While the concept of team competition is appealing, the ISU’s strategy for grouping their athletes could force the competition into mundane predictability.
However, with ice being slippery, and competition being fierce, the new teams, which will certainly force rivals to join forces, are sure to catch the attention of skating enthusiasts across the globe.
Figure Skating Team Event
After all skaters perform their free skate, athletes will be sorted into 3 groups per discipline.
For singles skaters, the top 5 winners make up Group 1. 6th through 11th place finishers make up Group 2, and 12th through 16th place finishers make up Group 3. Pairs are sorted with 1st through 3rd, 4th through 7th, and 8th through 10th making up their respective Groups. Ice Dance Group 1 includes the 1st through 4th places finishers, with 5th-8th and 9th-12th places making up Groups 2 and 3.
Groups will then be organized into teams by a drawing. And here’s where the inconsistencies might jinx the game: Team 1 gets a top 5 finisher from men’s and dance. Teams 2, 5, and 6 only have 1 Top-5 finisher. Teams 3 and 4 get to draw 2 from the top 5 finishers, and Team 8 has no competitors who placed above 6th in their respective disciplines.
The ISU justifies these discrepancies by awarding Team 8 three Group 2 picks, but there a lot of points are lost between 1st and 11th place finishes.
1 to 8 points will be awarded to each skater. The team with the most points at the end of the competition wins.
Speed Skating Relay
The mixed country relay is also a mixed gender event. Just as in regular competitions, this relay will take place after all the individual events. All entered skaters are eligible to compete in the relay. They will make up 8 relay teams with 4 skaters (2 men and 2 women,) everyone from a different country.
Skating order must be lady, man, lady, man – unless someone falls. So could we see faux-spills staged for the good of the team? Considering controversial finishes at this sport’s recent international competitions, possibly.
While skaters will wear speed suits that represent their individual countries, helmet covers will help the audience identify members of each relay team.
Teams will be chosen according to the points earned during the individual distance races.
The 1st skaters in each team will be pulled from those currently ranked 1st through 8th place overall.
Female skaters ranked 1 through 8 will be placed on Relay Teams 1 through 8, respectively. Male skaters ranked 1 through 8 will be placed on Teams 8 through 1, respectively.
So the 1st teams will have the strongest female skaters but the weakest male skaters of the relay. Middle teams will have none of the highest finishers but none of the lowest either.
However, in a sport where the best skaters are separated by less than a second and anything can happen, the ISU hopes this is a moot point.
The 2nd Skaters in Each Team will be from those currently ranked 9th through 11th place overall.
In order to help even out the groups and give fair advantage to no one, the ISU has decided to place the 2nd male and female skaters on their relay teams as follows:
Men ranked 9th through 16th will be placed on Teams 1 through 8, respectively. Women ranked 9th through 16th will be correspondingly placed on Teams 8 through 1.
After teams compete, the one with the most points earned wins.
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