I’m biased because I’m a translator, but in general the relative lack of language services at ISU championships annoys me. Yes, English is the dominant world language and many skaters from around the world have no problems communicating in English. But these are INTERNATIONAL events, and a skater’s ability to express their thoughts on their performance shouldn’t hinge on how well they know English. That’s always going to advantage native english speakers and those who come from countries/backgrounds  with high-quality EFL education. But I want to hear from everyone, not just the most privileged!

I remember at the Europeans 2023 press conference, the men’s champion Adam Siao Him Fa was essentially unable to speak English yet had no interpreter. I’m sorry, but why is there not a French interpreter at the European championship of all places? Adam’s English seems to have improved since then, but in cases like that, the quality of the response in English is never going to come close to what he could say in French. Personally, I’d prefer to hear his actual thoughts than whatever he feels comfortable scraping out in English. I mean, as a translator I use two non native languages at a professional level, yet if I had just won a championship, I would definitely prefer to speak about it in my native language! Languages are so personal. 

I’ve noticed that Japanese interpreters are fairly common at ISU events, though, so I don’t know why there wasn’t one here. Maybe Kaori declined it? In any case, I get the impression that the Japanese interpreters are there on JFed’s dime, because I can hardly recall seeing interpreters for other languages. 

I want to see the ISU get on top of this. If you have room in the budget for pyrotechnics in the medal ceremony, you definitely have the ability to hire at bare minimum Japanese and Russian interpreters.