thegameseason | [Winter; Figure Skating] Figure Skating Notes for 'You Eclipsed by Me'

Notes:

COMPETITIVE FIGURE SKATING BASICS:

Singles skating is composed of two rounds—the short program (2:50 minutes) and the free skate (4:30 minutes). Each skater is judged on both programs based on technical elements (the jumps, the spins, the footwork) and the program components (skating skills, interpretation, choreography). The points for both parts are added for the SP/FS score, and the final competition standings are based on the combined scores for both programs.

The following are the jumps, based on easiest to most difficult—toe, salchow, loop, flip, lutz, axel. The higher the number of rotations, the bigger the points. So far, a lot of male skaters can cleanly execute a quad toe and a quad salchow. Each element is given a base value—a cleanly executed element gets 0 to +3 points while a poorly executed element gets -1 to -3 points. A fall gets a 1 point deduction. For a better explanation of the elements of figure skating, I highly recommend checking this blog.

FIGURE SKATING SEASON TIMELINE:

The season officially starts in July/August and ends in the last week of March. Ice shows occur during the off-season, although some ice shows occur in between. The following are the competition categories, from least important to most important:

* Challenger Series/Other International Competitions (e.g. Bavarian Open, Triglav Trophy, ISU Development Trophy) - spread throughout the season
* Junior Grand Prix Series - August to September
* Grand Prix Series (Skate America, Cup of China, Rostelecom Cup, NHK Trophy) - late October to November
* Grand Prix Final - December
* National Competition - Usually January
* European Championships/Four Continents Championships - February (earlier if during Olympic season)
* Junior World Championships - Last week of February or early March
* World Championships - Last week of March
* Olympics - February

REAL-LIFE SKATERS:

The following real-life skaters were mentioned in the fic (in order of mention):

* Kim Yuna (Korea)
* Kim Jinseo (Korea)
* Lee Junehyoung (Korea)
* Park Soyoun (Korea)
* Kim Haejin (Korea)
* Ilia Kulik (Russia)
* Shin Heasook (Korea) - coach
* Misha Ge (Uzbekistan)
* Evgeni Plushenko (Russia)
* Patrick Chan (Canada)
* Yan Han (China)
* Jin Boyang (China)
* Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (United States)
* Jason Brown (United States)
* Max Aaron (United States)
* Asada Mao (Japan)
* Hanyu Yuzuru (Japan)
* Cha Junhwan (Korea)
* Choi Dabin (Korea)
* Maxim Kovtun (Russia)
* Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)

Fun fact: There is an actual skater named Kim Minseok, who retired in 2015.

NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION:

Each skating federation selects skaters to send to competitions. For the bigger international competitions (Europeans, Four Continents, Worlds, Olympics), big skating federations (e.g. USA, Japan, Russia, Canada) select their national team through their National Competitions. Korea has a separate domestic competition apart from Nationals to select their team, but to avoid complications in this fic, I made the national team selection during Nationals.

The skaters in the World/Olympic team are usually selected from the podium, depending on the number of spots the country has (see “Earning spots for Worlds and Olympics”). For one spot, it’s usually the gold medalist; gold and silver medalist if two spots, and so on. However, some countries create exceptions; if one of the medalists does not have a consistent season, then they select the most consistent skater out of the Top 10. This was a subject of controversy in 2014 US Nationals when US Figure Skating Association sent fourth-placer Ashley Wagner to the Olympics and 2014 Worlds over bronze medalist Mirai Nagasu).

EARNING SPOTS FOR WORLDS AND OLYMPICS:

A skater’s placement in Worlds will determine the number of skaters per country for next year’s Worlds and the Olympics. The number of entries is equal to the sum of the placements of the country’s skaters (top two if they have three entries). Entries are not carried over, so skaters must continue to earn their two or three spots every year.

If a country only has one skater, that skater must place in the top ten to earn a second entry and in the top two to earn three entries to next year's championships. If a country has two skaters, the combined placement of the skaters must be 13 or lower to qualify 3 entries, and 28 or lower to keep their two entries. If they do not do so, they only have one entry for the following year. If a country has three skaters, the combined placement of the 3 skaters must be equal to or less than 28 to earn 2 entries; for 3 entries, the top 2 placements must be equal or less than 28. Otherwise, they only have one entry for the following year.

In the case of the Olympics, only 24 spots are given based on the number of entries per country in the previous year’s Worlds. Six more spots (or more because there are cases when a skater from a smaller federation can win 2 or 3 spots but the federation has no other skaters to send) are given in a smaller international competition (in the case of the 2014 Olympics, the six spots were given at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy).

WARHORSE MUSIC:

Warhorse is term used for overused music in figure skating. These are usually classical music, and music from operas and musicals. Relatively unknown skaters usually skate to these music as this music is more familiar to the judges, although World and Olympic champions tend to choose warhorses, too. Some common warhorses include Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, and Phantom of the Opera.

It’s common for many skaters to suddenly want to skate to the same program music on the same season. This was the case in season 2015-2016, where five skaters skated to Phantom of the Opera in the 2015 Worlds men’s free skate, with three of them in the same group.

GRAND PRIX SERIES:

The Grand Prix Series is the first major senior-level competition of the figure skating season. It’s composed of six competitions from six different countries, with 12 skaters per singles discipline competing. It’s an invitational competition, so only the top skaters and skaters who have met the GP criteria (it’s too complicated to explain) can compete. (For Junior Grand Prixs, the federation assigns which skater will compete in which JGP competition.)

Each skater can compete in a maximum of two competitions. They will be given points depending on their rankings. The Top 6 skaters with the highest points will then move on to compete in the Grand Prix Final.

RIVALRIES:

While an individual effort, the media likes to highlight rivalries to keep the sport interesting. This is most especially true in singles skating. Kim Yuna and Asada Mao’s rivalry is perhaps the hottest rivalry in recent figure skating history.