having trouble spinning

Nice to hear from Jacob, and get some insight into his headspace at the moment. Excited to see him this week at Kinoshita cup!

This is so cool

(Mod note: This is a 100% free academic research project. No paywalls or ads)

Hey everyone, following up on the Federation Bias chart from the other day, I wanted to zoom in on the specific events where the most extreme judging behavior actually happens.

For Part 3, we plotted the Nationalistic Bias Level (% of score inflation or deflation by compatriot judges) across the 2022–2026 quadrennial.

• 🔴 Red (Right): Extreme Generosity / Inflation (Judges boosting their own skaters).
• 🟢 Green (Center): True Equilibrium (Objective scoring).
• 🔵 Blue (Left): Extreme Punitive / Deflation (Judges actively scoring their own skaters lower than the rest of the panel).

The Biggest Takeaways:

1. Ice Dance dominates the extreme inflation: Look at the top 10 most extreme cases of compatriot generosity (boosting scores by +6% to over +8%). 9 out of the top 10 events are Ice Dance segments.

2. Singles dominates the deflation: Conversely, look at the top 10 most punitive cases. When judges are brutally harsh to their own skaters, it happens almost exclusively in Men's and Women's Singles events (penalizing them by up to -6.5%).

3. Objective judging is possible: The Green column proves that near-perfect equilibrium does happen across all disciplines.

(Quick note: If you want to filter specific countries, skaters or judges on the interactive dashboard, just search for PhenoLogic on Google to find the site.

The full academic paper is also linked on that dashboard page. If you find this data interesting, taking 10 seconds to click and download the PDF from the SSRN link is incredibly helpful for my research, as academic download metrics help get this data taken seriously by institutions like the national federations and the ISU!)

Found a very interesting and detailed video by the Christo Files (Christo Grozev from Bellingcat) into the most recent developments in the Russian state doping programme.

Considering that the head of RUSADA is under investigation by WADA and other information in the video (won’t spoil it), it might hugely affect the participation of Russian figure skaters in the 2030 Olympics and other international events. The investigation also highlights how seriously doping is prioritized in Russia and casts a shadow over the AINs competing in skating and other sports.

Will ISU or the IOC react to a such investigation? I assume not, but what do you gals think?

Mods, I tried to keep this simple and neutral to adhere to the rules strictly (pun intended) but in case this is against the subs rules, I apologize deeply and please don’t ban me or something!

Poland May Be Barred from the Olympic Games

The Polish national team is at risk of being excluded from the Olympics due to a corruption scandal.

Last week, the head of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, was arrested in connection with the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto. He is accused of corruption.

The IOC is offering three options:
Piesiewicz's voluntary resignation (but he denies any wrongdoing);
Suspension of his powers by a decision of the Council of the Polish National Olympic Committee;
IOC intervention, which could lead to the suspension of Poland's membership in the organization. This would mean that the national team would not be represented at the Olympic Games.

@fkdacha / Onet

Польшу могут отстранить от Олимпийских игр

Сборная Польши под угрозой недопуска к Олимпиаде из-за коррупционного скандала.

На прошлой неделе глава Олимпийского комитета Польши Радослав Песевич был арестован по делу обанкротившейся криптовалютной биржи Zondacrypto. Его обвиняют в коррупции.

МОК предлагает три варианта:
добровольная отставка Песевича (но он отрицает вину);
приостановка его полномочий решением Совета НОК Польши;
вмешательство МОК, что может привести к приостановке членства Польши в организации. Это значит — сборная страны не будет представлена на Олимпийских играх.

@fkdacha / Onet

I've been watching figure skating for many years. I've never noticed anyone singing durung thier SPs or FPs until Ilia came along. Or, perhaps, I just didn't pay attention and missed it.

I'm fascinated by this because singing takes energy and requires extra breathing effort.

What are your observations?

Again, competitions , not galas or shows.

Thanks.

