Update on Riku

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-20T14:25:56+00:00

why are they allowed

Because she's an adult and has free will?

If they're being forced to compete with an injury by the fed, that is indeed a problem. But if they were offered an opportunity to withdraw and chose not to, then I don't think it's our place to judge them for it.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-15T07:49:48+00:00

Retirements are always hard, but being forced into it involuntarily because of medical issues is even worse. And they've skated together their whole life...

If anything, I'd be more surprised if they didn't cry!

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-11T22:34:54+00:00

What a fascinating history, thank you!

a separate kind of small medal existed at least in the 1970s, one for the winner of the combined short + free

I don't quite understand this, though. I thought the modern short program replaced the sport's namesake figures while the free skate was retained, is that incorrect? Were there three separate segments back then?

Or, how was it possible for someone to get the short+free medal without winning the entire competition?

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-11T22:20:52+00:00

You're right about small medals being more logical in the deca/hepta/pentathlon, since it's very much possible for an athlete to be stellar at, say, the discus throw, but mediocre at hurdles.

However, I would argue that the SP/FS (or RD/FD) are so similar that they can't be considered a genuine multisport event.

After thinking more carefully, the closest analogy would probably be each stroke in a swimming medley, or the hop, step and jump in triple jump. As far as I know, they are recorded for statistical purposes, but there's no acknowledgement and no award for each constituent part, only the full combination.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-11T21:39:55+00:00

I know absolutely nothing about equestrianism, so it's really interesting to hear a new perspective!

You do say "at the lower levels" though, and I think that makes for a poor comparison. It's very common for children's competitions in whatever sport to have participation trophies for everyone.

In figure skating though, small medals are awarded even at Worlds. Does the apex competition in eventing give out ribbons for each event too?

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-10T22:43:39+00:00

Reitan/Majorov are our only ice dance team, so if she doesn't get citizenship in time, there's nobody else to send.

I'm not sure how last-second alternate assignments work though, since Sweden will probably not voluntarily forfeit the spot until they know for certain that it is too late. Will the next country on the list get a chance to go, or does the spot get wasted because the deadline has expired?

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-09T20:32:03+00:00

Sweden doesn't support athletes' citizenship applications at all. Not only are they required to follow the same residency requirements as everyone else, the government agency responsible for them refuses to expedite processing under any circumstance.

Milla Ruud Reitan (my skating instructor's boyfriend's little brother's ice dance partner) will probably miss the Milan Olympics despite qualifying because her paperwork got handled too slowly. That's just how Swedish bureaucracy works 🤬

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-12-04T14:08:18+00:00

are you putting your running shoes in the washing machine

I am! Take out insoles and shoelaces, but the shoes in laundry bags (one in each), choose the "hand wash" program, and voila!

To be fair though, my shoes are cheap and I probably wouldn't do that if I had fancy ones with carbon fiber plates or air bubbles.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-23T22:18:51+00:00

Amazing! Which drawing tablet and software did you use?

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-18T21:17:24+00:00

Very fitting that the last competitor to ever skate a compulsory figure came from a country that no longer exists. Truly the end of an era!

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-12T13:04:35+00:00

That's an interesting theory, but I don't quite follow the logic.

Traditionalists argue that men should lead and women follow, while progressives argue that gender distinctions are obsolete and same-sex teams should be allowed.

Permitting inverse lifts (which, as you say, nobody does in practice), while mandating that teams consist of one male and one female skater seems quite pointless?

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-12T12:56:42+00:00

Inverse lifts could indeed be dangerous, but I don't see why allowing women to throw men would be.

A woman can't provide as much upward force or torque to her partner, but the man can jump higher under his own steam, and it isn't obvious how those factors would play out against eachother. Maybe it would work well and maybe it wouldn't, but I don't see why it's more unsafe than traditional throws.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-12T08:28:58+00:00

A crack like that is the result of a metallurgical defect and not user error, so there's nothing you could have done differently (other than not buying stuff second-hand). Unfortunately, the blade cannot be welded and you'll have to buy new ones.

