Save the dates, skating fans. . .but which dates will they be?

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Save the dates, skating fans. . .but which dates will they be?

In January, when I revealed in a post on this site that the International Skating Union was weighing changes in figure skating competition rules and formats that would “alter the sport radically,” the least dramatic proposal looked like the one that revised the season schedule.

Part of that revision still drew significant opposition from the ISU’s member federations, especially the most powerful nations in the sport, and sources tell me that has led the ISU to tweak some of the calendar changes that are to become effective in the 2027-28 season.

Those federations whose national championships have taken place in late December or, more to the point, in the first half of January – which means every major figure skating country – pushed back on a calendar that would have them switch their biggest event of the year to February.

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Nathan Chen, a polymath on ice, honored by Ice Theatre of New York as Olympic champion who bridges world between sport and dance

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Nathan Chen, a polymath on ice, honored by Ice Theatre of New York as Olympic champion who bridges world between sport and dance

In 2017, not long after Nathan Chen had won his first of what would be six straight U.S. titles in figure skating, we talked briefly about his background in ballet.

Now, a lot of figure skaters mention having done ballet, but it is usually little more than something for a sentence in their bios.

But he did not see it the way most skaters do, as just another box to check, like sessions to work on strength, flexibility and endurance.

Chen was serious about the dance lessons, as many as six per week, that he took for 6 ½ years at Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City.  He started the lessons at age seven to help his skating.  He kept them up for a less pragmatic reason.

“I love ballet,” he said.

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Top skaters, dismayed by proposed rules changes, ask international federation to hear their voices

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Top skaters, dismayed by proposed rules changes, ask international federation to hear their voices

 Four months after circulating a set of rules modification proposals that would have radically transformed the sport of figure skating as early as the 2027-28 season, the International Skating Union has apparently decided to hold off on trying to implement any such cataclysmic changes until at least after the next Winter Olympics in 2030.

The ISU will go ahead next season with previously approved changes that could be seen as laying some ground work for the proposals that would essentially reinvent the sport.

In the interim, the ISU pooh-bahs would do well by listening on repeat to a recording of answers given by the three men’s medalists at the recent World Championships to a questioner who asked for their thoughts about the changes.

Or maybe the ISU should already have sought their opinions - and those of all other singles skaters at the world meet level – before imposing new rules on the athletes - especially the changes under discussion that would have as much (or more?) impact on the sport as the end of compulsory figures in 1990 and the introduction of the International Judging System in 2004.

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Ilia Malinin’s bounce-back world title marks fresh start for Quadg0d

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Ilia Malinin’s bounce-back world title marks fresh start for Quadg0d

The figure skating world is back on its axis.

The Quadg0d realigned it, reclaiming his position as the best men’s singles skater in the world with a performance that was merely excellent rather than otherworldly.

Ilia Malinin won his third straight world title Saturday in Prague by attempting just (?!?!) five quadruple jumps, none of them his singular quad Axel. He landed all five, the last with a slight penalty for being short of four rotations.

With a huge lead from the short program, Malinin knew he did not need to use his full array of quads in the long program, as he had at December’s Grand Prix Final, when he became the first person to land seven – and one of each type. After all, none of the other 23 men tried more than three.

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Kaori Sakamoto saves best for last in farewell to competitive skating

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Kaori Sakamoto saves best for last in farewell to competitive skating

There is an old adage in show business that advises performers to always leave them wanting more.

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan did that Friday at the World Championships in Prague.

Alas, there will be no more of Sakamoto in competition. At 25, she is leaving that side of figure skating with a fourth world title and an indelible legacy of greatness.

“If you want me to talk about her achievements, you wouldn’t be able to stop me from going on forever,” said her teammate, Mone Chiba, who finished second.

She saved the best — at least by scoring standards — for last, winning with a personal best in the free skate and the highest component scores ever in both the free and short programs.

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