New System May Provide the Solution
The technology used at Skate Canada to test figure skating’s proposed cumulative scoring system looked like the ultimate video game.
As each skater performed a jump, move or spin, a technical specialist or “caller” identified it to a computer operator, who listed it in a column on the left side of the judges’ screens. Ranged horizontally at the bottom was a series of numbers from minus-3 to plus-3, and each of the 14 judges touched a number to rate the execution of each element. Judges were later allowed to review elements they weren’t sure about.
The International Skating Union, which rated this second test a huge success, will try it again next month at the Junior Grand Prix Finals at The Hague, Netherlands.
Canadian coach Louis Stong, the caller for the pairs competition, said his doubts were quickly dispelled after seeing the system in action. He said skaters who falter in the first phase of a competition and have little chance to win under the current system will have opportunities to win in the new system by building up points with a well-balanced and executed second program.
“It puts the kids in the driver’s seat,” he said. “If they do it, they get [credit]. It doesn’t matter where you skate. You’re not skating against anyone. It used to be, ‘Oh my God, I’m skating first and the judges have to hold back.’ Now, it doesn’t matter when you skate....
“We have to be careful for the integrity of the sport. We don’t want people to be trying jumps they can’t do and then be rewarding them for that. Then everybody would be falling all over the place. Nor do we want everybody to be too careful. Then it’s boring.”
Fears that punching in so many numbers would turn judges into mathematicians were unwarranted, Canadian judge Benoit Lavoie said after taking part in the test.
“You don’t have to think, ‘Is he better than skater 17? Should I put him between six and seven?’ ” Lavoie said. “I do the actual job and the rest takes care of itself.”
Before the system is adopted, judges must be educated and judging criteria must be clearly defined. But ISU consultant Ted Barton believes the fundamentals are in place.
“We are encouraged by the preliminary analysis that indicates the system has very successfully maintained the general scoring principles widely accepted in the skating world,” he said. “That is, providing a balanced assessment of the element content of the program with the quality of execution and the overall performance and presentation of the program.”
Good Skates
Amber Corwin of Hermosa Beach, eighth at this year’s U.S. figure skating championships, will replace the injured Angela Nikodinov at this weekend’s Bofrost Cup Grand Prix event in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Nikodinov, troubled by a bad shoulder, still hopes to compete in the NHK Trophy competition Nov. 28-Dec. 1 in Japan. Michael Weiss, fifth at Skate America, will compete in Germany under new coach Don Laws.
The Bofrost Cup will mark the Grand Prix debut of Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, who were fourth among pairs at the U.S. championships and can move up in the weak U.S. pair ranks. They live in Santa Monica and train at Paramount and Aliso Viejo with Coach Jill Watson.
Volley for Money
Volleyball coach Toshi Yoshida had little time to enjoy the surprising silver medal the U.S. women’s team won at the recent world championships.
As soon as he returned to Colorado Springs, he had to draft next year’s budget, knowing he won’t have money for players to train together for long periods. Because they can make good money in Europe, many players compete there and fly back to the U.S. for brief training sessions. Yoshida didn’t have his squad set for the world championships until a few days before the team left for a tuneup tournament in Italy.
“Money has always been a headache,” he said. “The USOC gives us some grants for the women’s program, but sometimes I feel like we don’t get much help. We perform well, so that makes it frustrating.
“Our budget for next year is going to be a little better than this year. It always gets bigger leading to the Olympics. But to keep the top players together through the season, you need money, and we don’t have it.”
Yoshida took over the team in January 2001, after having been an assistant. He also coached in Sweden and Japan and was an assistant coach of the U.S. men’s team from 1979-82.
The team’s next key event is a World Cup competition in Japan next November, a qualifying meet for the 2004 Athens Games. The top three teams will win Olympic berths and the others must go through zone qualifying play.
“The zone qualifier is in December or January,” Yoshida said, “and usually in December or January, the top players play in Italy or some other place in Europe. We can’t compete with the money the professional teams pay. Money-wise, I have no confidence we can keep our top players together.”
Here and There
Hermann “the Herminator” Maier expects to miss the World Cup ski season because of leg injuries that kept him out of the Salt Lake City Games. Maier, who won two gold medals at Nagano in 1998, was hurt in a motorcycle accident in August 2001. “At the moment, I can’t ski properly and it will take a long time to get back onto the snow,” he told reporters in Europe. “Maybe next March, or even later. Things will never be the same again.”
The U.S. domestic Alpine ski season begins Wednesday with the Super Series at Loveland Basin, Colo. There will be two women’s giant slalom races and two men’s slalom races.
The first of three fall World Cup long-track speedskating competitions starts Saturday at Hamar, Norway. Jennifer Rodriguez, who won bronze in the 1,000 and 1,500 at Salt Lake City, and Derek Parra of San Bernardino, who won gold in the 1,500 and silver in the 5,000, lead the allround teams. Chris Witty, who won gold in the 1,000 at Salt Lake City, leads the women’s sprint team.
The International Assn. of Athletics Federations ratified sprinter Tim Montgomery’s 100-meter world record of 9.78 seconds, set Sept. 14 in Paris.
