57th Ordinary ISU Congress - Day 4 Summary
SYWTW FS
Figure Skating Branch Session:
The Technical Rules were voted as a package. For Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance (Proposals 245 to 284) were all accepted with Urgent Proposal No. 15 to 19, amendments were made to Proposals 250, 253, 255, 261.
Following the acceptance of these Technical Rules, Proposal 196 of the Special Regulations Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance could be voted on and was accepted.
Reference: Proposals, Urgent Matters
Summary of important figure skating decisions:
ACCEPTED:
All Technical Rules for Singles and Pairs Skating and Ice Dance (Proposals 245-284) were passed as a package vote, some with amendments. We have summarized some of the most notable proposals here based on information we know. The ISU will publish their new documents with all rule changes accepted at the Congress soon, so this post should only serve as a temporary summary and may not have complete information.
Urgent Proposal 15: Pairs’ free skate qualifiers increased from 16 to 20 at the World Championships, beginning at 2019 Worlds.
Proposal 245: “Men must wear full length trousers and must not wear tights.” Remove phrase specifically banning tights.
Proposal 250: Draws for the short program at Senior Grand Prix events. Amended with minor drafting changes. Long proposal, click here for full text: Part 1, Part 2
Proposal 253: Procedure in case of interruptions to programs. Long proposal, click here for full text: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. (“10 seconds” amended to “20 seconds” in paragraph 2)
Proposal 256: “A jump sequence consists of 2 (two) jumps of any number of revolutions, beginning with any jump, immediately followed by an Axel type jump with a direct step from the landing curve of the first jump to the take-off curve of the Axel jump.” Only axels can be included as the second jump in a jump sequence in singles skating. (Previously, any jumps could be included in a sequence.)
Proposal 257: Certain moves in pairs no longer considered illegal.
Proposal 259: Steps preceding the solo jump in the singles short program are no longer required.
Proposal 261: Repetition of quad jumps in the singles free skate. Amended - “Of all triple and quadruple jumps only two (2) can be executed twice. Of the two repetitions only one (1) can be a quadruple jump.” Only one quad can be repeated in the singles free skate. For example, if a skater performs 2 quad toe loops in a free skate, they cannot perform 2 of any other type of quad.
Proposals 265-266: Amended - Choreographic sequence remains in the pairs’ free skate. Side-by-side spin removed from the pairs’ free skate. One side-by-side spin always required in the pairs’ short program. (Previously, the required spin in the pairs’ SP would alternate between pair spin and SBS spin every season, and both one SBS spin and one pair spin were required in the FS.)
Proposal 267: All lifts in junior and senior pairs’ free skates must be from different groups.
Proposal 269: “The pair spin combination must have a minimum of eight (8) revolutions” in the free skate.
Proposal 275: Certain moves in ice dance no longer considered illegal.
Proposal 278: “After the completion of the last step of the Pattern Dance, the couple must reach its final pose within 20 seconds. If this time limit is exceeded a deduction … shall apply.”
Proposals 280 & 283: In both Short/Rhythm Dance and Free Dance, “After the clock is started with the first movement, the Couple must not remain in one place for more than ten (10) seconds at the beginning and/or end of the program.”
Proposals 281 & 284: In both Short/Rhythm Dance and Free Dance, “Kneeling or sliding on two knees, or sitting on the ice is not allowed and it will be considered by the Technical Panel as a Fall unless otherwise announced in an ISU Communication.”