Four continents competition
Klasen
I just saw a post about the four-continents competition to be held in
Halifax in 1999.
I assume the four continents are would include North America and Asia. But
what are the other Two? Africa, Austrailia, or South America?
Anybody got some more information on this competition and the qualifications
requirements for the skaters?
Sandy Reynolds
Well, one of the four would be Europe, but I can't figure out which of the other
continents would be the fourth. :)
hypatia
Louis Epstein
Sandy Reynolds (hyp...@gte.net) wrote:
: Well, one of the four would be Europe, but I can't figure out which of the
: other continents would be the fourth. :)
:
: hypatia
I think the Americas are considered one continent by the ISU.
:
:
:
Icicle2686
Well, one of the four would be Europe, but I can't figure out which of the
other
continents would be the fourth. :)
hypatia
>>>>>
no, actually the point of four continents is to have a major competition like
the european championships for all skaters who *aren't* european. get it? it's
like the companion event to the europeans.
~liz
Sarah Weinman
Icicle2686 wrote:
no, actually the point of four continents is to have a major competition like
> the european championships for all skaters who *aren't* european. get it? it's
> like the companion event to the europeans.
Theoretically speaking, the Four Continents would be comprised of skaters from:
North America
South America
Asia
Australia
Oops, I was going to put Antarctica, too....;->
Aren't there seven continents overall? And if there aren't, I'm going to feel
like a geography doofus....
Sarah
Louis Epstein
Sarah Weinman (wein...@netcom.ca) wrote:
Hint:Shirene Human is from South ______.
(The ISU counts the Americas as one continent,so the "Four Continents"
are America,Asia,Australia,and A_____).
Chelsea Christenson
Sarah Weinman wrote:
> Theoretically speaking, the Four Continents would be comprised of
> skaters from:
>
> North America
> South America
> Asia
> Australia
>
> Oops, I was going to put Antarctica, too....;->
>
> Aren't there seven continents overall? And if there aren't, I'm going
> to feel like a geography doofus....
There are. However, we exclude Antarctica and Europe, and apparently
the federation counts the Americas as one continent. So the four are
Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
SKHazen
In article <Ep1q3...@news2.new-york.net>, l...@put.com (Louis Epstein) writes:
>Sarah Weinman (wein...@netcom.ca) wrote:
[snip]
>: Aren't there seven continents overall? And if there aren't, I'm going to
feel
>: like a geography doofus....
>Hint:Shirene Human is from South ______.
>(The ISU counts the Americas as one continent,so the "Four Continents"
>are America,Asia,Australia,and A_____).
People are getting a bit hung up on a name, which may simply not be
particularly apt. The relevant portion of the ISU General Regulations is Rule
130, paragraph 3:
"In Four Continents Championships, the only skaters who are eligible to compete
are individuals who are members of a non-European I.S.U. Members [sic] and who
are either nationals on a non-European state or have been ordinarily resident
outside Europe for at least one year immediately prior to the Championships
concerned."
Don't ask me what the mumbo-jumbo re "nationals"/"ordinarily resident" means.
The point is that irrespect of the name of the competition or how many
continents there our on our globe, the Four Continents merely sweeps into it
those persons not eligible to compete at Europeans. BTW, there is *no* support
for the notion (in the ISU Regulations or elsewhere) that the ISU "counts the
Americas as one continent." It could as easily (and meaningfully) "count" N Am
and Asia "as one continent." Perhaps more to the point, there are no ISU
Members in South American so in a sense it really does not exist. :-)
I still think 4Cs is a very bad idea. It's not that big of a deal for
Europeans to travel relatively short distances for a competition in Europe
before Worlds -- but it could be a very big deal for N. Americans to have to
travel to a competition in Asia (for example) between Nationals and Worlds,
particularly if Worlds were anywhere other than in N. America. Similarly, it
could be a very big deal for Japanese skaters to have to travel to Canada
(isn't that where the 1st 4Cs is held) and then to Finland for Worlds. By the
time they get home, they will have been all the way around the world unless
they return to Japan between 4Cs and Worlds.
Conceptually, perhaps a good idea to provide non-European skaters an
opportunity for international exposure and prize money which the Europeans
have. In practice, not well thought out at all (IMHO).
Respectfully,
Steven
James Pate Williams, Jr.
