and it was just time. 

Q: So much has changed since you skated competitively. Skating has a new judging system, compulsory figures are long gone and now ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta wants to get rid of the short program. What do you think of the way figure skating has changed or evolved over the years and its present state?

A: Cinquanta needs to go! He's single handledly done more damage to figure skating in the last twenty years than anyone else. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He was a speed skater. He used the Olympic debacle in 2002 as his political power to change the sport. What we do now in this system is give objective points to everything like in gymnastics. You know in high school when you dissected a frog in biology class? At end of the dissection, it's not a frog anymore, now is it? When you award more points for grabbing your skate and putting it behind your head than doing a spin well, you've completely missed the point of what figure skating is about. We don't know anything about skating under this system. Whenever I go to skate here in California, there is without fail a coach or a student who comes up and asks me to help them with something. In every single instance, I have to go back and teach them the principle of the very first figure. What does that tell you? That basic understanding of movement and of edges... they even don't know what it is! Never mind the intellectual understanding, they have no understanding of how to do it with their body. I'm not saying the kids aren't talented. I watched all of the Olympic men and women on TV and almost every single one did a triple toe jump (toe-loop, flip or Lutz) and the technique? I would scream at the top of the lungs if I saw a student of mine do that! They look at me like I'm the old guy but they have no understanding of what mastery is when it comes to skating correctly. They don't even know what mastery looks like. Officials in U.S. Figure Skating have asked me over the years if it's the judging system and I would have to say the judging system is the outward expression of what's really wrong. The judging system is ridiculous, don't get me wrong. The real error is that the knowledge of how the body moves to create good technique is gone. I worked with Elvis Stojko for a year. After eight months, he said to me "I never knew it could be this easy!" I told him that technique is all about the perfection of positions. There are so many training tools they're not using. Skating without figures it like taking the scales out of music. I'd also be shocked if 2% of the coaches in the U.S. had ever been to a ballet class or production. Look at all of the wonderful ballets in Russia - how does that fare for them? But as for Cinquanta, he needs to go. He's done more devastation to the sport than anyone.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Letters: Skating Community Calls For An End To Cinquanta's Reign

A lot has gone on in figure skating world in the last week. Canada won a medal at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Courmayeur, Italy, Stars On Ice kicked off the U.S., Johnny Weir was all over the news as usual and the skating community has rightfully been in an uproar over Ottavio Cinquanta's latest in a long string of autocratic debacles that started in the mid 1990's and has brought us to the boiling point today. I admonished his defense of anonymous judging and bid to eliminate the short program in my recent article How Do You Solve A Problem Like Cinquanta? and provided a list of contact information for skating federations around the world, urging skaters, coaches, choreographers and fans alike to speak up and contact their skating federation and express their concerns and people have in overwhelming numbers. In mere days, Monica Friedlander's Facebook group Save The Short Program has reached over 4000 likes from all corners of this fine Earth, two time Olympic Gold Medallist Dick Button has called the figure skating community to action on the issue, a petition to ISU federations to take action to impeach or call for a no confidence vote to remove the aging dictator of the ISU is in the works and letters and emails to member federations around the world are flowing in steadily. I wanted to share some of these letters that have been shared with me to remind you that now is the time to right your own. If governing bodies of figure skating from here to Beijing are inundated with letters from the people filling seats at skating competitions and paying their salaries and stipends, they would be wise to give them more than a passing glance, no? Skating is not only a sport and an art, but it's also a product. If people are paying to watch or see something, they are customers. Will the customer always be right? Time will only tell.

