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0 pointsdivan2y ago0 comments

Great comment, thank you.

I would just add that the russia thing is a direct consequence of the judge's system change (where russian officials are very much involved). The reason why russia was dominating medal standings for women (and not for men or ice dance), is precisely because russia could afford a stream of pre-puberty girls who win a medal at the cost of their physical and mental health.

Also, needless to say, the russian sport system is still a direct copy of the soviet sport system, which was essentially created by Stalin when USSR first decided to participate in the Olympics in 1952 (guess, why USSR didn't care about the international sport before WWII). The way how sport is organized in russia goes against the sports autonomy principle that is sacred in democratic countries and is embodied in the Olympic Charter and European Sports Charter.

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Balgair2y ago

For the other HNers out there not deeply into Figure Skating, the other comments here go into the 'new' scoring system very well.

One thing that I think needs stressing is that the base value score is a pretty good system; it's the Grade of Execution (GoE) score that is bad. The GoE is where all the shenanigans are hiding and where all the corruption lies. The 'new' system is a lot better than the old one, that is for sure, and it's a real improvement. But if you thought that Russia was going to let any system be implemented without the ability for them to bribe or threaten their way to a medal, you've got another thing coming. GoE scores are where that happens nowadays.

As an aside, now is the time to revamp figure skating with Russia being sidelined. I hope that such an opportunity never comes again, but now is that opportunity. The lack of push to really get the sport ready for the 21st century just speaks to the deep and embedded corruption at the international level.

I love the sport and still follow it. But my kids are not going to be participating at senior level (or whatever it's called these days) because of the futility and geopolitics.