At upcoming ISU congress, results of important age debates may beg bigger questions about sport's future

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At upcoming ISU congress, results of important age debates may beg bigger questions about sport's future

How young is too young to compete at the elite level in figure skating?

And how old is too old to hold elective office in the sport’s international federation?

Will the answer to either question do anything to arrest the decline in the sport’s appeal, especially in North America and Europe (other than in Russia, now an international sports pariah for its unprovoked and horrific aggression in Ukraine)?

Those are some of the questions the International Skating Union will debate at its (normally) biennial congress this June in Thailand.

While the Congress agenda will not be finalized and made public until the end of April, I have obtained copies of the agenda in its provisional form.

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Chinese pair look golden from any perspective

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Chinese pair look golden from any perspective

You can look at the pairs skating final on the micro level, poring over the dozens of numbers on the score sheet, and you will find the mathematical differences that accounted for the outcome.

Or you can look at it on the macro level, seeing the forest instead of the trees, and you will find a poignant story of perseverant triumph over relentless adversity, a triumph made even more remarkable because it came in a Saturday competition with extraordinary skating.

The way Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China won the gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics was, in a way, a microcosm of their lengthy partnership, a performance in which a big problem did not stop them. They had one big problem on a jump during Saturday’s free skate, but overcame it with surpassing excellence on everything else.

They had prevailed over doubters who said their body types did not fit into pairs skating. Over injuries that required two difficult foot surgeries for her and a hip surgery for him. Over the pressure of trying to win at home in a country brimming with nationalistic pride.

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In Olympic pairs short program, breathtaking excellence

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In Olympic pairs short program, breathtaking excellence

At its best, pairs figure skating is not only beautiful but thrilling, in a hold-your-breath kind of way.

It is a high-wire act of throws and twists and ever-more-complex lifts, moves that U.S. pairs skater Timothy LeDuc perfectly characterizes as right out of Cirque du Soleil.

Pairs skating was at its best in the short program at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where, as I wrote then, you could justifiably have exhausted a dictionary's supply of superlatives to describe the quality of the leading performers.

The quality of the top teams in Friday’s pairs short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics was even better.

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China, fire on ice, lead with a world record score. The next two finishers, Yevgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov and Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov, both of the Russian Olympic Committee, each had season-best scores.

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Nathan Chen’s performance will be likely measure of U.S. figure skating results at 2022 Winter Olympics

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Nathan Chen’s performance will be likely measure of U.S. figure skating results at 2022 Winter Olympics

Four years ago, the U.S. figure skating team had its worst results ever at the Winter Olympics.

The 2022 team named after the U.S. Championships ended Sunday could do better than 2018 – although it may not be a substantial improvement, and the assessment of it will depend largely on Nathan Chen’s performance in men’s singles.

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No Grand Prix Final leaves competitive questions unanswered - and some uncertainty about upcoming competitions

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No Grand Prix Final leaves competitive questions unanswered - and some uncertainty about upcoming competitions

I love figure skating’s Grand Prix Final. It has six elite entries in each senior discipline, based on qualifying from results on the six-event Grand Prix circuit. No competition session lasting more than an hour, unlike the three-plus-hour sessions at the Olympics and World Championships. And over the years, many stunning performances and record scores.

So, like all those who are interested in the sport, I was disappointed by the Covid-related cancellation of the event scheduled to begin Thursday in Osaka, Japan.

It is the second straight year the global pandemic has led to the Grand Prix Final being cancelled. Last season, the entire series was changed to domestic-only events.

This one would have let us see whether Nathan Chen, invincible from the 2018 Olympics until finishing third at Skate America in October, could win a fourth straight GPF title and reestablish himself as the clear favorite for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. And whether the latest Russian female phenom, Kamila Valieva, could continue her record-setting dominance. And whether the evergreen Chinese pair, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, could hold off the top Russians. And whether French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron would gain a winning edge over their top rivals before Beijing.

Those questions will go unanswered for the time being. And that leaves questions about competitions to come.

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