Oberstdorf Adult Pair Event

 
This past week the announcement for the ISU Adult Competition 2011, to be held in Oberstdorf Germany, was released and included a number of significant changes to the ‘Adult Pair Free Skating’ event.

Each year, the ISU (International Skating Union) makes routine changes to the IJS code of points to unify international competition under a single standard. The changes made to the ‘Adult Pair Free Skating’ event falls outside of the parameters of these typical changes.

Pair skating, at all levels, is clearly defined and differentiated from other figure-skating disciplines by a unique set of elements including traditional “Pair” elements, such as Lifts, Throw Jumps, Solo Jumps, Jump Combination or Sequences, Solo Spins or Solo Spin Combinations, Pair Spins or Pair Spin Combinations, Pivots or Death Spirals, and Steps or Spiral Sequences. The organizers of the ISU Adult Competition 2011 have eliminated the following elements from the ‘Adult Pair Free Skating’ event: Side-by-side Solo Spins and Solo Spin Combinations, Step Sequences, and the Split Twist Lift. We feel these elements are crucial towards defining the very nature of pair skating. While we certainly understand decisions to limit difficult over-head lifts, at lower competitive levels for the sake of safety, we do not believe that the Side-by-side Solo Spins and Solo Spin Combinations, Step Sequences, or the Split Twist Lift pose the same safety risk as over-head lifts. In the United States, Split Twist Lifts are included in the Adult Silver Pairs well-balanced program. Side-by-side Solo Spins, Solo Spin Combinations and Step Sequences are included in the Adult Bronze Pairs well-balanced program, as well as all other competitive pair levels.

It is our hope, that the organizers of the ISU Adult Competition 2011 will reconsider these changes in the future and reinstate Side-By-Side Solo Spins or Solo Spin Combinations, Step Sequences, and Split Twist Lift back into the well-balance program for the ‘Adult Pair Free Skating’ event in Oberstdorf.

 
Andrea Cooper and Lee Jones
Adult Pair Skating Website

Note: Comments and further discussion with regard to this issue are welcome on the WASA or Adult Pair Skating pages on Facebook.