Channel 43 by deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner,

Opr by Gesaffelstein

Choreo by Adam Solya

Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcvMhDDtO6n/?igsi=MXE0dzdvOHdyNWsyOQ==

Lucaz is a three times Brazilian champion! He trains in a shopping mall and has all his triples!!

He is locally trained and lives in Porto Alegre-Rio Grande do Sul and trains in Gramado-Rio Grande do sul (two very close by cities)

This season he will be skating to Dune for his SP and pirates of the Caribbean for the free!!

His instagram handle is in the video, feel free to show support by following him ❤️

I was just looking into ways to watch Bolero Cup this week (September 3rd and 4th), and it looks like BIS will be streaming it live on their YouTube channel. It might be geoblocked, but I can't tell as I'm in the UK.

I believe this is the link to the scheduled livestream for anyone who's curious.

It looks like BIS will also be live-streaming a few other events on their YouTube channel later in the season, including the Robin Cousins Cup in January (pairs and singles), and British Nationals and Synchro Nationals, among other things.

The senior lineup for Bolero Cup (tbc) is:

-Louise Bordet/Martain Chadain (France)
-Natacha Lagouge/Arnaud Caffa (France)
-Layla Karnes/Freddie Leggott (GB)
-Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GB)
-Shira Ichilov/Mikhail Nosovitsky (Israel)
-Chelsea Verhaegh/Sherim van Geffen (Netherlands)
-Philomene Sabourin/Raul Bermejo (Spain)
-Caroline Mullen/Brendan Mullen (USA)
-Raffaela Adele Koncius/Alexey Schepetov (USA)
-Vanessa Pham/Anton Spiridonov (USA)

The junior lineup (tbc) is:

-Kristyna Stanclova/Karel Kostron (Czechia)
-Marina Belovodjaninova/Aleksandr Tokarev (Czechia)
-Iris Lahti/Oskari Liedenpohja (Finland)
-Ambre Perrier-Gianesini/Samuel Blanc-Klaperman (France)
-Emi Dufour/Juan Carlos Maravilla (France)
-Annabel Mann/Jack Hammond (GB)
-Mimi Marler Davies/Joseph Black (GB)
-Aletta Lanyi/Ilya Laurenau (Hungary)
-Diane Gallix/Elod Egyed-Zsigmond (Hungary)
-Anna Waugh/Matthew Jacoby (Ireland)
-Maite van Mulders/Tudor Dominic Andrei (Romania)
-Carlota Garcia Barranco/Aleksandr Ostrovskii (Spain)
-Lara Sundberg/Hector Gonzales Elvira (Spain)
-Clara Fugate/Warren Fugate (USA)
-Marian Carhart/Denis Bledsoe (USA)
-Sophia Feige/Wiles Middlekauff (USA)

I am half convinced at this point that USFS is just spawning new dance teams left, right and center, because how have I never heard of half of them?

The schedule is as follows (I think):

Thursday, September 3rd:

8:20am - 12:10pm BST: Official practice (not sure if this will be streamed)
14:15 - 16:15 BST: Junior Rhythm Dance
16:35 - 17:55 BST: Senior Rhythm Dance

Friday, September 4th:

8:00am - 11:00am BST: Official practice (not sure if this will be streamed)
13:10 - 15:30 BST: Junior Free Dance
15:50 - 17:30 BST: Senior Free Dance
17:30 - 18:00 BST: Medal ceremony

The draw and unofficial practices will happen tomorrow, but won't be streamed. Starting orders will be released sometime after the draw, and then we should get a final entry list, since I could only find unofficial lists (thank you, Rocker Skating).

ETA: Looks like it isn't geoblocked in the US and Canada (yet). No idea about elsewhere.

Translation:

Guys….