THE LETTERS

From La'Chia: "Dear President St. Peter and Mr. Raith, As a fan of figure skating, I am writing to express my concern over Ottavio Cinquanta's leadership of the International Skating Union (ISU). He clearly knows nothing about figure skating and could not care less about it. His recent letter filled with ill-advised ideas such as eliminating the short program is evidence of this. Eliminating the short program would result in dire consequences for the sport. First and foremost, it could potentially make the long program even more demanding for the skaters. Asking them to do more in one program could increase their risk for injuries that either severely stunt their careers or end them entirely. Also, getting rid of the short program would put more pressure on the skaters because they would only get one chance to prove to the judges they are worthy of a medal. Mr. Cinquanta is wrong when he says that almost no other sport has two segments. Gymnastics and half pipe snowboarding and skiing have qualification rounds. Track, swimming, and even short track speed skating have qualifying heats. The artistic side of the sport would be negatively impacted as well. Skaters and choreographers would be limited to one theme per season. This could stunt artistic growth because it could potentially take twice as many seasons for a skater to find a suitable style. Having two programs means more skating for fans like me to enjoy at each competition which leads me to another consequence. Eliminating the short program would cut the number of sessions at competitions nearly in half which means less ticket sales and therefore less money for host federations. Choreographers would also lose money because they only would be creating half as many programs. Mr. Cinquanta suggests that all five disciplines (men and ladies singles, pairs, ice dance, and synchronized) have programs of the same length too. He does not understand that each discipline has different demands. What works for the men's event may not work for pairs. Speaking of that, I already feel that the pairs long program is too long. Over the years, I have often seen the pair men nearly drop their partners during lifts because their legs are so tired. Time lengths should be based on the unique requirements of each discipline. Another troubling suggestion is that judging remain anonymous. Despite what Mr. Cinquanta says, anonymous judging makes it so much easier to conceal cheating. Some judges think, "I'm not going to get caught, so why not?" Of course, scores that are off may also be the result of a judge who is in need of remediation. If almost everyone is unable to determine which score came for which judge, then it would be impossible to find out who might need some retraining. Overall, transparency would improve the quality of the judges and the integrity of the sport, which is desperately needed. If all this isn't enough, Mr. Cinquanta also makes suggestions that would harm speed skating, his own sport. Clearly, he is not fit to lead the ISU any longer. I urge you and your colleagues to take action and vote to impeach Mr. Cinquanta. Figure skating cannot take another two years of his leadership. It needs a ISU president that will bring about positive changes."

From Bill: "Dear Gale and Phyllis and all ISU Representatives and Council Members, The time has come to boldly take control of the sport that we all love and enjoy. The quiet waiting game has to end, time is of the essence. It is not about what is best for me, or for you, it is what is best for the sport of figure skating world wide. Knowing how things have worked in the past at the ISU it is not time to hide and think someone else will make those changes or that if you stand up you will be removed from ISU committees. It is time to rise up as one body and change the direction of both speed skating and figure skating for the better. It is hard to imagine how far our sport has deteriorated. For too long the ISU Council Members and Representatives have been party to the tail wagging the dog. The facts are clear, the leadership of Mr. Cinquanta has been disastrous and now he threatens to further destroy what he does not clearly understand. There are no excuses. I ask all skaters and those who love skating to rise up and be a part of this movement. If someone can get a list of all of the ISU Representatives we can reach out to them all. Since the petition regarding the Olympic Ladies event garnered two million votes can we not take the next step and demand the retirement of Mr. Cinquanta?"

From Kathy: "Attention Mr. Dan Thompson: As you are aware, many people are disillusioned with the ISU and its leadership.The problems have been highlighted during and since Sochi 2014 and now there is a danger that the short program is in jeopardy not to mention; there is no transparency. I urge you to add Canada's voice to those who are insisting on an overhaul of the ISU. There should be a vote of confidence for the leadership with haste before the credibility of World Figure Skating is destroyed completely!"