Chelsea Christenson <cchr...@xusx.oracle.com> wrote:
>Sarah Weinman wrote:
>> Theoretically speaking, the Four Continents would be comprised of
>> skaters from:
>>
>> North America
>> South America
>> Asia
>> Australia
>>
>> Oops, I was going to put Antarctica, too....;->
>>
>> Aren't there seven continents overall? And if there aren't, I'm going
>> to feel like a geography doofus....
>There are. However, we exclude Antarctica and Europe, and apparently
>the federation counts the Americas as one continent. So the four are
>Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
This is somewhat off-topic, but there is a geographic precedent for
considering the Americas, north, central, and south as one continent.
Before the Panama Canal was built in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century the Americas formed a contiguous land mass that
could be considered as one continent. However, be extrapolating on
this fact you would probably have to consider Africa, Asia, and
Europe prior to digging of the Suez Canal as one giant supercontinent.
==Pate Williams==
pa...@mindspring.com
http://www.mindspring.com/~pate
Michalle S Gould
:
: People are getting a bit hung up on a name, which may simply not be
: particularly apt. The relevant portion of the ISU General Regulations is Rule
: 130, paragraph 3:
:
: "In Four Continents Championships, the only skaters who are eligible to compete
: are individuals who are members of a non-European I.S.U. Members [sic] and who
: are either nationals on a non-European state or have been ordinarily resident
: outside Europe for at least one year immediately prior to the Championships
: concerned."
Ok. Here's an interesting question. Or maybe not so interesting, since it
doesn't involve any major contenders (for now). Do the Israeli's and the
Central Asian ex-Soviet states switch from European's to this competition
or stick with Europeans?
One could argue that in some categories, moving into the Four Continents
might be a good way of gaining a higher profile for their skaters. In ice
dancing in particular - couples that might be buried in Europeans, could
be medalists at Four Continents. The Israeli ice dancers had only two
non-European teams ahead of them at Olympics if I recall correctly. They
were 12th at Europeans and could have been THIRD at Four Continents. In
pairs, Khalturina & Krukov could easily be medalists with a good
performance.
On the other hand - doing fantastically at Europeans never helped Slava
Zagorodniuk (well, maybe in '94 but not since then) so why should doing
well at Four Continents help anyone either.
: before Worlds -- but it could be a very big deal for N. Americans to have to
: travel to a competition in Asia (for example) between Nationals and Worlds,
: particularly if Worlds were anywhere other than in N. America. Similarly, it
: could be a very big deal for Japanese skaters to have to travel to Canada
: (isn't that where the 1st 4Cs is held) and then to Finland for Worlds. By the
: time they get home, they will have been all the way around the world unless
: they return to Japan between 4Cs and Worlds.
:
I think there are ALREADY way too many competitions in the season. I'd
like to see them keep the Champions Series events as good possible
money-earners and chances to test one's programs but ditch the Champions
Series Final. It just seems silly and redundant to me.
Also - I don't see how they can use Europeans and Four Continents as
qualifiers to worlds given the complete difference in depth of field. A
12th place ice dancer at Europeans could be third at Four Continents, so
how can it be fair to decide n how many entries a country should get at
Worlds based on that? Doing it from the previous year's Worlds certainly
has its dramatic flaws, but o the other hand - it's the one time everyone
is competing at the same place, with no potential differences in strength
of competition.
Michalle
Louis Epstein
Michalle S Gould (msg...@is6.nyu.edu) wrote:
:
: Also - I don't see how they can use Europeans and Four Continents as
: qualifiers to worlds given the complete difference in depth of field. A
: 12th place ice dancer at Europeans could be third at Four Continents, so
: how can it be fair to decide n how many entries a country should get at
: Worlds based on that? Doing it from the previous year's Worlds certainly
: has its dramatic flaws, but o the other hand - it's the one time everyone
: is competing at the same place, with no potential differences in strength
: of competition.
: Michalle
Well,the "depth of field" varies just as dramatically between countries,
but every country gets to send someone now...
My long-held notion of qualifying for Worlds involved dividing the world
into four zones.Euros could be the qualifier for Eastern Europe and
Western Europe Zones,Four Continents for Americas and elsewhere zones.
Each Zone is initially allotted six slots,and the top six placers from
that zone at the qualifier move on to Worlds...except that no country
can send more than three entries per event to Worlds.Each country can
send one more entry to the qualifier than it qualified for the previous
Worlds.
After Worlds,in each event,the Zone whose entries did best on average
gains one spot from the one whose skaters did worst...except that no
Zone can rise above eight slots or sink below four.