The debate about the young age of skaters, especially female skaters, isn't new. It resurfaces frequently. The debate was revived last February in Beijing during the Olympics when Kamila Valieva -- a favorite to win the Olympic title at just 15 years old -- collapsed under the weight of the pressure.
After being caught up in a doping scandal, the Russian teenager had cracked. After finishing her performance, she was shaking with sobs and had fallen at the feet of the podium.
The ISU members meet in Phuket (Thailand), Monday through Friday. They must agree on a proposal. If accepted by more than 2/3 of the voters, it plans to raise the minimum age from 16 to 17 years in the 2023-2024 seasons, and then to 17 in the 2024-2025 season.
Objet: To avoid any mental and physical damage to skaters, whose professional careers are often short.
The Medical Commission of the ISU states that "The ISU has the duty to protect all athletes' physical and psychological safety and health."
It also stated that the "burdens and risks" of high-level skating are not appropriate for young skaters.
Figure skating is a very demanding sport. Young girls have to do hours of repetitive training, jumps, and pirouettes at an age where their bodies are still developing.
A slim silhouette is a key advantage to be able to do triple, or even quadruple, jumps. After puberty, the body gets larger, making it more difficult to master. The skaters are then replaced by younger ones.
Yulia Lipnitskaya was just 15 when she won the gold medal in the team event at the 2014 Sochi Games. Although she was expected to have a great career, three years later, she had already given up, having suffered from anorexia.
The skaters will be more prepared to withstand the increased training load and "increased psychological pressures" of senior competition if their minimum age is raised. According to the Medical Commission.
The Federation hopes that this initiative will encourage skaters towards a longer career.
Guillaume Cizeron from France, who was crowned Olympic champion in Beijing ice dancing, made a pointed observation a few days later. Their careers are very brief. It is not clear how it will impact their lives in the future, but I can't see it having any significant positive effects.
It will allow them to live longer and thus have more time to mature. This should make the competition more exciting, as we want to see mature skaters. These are children who jump," he said.
The ISU has submitted a proposal to increase the age of skaters before. A similar proposal was rejected in 2018, mainly due to opposition from the Russians.
In any case, Beijing Games participants were almost unanimous in their opinions. The American Mariah Bell, who was 25 years old, stated that Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen were people we could support for many years. "It would be wonderful to have more athletes such as this. An age limit would help.