From Claire: "An Open Letter to ISU Council Members and ISU Figure Skating Federations: Reject Ottavio Cinquanta's Recent Proposals and Request His Resignation. This week, the figure skating season ended with the World championships in Saitama, Japan. Normally in the skating world, this is a time of relaxation for skaters and coaches who have finished their season's work, and a time for skating fans to reflect on the memorable performances of an Olympic season. But not so this year. This year, the season is ending on a note of worry and concern. ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta chose to announce, on the eve of Worlds, a bizarre list of proposals that would drastically change the sport of figure skating. As a result, the World championships, normally the highlight of the skating year, took place under a shadow. And now we are left to confront Cinquanta's demands. In a letter to ISU officials, Cinquanta put forth proposals for major changes in both figure skating and speed skating. Let me note, first of all, that he offered no detailed rationale or reasoning behind any of the proposed changes. Basically, we have no idea why he is suggesting these changes. Is the ISU in financial trouble? Is he facing pressure from the IOC? There is no explanation. In his failure to lay out a solid rationale for the proposals, Cinquanta falls short in a basic standard of leadership. The most serious and drastic change he proposes in figure skating is the elimination of the short program. It is my opinion that this move would have a disastrous effect on the sport. And it's my contention that, in even suggesting this, Ottavio Cinquanta demonstrates such a complete lack of understanding and respect for figure skating that he is no longer an acceptable leader of this sport. The short program was established for all skating disciplines in 1972. In the ensuing 44 years, it has become an integral and popular part of the sport. It was therefore a complete shock to the skating world to hear Cinquanta call for the elimination of the short program. No one had ever suggested such a thing before, as far as I know. And again, with no explanation as to why. The proposal was so bizarre, many at first thought it was an early April Fool's joke! Eliminating the short program is a terrible idea. It would negatively affect many aspects of the sport. First and most important, it would damage the quality and integrity of the competition itself. The short program helps balance figure skating competition and gives skaters more opportunity to demonstrate their skills. Years ago, when people were complaining about having to skate qualification rounds at Worlds, the famous Russian coach Alexei Mishin commented that he had no issue with qualification. Mishin's opinion: The more phases/events in any single competition, the more likely it is the overall best skater will win that competition. Having more phases in the competition smooths variances, averages the results, and makes it less likely that atypically great or atypically bad performances will disproportionately affect the outcome. It's the same principle behind having a 7-game championship series in the NBA (instead of just one game). If the short program were eliminated, the long program would quickly turn into a high-risk jump drill, with everyone throwing as many hard tricks as possible and consequently, in all likelihood, failing in many elements. The pressure would be so intense that the chances of seeing great performances would be lessened. And we would soon start to see many one-hit wonders and flash-in-the-pan wins. Getting rid of the short program would negatively affect the quality of the competition as a whole. Eliminating the short program would also negatively affect the artistic side of the sport. Having two programs gives skaters more opportunities to try different program concepts, different music, and different styles of skating. It gives them two chances each season to make an artistic statement. Eliminating half of those opportunities would hamper skaters' artistic development and would lead, immediately I think, to the end of any artistic/musical innovation. With everything riding on one program, I don't think skaters would feel comfortable using anything but proven “warhorse” music pieces. Nor would they feel comfortable presenting new, innovative choreography. I believe cutting the short program would also be disastrous in terms of ticket sales/revenue. It would eliminate half the competition, and thus half the ticket sales and TV rights possibilities. Some might argue that, at many competitions, short programs are poorly attended and often not shown on TV. But this is not the case at bigger competitions. And especially for bigger events like Worlds and Nationals, organizers depend on many fans traveling to the event and buying all-event packages. For serious fans, all-event packages currently provide a satisfying experience: Four to five days of practices and eight separate events (short programs/long programs) to enjoy. Eliminating the short program would cut the value of that package in half, which would certainly affect ticket sales and fans' willingness to travel to events. Eliminating the short program would also negatively affect the overall dramatic tension of the event and, thus, viewers' enjoyment. It is reckless and dangerous to propose such a drastic change at a time when the sport is already struggling mightily to maintain attendance, viewership, and popularity in North America and Europe. The lack of professionalism and careful analysis revealed in his proposals is reflective of Ottavio Cinquanta's leadership of the ISU. Time and again, Cinquanta has failed to adequately perform the duties of president/CEO. He has been ineffective in responding to difficult situations. He has proven inept in communicating with the press and public. In 2011, he responded poorly when an earthquake in Japan forced the cancellation of that year's world championships. He kept the skating community in limbo for weeks before finally resolving the situation. Since 2011, we have seen increased criticism of the current judging system and the anonymity of judges, which Cinquanta has brushed aside. In his current proposals, he insists again on the “necessity” of anonymous judging, declining to address this serious issue. In Sochi, the ISU faced a scandal over Adelina Sotnikova's victory; questions were raised about judges on the ladies' event panel having potential bias or checkered judging histories (Alla Shekhovtseva and Yuri Balkov). Cinquanta's response: “It's more important to have a good judge than a possible conflict of interest.” Why, as ISU president, would he tolerate either situation? Isn't it his job to prevent this? The callowness and cynicism of his response was stunning. The ISU was also confronted with a petition protesting the results, signed by almost 2 million fans, which was essentially completely ignored. Any manager in business or government, facing a scandal of this magnitude, would certainly have been compelled to answer for the situation and provide a logical, coherent defense of his or her organization's activity. Not Cinquanta, apparently. Cinquanta's request to eliminate the short program is his worst proposal yet and reveals his lack of informed leadership and failure to understand the sport. He did not offer a single well-reasoned, well-supported, logical argument to support such a huge change in the structure of the sport. I strongly believe that the national figure skating federations need to stand up and call for Ottavio Cinquanta's immediate resignation. He has failed as a leader of this sport. His presence and actions are now hurting this sport rather than helping it. He needs to go now--before he can do any more damage. We can't wait any longer for the end of his misguided reign."

