International Skating Union Starts to Phase Out Compulsory Figures

The International Skating Union Wednesday reduced the worth of compulsory figures in international ice skating and will eliminate them completely in 1990.

The decisions came at the biennial congress of the ISU’s 36 national associations. Abolition of figures by July 1, 1990, was approved by a vote of 27-4, with Canada, the United States, Britain and New Zealand dissenting.

Dr. Hugh Graham, president of the U.S. Skating Assn., who had been instructed to vote against the proposals, said he personally felt it was a “good step,” adding: “Skaters have to train at least three hours per day on figures. The (training) cost will go down, so more people can skate, and that is what we would like to see.”

The figures’ share of the total score, which 20 years ago was as high as 60%, will go down immediately to 20%, while the reformed short program will be worth 30% instead of 20%.

When the figures are dropped in 1990, the share of the free skating, or long, program will go up to 70% from 50%. The short program will be changed immediately into an “original program”, slightly longer and less restrictive.

“I would like for the figures to stay in,” said Jill Trenary, America’s top amateur female skater and the 1987 U.S. champion. “It now will be so much more a free skating contest. I think you’ll see a lot more jumping, but the jumping will be more technical. I don’t think skating will ever lose its artistic aspect.”

Christopher Bowman, the top U.S. male skater, said he was somewhat surprised, adding: “They’re not really changing the sport but modernizing it to keep pace with sports around it. It won’t just become a jumping competition, there’s too much else that goes into skating, but the skaters who get their jumps down perfectly will have a big advantage, and everyone should have more time to work on training for freestyle.”