The ISU technical committee and its officials met over the summer to discuss changes to existing long track rules as well as to introduce some new ones. Here is a quick review of some of the new rules/changes coming into effect this season and beyond.
By: Maria Dalton
Photos by: Schaats Foto's
Future Championships
*Beginning in 2020/2021 there will be only one World Championship which will include the sprint combination, all-round combination and single distances. The distances skated in each will remain the same as the current format. The ISU has not offered any more details with regards to the format of the competition, and such details will be approved and announced by the ISU council at a later date. The rationale for the changes provided by the ISU, highlighted the following points:
- More value to the World Champion Title
- More focus from partners/fans
- More travel money contributions to ISU members
- Savings for teams in the ISU
- Higher prize money
*The new Four Continents Championships will be introduced during the 2019/2020 season, this will be an annual competition and will follow the same format as the European Championships – but will not include skaters from European nations. The maximum number of entries per country for this event will be the same as the number of entries for the World Championships.
*The World Junior Championships and European Championships remain unchanged except the addition of a table that helps clarify the number of entries per country for each distance at the Junior World Championships.
Changes to the Mass Start
The majority of major changes were related to the mass start, with the ISU introducing a new point system as well as clarification to some existing rules.
*There were changes to the point system for the mass start at both the junior and senior levels. At the senior level, the points for the intermediate sprints will now be 3-2-1, and the final sprint will now see points awarded to the top-6 skaters (60-40-20-10-6-3). At the junior level, there will now be two intermediate sprints, in laps 4 and 7, and the points awarded will be 3-2-1. The points awarded for the final sprint will now be as follows: 30-20-10-4-2-1.
*Skaters who do not finish the race will be ranked according to the number of laps they competed – under the old rule this was not mandatory. Skaters who quit during the same lap are ranked according to last intermediate time.
*The ISU made some changes to rule 253 – where the words “serious obstruction” were replaced with “unsportsmanlike behaviour”. This now allows referee’s to DQ a skater for this type of infraction. Additionally, the obstructed skater may be advanced at the sole discretion of the referee. The ISU also added rule 262 (allowance of a fresh start) to the list of rules that do not apply to mass start races.
*The number of skaters competing in the Mass Start at the Junior World Championships has been increased from 28 to 30 skaters.
Other Changes to make note of
*The ISU changed the word “collision” to “obstruction” in rule 257, which means that there no longer needs to be an actual collision for a DQ. Therefore, anything that a skater does to impede another skater from completing a smooth lane change can now be considered an “obstruction” and may result in a DQ.
*All skaters participating in the team pursuit and team sprint will now be required to wear coloured armbands as follow (as per rule 279):
- #1 skater – white armband with №1
- #2 skater – red armband with №2
- #3 skater – yellow armband with №3
- #4 skater – blue armband with №4
Check out the entire video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtKJAdnG3sg
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