FIGURE SKATING DESERVES BETTER

Ottavio Cinquanta and his actions as a leader of the ISU has been loudly booed and protested at international figure skating events dating back to 1996, when the audience at the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships in Edmonton, Alberta booed him for not allowing four time World Champion Kurt Browning and Olympic Gold Medallist Kristi Yamaguchi to skate in the gala. Only three years earlier, Olympic Gold Medallists Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin had performed in the gala at Worlds in Prague. Rule 128-6B in the ISU's Constitution and General Regulations, a technically enacted by Cinquanta, stated that "no exhibition by ineligible persons may be held in the same rink" after the conclusion of the competition of major ISU championships. He was faced with loud derision and jeers just two years later at the 1998 Worlds in Minneapolis and in 2002 during the Salt Lake City scandal admitted he "didn't know about figure skating too well". The speed skater promptly enforced a seemingly incomprehensible judging system built around anonymity that sucked the excitement and artistry out of the sport only years previous hugely popular OUTSIDE of skating circles around the world. Under his leadership, we've seen professional competition die an ugly death, the Salt Lake City scandal, numerous petitions about questionable judging brushed and laughed off, judges and officials directly involved in unethical behavior put right back into positions of power and control and now we have this man who knows relatively little about skating wanting to get rid of the short program and keep judging anonymous, right after what happened in Sochi. If you haven't written a letter yet, please do. Figure skating deserves better.