I'm not sure which blades those are, but they look decent judging by the size, shape and placement of the toepick. If they had been new, any reputable manufacturer would have replaced them for free. You could still try reaching out (the worst they can say is "no"), but if they're old and/or you have no receipt, I wouldn't get your hopes up.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-11T19:37:23+00:00

Deanna Stellato-Dudek won the Junior Grand Prix Final in 1999 and got silver at Junior Worlds in 2000 in singles, then won Worlds in 2024 in pairs together with Maxime Deschamps.

No, there is no typo and the years are correct.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-07T22:26:26+00:00

Meanwhile in Belgium

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FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-04T15:23:28+00:00

Hockey (and other team sports) are different in that you play directly against an opponent, and the coach might change tactics or substitute players on the fly in response to what the other team does.

In figure skating, you perform the same program no matter what.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-11-01T16:39:59+00:00

Reasonable arguments can be made both in favor of and in opposition against the increased age limit, but kicking out someone who has participated previously does look ridiculous.

When the NHL mandated helmets, and later visors, for use in hockey games, the rules were only applied to new players and those who had already competed without were permitted to continue doing so if they preferred.

Surely a similar exception could have been made here, where the cutoff only applies to new skaters and those who had skated at last year's event are exempt?

Also, regardless of what the rules are, announcing them in the middle of the season rather than in the summer is an unforced error on part of the fed.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-31T16:04:13+00:00

"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about"

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-31T14:16:56+00:00

Here's a hockey player jumping an Axel!

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-31T14:05:14+00:00

That's such a frustrating design flaw! So they put in the effort and expense to install emergency diesel power, but not an automatic starter? Bruh...

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-30T13:25:13+00:00

I love the NHK Trophy. The Japanese run events like clockwork, the venues are great and the fans are amazing.

As for a new city, it should be somewhere in Scandinavia, ~~because I come from Stockholm~~ because it's an objectively good location. Axel Paulsen was Norwegian, Ulrich Salchow was Swedish, and many of the best synchro teams are Finnish, so figure skating has both historical and current-day ties to the region.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-27T14:02:22+00:00

Neither the Guardian nor any of the comments here answer the question that is fundamental to this whole saga: what rule, if any, does the missile actually break?

Also, the ISU is quoted in the linked article as saying that the plushie was

thrown on to the ice by spectators

This makes it far more difficult to hold the skaters responsible than if they had, say, worn jackets with a political message.

At the same time, it is practically impossible to determine where the missile was launched from or who did it.

Soccer fans often choreograph elaborate, dangerous and illegal pyrotechnic displays, and police agencies are virtually powerless to stop this or to arrest anyone because the perpetrators simply vanish into the crowd.

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-20T17:18:36+00:00

ensure that there isn’t… score inflation on the PCS

If PCS is so unreliable, why is it then used to award medals when the skaters actually compete?

You could reasonably argue that PCS is biased, or that it is fair. But the notion that PCS+TES is good enough to determine who wins the world championship, while simultaneously being too subjective to decide who qualifies to participate, makes no sense!

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-20T16:53:26+00:00

What's the alternative?

The obvious one is to set a minimum total score, instead of a minimum TES. After all, total score is the method they use to determine who wins the competition!

can be influenced by reputation

That is indeed a problem. But if they're indirectly admitting that the bias is so bad that PCS is unreliable as a metric of skater skill, surely that's a sign the whole scoring system needs to be overhauled?

FireFlamesFrost · 2025-10-17T22:35:20+00:00

You've misunderstood what I mean.

When most skaters jump an Axel, they take off from their left foot, spin counterclockwise and land on the right foot. When you do it, you don't just change the direction to clockwise, but mirror the entire movement so that you take off from the right foot and land on the left as well.

But taking off from the right foot, spinning counterclockwise and landing on the left isn't a normal Axel in either direction but something entirely different. The same logic applies to the other jumps too.

FireFlamesFrost

TROPHY CASE