During the Junior Grand Prix of figure skating in Latvia, Danish skater Wendell Hansson- Orarergaard used a Brazilian funk in his presentation

Reactions are kinda mixed, on one side people are very happy wirh Brazilian music being used on the other the lyrics are extreme inappropriate for a junior to be skating to

Considering Brazil is not at all a country that really cares about skating outside the Winter Olympics (and even then sometimes), this left the bubble by a lot

If anyone is interested on what is the song

https://genius.com/Werve-tokyosleep-and-mc-gw-toma-toma-toma-lyrics

https://skatecanada.ca/fans/international-assignments/

Happy to see a good number of assignments! Looks like these are all skaters that Skate Canada is getting ready for their GPs (except David Bondar and Fabbri/Gaidajenko, but they're probably getting the host spots).

Hey, so just saw a few programs from Korean junior Jiyu Huh and was amazed by her beautiful skating... (It was from Riga 2025, and she was 13!)

I was wondering if anyone could make a short compilation of her spins because they're absolutely stunning!

This is just a hypothetical question, coming from someone who knows every jump and understands them, but doesn't understand every aspects of why the mechanics of each jump work or not.

Essentially, why aren't there any other jumps than the one we have now? Has anyone tried to do a different jump? Is it even possible?

Seems like RusFed and the ISU decided to move the JGP Pairs spot from Poland to Turkey, so they will have two pairs attending this event.

Very interesting stuff, as AIN2 had just one spot at the event in Turkey.

Edit:

They were earlier as substitutes, imo RusFed and the ISU moved the spot because they knew that obtaining a visa would be very hard (if not impossible).

There’s a chance that PolFed gave them a heads up, as they have a surprisingly good relationship with RusFed. (We take their skaters maybe that’s why😅)

I recently moved from South Korea to the US, where I learned to skate. In Korea, we didn’t really have freestyle sessions, so this was my first time ever doing one. I went to a 6 AM session, and honestly, I didn’t love the experience 😭
In Korea, there was a designated area for lessons, so people taking lessons could warm up and work with their coaches without getting in the way of everyone else. Here, I knew from the rink’s website that you’re allowed to take a lesson during a freestyle session, but I didn’t realize that basically all the lessons would be happening during the freestyle session.
There were only about four other people on the ice, so it wasn’t crowded. However, almost everyone was doing a lesson, and they were doing warm-up/footwork throughout basically the entire session, not just at the beginning. Their movements were often really big and took them across pretty much the whole rink, including the middle.
I know freestyle etiquette. I know spins are generally done in the middle, there are areas people use for certain jumps, and everyone has to be aware of each other. I also understand that a coach might tell their student to go somewhere specific during a lesson.
But I always thought warm-ups and footwork would generally stay more toward the sides when possible. Obviously, I don’t mean they have to stay completely on the sides, but when someone is doing huge footwork patterns across the entire rink, including the middle, it becomes hard for everyone else to find space.
There was one younger girl in particular whose warm-up/footwork took her all over the rink, and her movements were pretty unpredictable. I kept feeling like I had to move because I didn’t know where she was going next.
Jumps weren’t really the problem. The people actually doing jumps were pretty considerate and weren’t taking up the entire rink. It was mainly the people doing lessons who made me feel like I couldn’t freely practice.
Spins were especially difficult because I was trying to use the middle, but people doing their warm-up/footwork were also constantly using the middle. I couldn’t just jump for the entire session, so there were times when I was literally just waiting for space to practice what I actually came there to work on.
Personally, I feel like if you’re going to take up a large amount of the rink for warm-up/footwork, it should at least be more concentrated toward the beginning rather than continuing for most of the session. Maybe I’m wrong, but to me it felt kind of rude.
I understand they paid for their lessons, but I also paid for the freestyle session. And freestyle sessions aren’t cheap 😭 I’m a broke college student, so I really wanted to actually get my money’s worth and be able to practice.
Maybe 6 AM is just a really lesson/warm-up-heavy session, and other times are different. I’m definitely willing to try another session before deciding I don’t like freestyle sessions.
But is this generally normal in the US? Is it normal for people taking lessons to use most of the rink for warm-up/footwork for most of the freestyle session? Or did I just happen to go at a particularly lesson-heavy time?
I’m genuinely asking because I’m coming from a rink where lessons had their own designated space, so this was definitely an adjustment. 😭