ISU MEMBER FEDERATIONS - GENERAL SECRETARIES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES

Andorra - President: Mrs. Mónica López - General Secretary: Mrs. Raquel Puigcernal  faeg@faeg.org
Argentina - President: Dr Jorge Fazio - General Secretary: Ms Maria Luz Carricart  srfazio@hotmail.com
Armenia - President: President: Mr Dario Urssino - General Secretary: Mrs Maria Dolores Cazorla secretaria@faph.org
Australia - President: Ms Catherine Taylor - Secretary: Mr Sean O'Brien  administration@isa.org.au
Austria - President: Ms Christiane Moerth - General Secretary: Mrs Friederike Worff  off-ice@skateaustria.at
Azerbaijan - President: Mr Iskander Khalilov - General Secretary: Mr Ramin Mammadov  azskating@mail.ru
Belarus - President: Mr Mikalai Ananyeu - General Secretary: Ms. Julia Komleva belskate2004@yahoo.com
Belgium - President: Mr Antoine Van Vossel - General Secretary: Mrs Gaby Deckmyn antoine.vanvossel@skynet.be
Bosnia and Herzegovina - President: Mr Zikrija Donko - General Secretary: Mr Vladimir Kezunovic  info@ksbih.ba
Brazil - President: Mr Emilio De Souza Strapasson - Secretary: Ms. Otilia Faria  mail@cbdg.org.br
Bulgaria - President: Ms Tatiana Yordanova - General Secretary: Vacant  bsf@mbox.contact.bg
Canada - President: Mrs Leanna Caron - Chief Executive Officer: Mr Dan Thompson skatecanada@skatecanada.ca
China - President: Mr Tian Xiao - General Secretary: Mr Lixin Tong  chnfs@chnfs.org
Chinese Taipei  - President: Mr Jan-Tar Wang - General Secretary: Mr Rich K.H. Lee  tpefsstssskating@gmail.com
Croatia - President: Mrs Morana Palikovic-Gruden - General Secretary: Mrs Melita Juratek Cipek info@croskate.hr
Cyprus - President: Mr Andreas Georgiades - General Secretary: Mrs Soula Constantinidou geoandr@cytanet.com.cy
Czech Republic - President: Dr Vera Tauchmanova - General Secretary: Mr Karel Oubrecht  cfsa@czechskating.org
Denmark - President: Mrs Ingelise Blangsted - General Secretary: Mrs Mariann Vasbo  office@danskate.dk
Estonia - President: Mr Edgar Savisaar - General Secretary: Mr Gunnar Kuura  info@uisuliit.ee
Finland - President: Mrs Susanna Rahkamo - General Secretary: Mrs Leaman  office@stll.fi
France - President: Mr Didier Gailhaguet - General Secretary: Mr Francis Fontanie  patinage@ffsg.org
Georgia - President: Ms Mariam Giorgobiani - General Secretary: Ms Salome Chigogidze  geoskating@gmail.com
Germany - President: Mr Dieter Hillebrand - General Secretary: Mr Michael Talermann  info@eislauf-union.de
Great Britain - President: Mr Ken Pendrey - Chief Executive: Mr Nicholas Sellwood
Greece - President:Mr Georgios Markouizos - General Secretary: Ms Georgia Proimou  figureskating@hisf.gr
Grenada - President: Mr Earl Clarkson - General Secretary: Ms Reena Leschinsky grenadafigureskating@yahoo.com
Hong Kong - President: Ms Yin Yip Siu - General Secretary: Mr Kwong Lin Hoi  hksu@hkolympic.org
Hungary - President: Mr Lajos Kósa - General Secretary: Mr György Sallak  info@hunskate.hu
Iceland - President: Mr Björgvin I. Ormarsson - General Secretary: Mrs Bjarnveig Gujónsdóttir skautasamband@skautasamband.is
India - President: Mr Bhavnesh Banga - General Secretary: Mr Saurabh Gupta icesai2003@yahoo.com
Indonesia - Chairman: Mr. Ir. H. S. Wibowo S. Hardjito, General Secretary: Drs TB. Ade Lukman wiwin.salim@gmail.com
Ireland - President: Ms Karen O'Sullivan - Vice President: Ms Cindy Mundow  info@isai.ie
Israel - President: Mr Boris Chait - General Secretary: Mrs Anna Slavin  info@iisf.org.il
Italy - President: Mr Giancarlo Bolognini - General Secretary: Mr Alberto Berto  figura@fisg.it
Japan - President: Mrs Seiko Hashimoto - General Secretary: Mr Yoshihito Amano  info@skatingjapan.or.jp
Kazakhstan - President: Mr Vasily Krylov - General Secretary: Ms Anzjhelika Gavrilova  skatingkz@mail.ru
Latvia - President: Mrs Marika Nugumanova - General Secretary: Mrs Strautmane Arta skatinglatvia@gmail.com
Lithuania - President: Ms Lilija Vanagiene - General Secretary: Ms Dovile Pervazaite  lsf.secretariat@gmail.com
Luxembourg - President: Mr Neil Valentine - General Secretary: Mrs Thiresia Kafatsaki  ulp.secretariat@gmail.com
Malaysia - President: Ms Laila Abdullah - Honorary Secretary: Ms Jennifer Campton  jencampton@isam.my
Mexico - President: Mr José Luis Aguilar-Urzaiz - General Secretary: Mr Alfonso Morones-Bulnes joseluisaguilar@telmexmail.com
Monaco - President: Mr Pascal Camia - General Secretary: Mr Gérard Ravera  info@skatemonaco.com
Netherlands - President: Vacant - General Secretary: Mr Paul Sanders  p.sanders@knsb.nl
New Zealand - President: Ms Jeanette King - General Secretary: Mrs Bridget Danbrook  secretary@nzifsa.org.nz
North Korea - President: Mr Jin Choe Kwang - General Secretary: Mr Thae Kim Sung  prk@star-co.net.kp
Norway - President: Mr Rune Gerhardsen - General Secretary: Mr Lasse Sætre  skoyteforbundet@nif.idrett.no
Philippines - President: Mr Manuel Veguillas - General Secretary: Mr Benito Lim  mvveguillas@gmail.com
Poland - President: Mr Dagiel Zenon - General Secretary: Ms Ewa Kierzkowska  office@pfsa.com.pl
Puerto Rico - President: Ms Lynette Spano - General Secretary: Vacant  info@prfsf.com
Romania - President: Mr Adrian George Ciobanu - General Secretary: Mr Ion Armenciu  patinaj@frp.ro
Russia - President: Mr Aleksander Gorshkov - General Director: Mr Valentin Piseev  oxrlat@dol.ru
Serbia - President: Ms Vojislava Vasovic - General Secretary: Ms Vesna Rakovic klizacki.savez.srbije@gmail.com
Singapore - President: Ms Sonja Chong - General Secretary: Ms Alison Chan  administration@sisa.org.sg
Slovakia - President: Mrs Felicitas Babušiková - General Secretary: Mrs Mária Zervanová  skrz@sztk.sk
Slovenia - President: Mrs Darja Gabrovsek Polajnar - Technical Secretary: Mrs Andreja Zelinka drsalna.zveza@siol.net
South Africa - President: Mr Vincenzo D'Aguanno - General Secretary: Mrs Deborah Rees  natsecsafsa@gmail.com
South Korea - President: Mr Kim Jae-Youl - General Secretary: Mr Kim Kwan Kyu  info@skating.or.kr
Spain - President: Mrs Maria-Teresa Samaranch - General Secretary: Mr Antonio Fdez. Arimany figureskating@fedhielo.com
Sweden  - President: Mrs Katarina Henriksson - General Secretary: Mrs. Malin Jarl  info@skatesweden.se
Switzerland  - President: Mr Roland Wehinger - General Secretary: Mrs Yvonne Zahnd  info@swissiceskating.ch
Thailand - President: Ms Suwanna Silpa-Archa - General Secretary: Dr. Srihasak Arirachakaran fsat@windowslive.com
Turkey - President: Mr Fahrettin Kandemir - General Secretary: Mrs BaŠŸak Derbent federasyon@buzpateni.org.tr
Ukraine - President: Mr Evgeniy Larin - General Secretary: Mrs Anastasiya Makarova office@ufsf.org
United Arab Emirates - Chairman: Dr Ahmed Almazrouei - Chief Executive Officer: Mr Juma Aldhaheri uaeiha@gmail.com
United States - President: Ms Patricia St.Peter - Executive Director: Mr David Raith  info@usfigureskating.org
Uzbekistan  - President: Mr Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov - General Secretary: Mr Evgeniy Nujdin  wsau@mail.ru

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.