Updates on music rights, research on athlete health, and a celebration of Asian-American excellence
Now that the 2024/2025 season is officially over, there’s time to revisit some of the off-ice news from the World Championships. From the Ice Dance Technical Committee meeting to the mixed zone, and the Healthy Skater seminar to a celebration of AAPI excellence in figure skating, we learned a lot about the challenges facing the skaters, and some innovative approaches to making competitions a place for learning and community-building.
Music Rights for the Olympic Season
On the Tuesday before Worlds, the ISU held a meeting to update skaters and coaches on the issue of music rights and clearance processes for the upcoming season. The ISU legal counsel and staff from ClicknClear were present to answer questions. [See earlier article for a detailed examination of the music rights issue].
According to the summary given by Ice Dance Technical Committee chair Shawn Rettstatt during the coaches’ meeting, “the number one takeaway is that you will not be required when you’re submitting your program content to compete at a competition, [to say] that your music has been cleared. That will not be a requirement for this next season. However, you still have a potential risk for somebody to reach out to say, please don’t use my music. There’s always that potential.”
“The ISU is pretty aggressively trying to figure out…various ways to get this challenge resolved,” Rettstatt noted, “whether it’s through these outside resources, such as a clearinghouse, or to get some sort of blanket permission from some of the big labels, from Universal, Sony. So there’s multiple ideas in the room and conversations happening…”
It has also come to the ISU’s attention that the inclusion of additional sound effects in the “mix” for a song makes it more likely to be flagged for copyright infringement. One choreographer, who attended the music rights meeting, said privately that he was concerned about this restriction, and worried that programs would sound flat if he wasn’t able to add sound effects to amplify the emotional arc of the music.
For ice dance, a particular concern was the instruction in the technical rules for an “audible beat”, a requirement that has led many teams to add the sound of a “beat” on top of their music. The Technical Committee requested the unusual step of an emergency rule change from the ISU Council to remove the word ‘audible’, and solve this potential problem between the requirements of judges and the risk of copyright claims. The Council made the change in the Communication 2698.
For skaters already thinking about next season, the uncertainty about music remains challenging.
Roman Sadovsky shared, “I’m not going to say yet what I’m skating to – I never actually do, but beyond that, I don’t even know if I have approval for it yet, so I’m going through the approval process. Got the first stage passed. I don’t know how many stages there are, but the really challenging one is finding…derivative rights if you want to compose on top or make something different. That’s something that Mark [Pillay] and I, the choreographer for my long program at least, really like doing, making it up because then it’s original, it’s custom to me, and no one can copy it…It’s the originality that I really like, and that creative process, it’s become extremely challenging now.”
Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel also felt frustrated with the uncertainty and slowness of the process. “At the moment, everybody is a little bit stuck, everybody’s a little bit hanging in the air because you don’t know which music you can use,” shared Annika. Their Free Skate, which they are considering re-using, is a medley of songs by the band Falco, and they think only one of the pieces is available through ClicknClear.
Robert noted that if something isn’t on ClicknClear, “You can also ask the record label. I requested our new short program four months ago, and there is no update if we can use it or not and we start choreography on Tuesday. It’s a bit the same as last year, [when we had] the possible changes of the elements, choreo lift, choreo spin, all these kind of stuff where you didn’t know until June or July, if you had to change four elements or not. This time it’s with the music…you theoretically can’t build it because you don’t know if you can skate the music or if you have to put something else.” Annika added, “I mean, we’re taking the risk, but let’s see!”
Choreographer Massimo Scali has so far mostly avoided issues with music rights. “We didn’t pick anything that wasn’t [clearable]. But definitely, it makes it very challenging, right? Because it’s a little bit more restricted. You can’t really pick whatever you want. But so far we didn’t find any big problem with that. Fingers crossed. I have already some ideas for [dance teams] and some ideas already for Alysa [Liu], and I think that everything we picked should be okay. Because of course when we have an idea the first thing we do is go on the website and see if it’s even there to start, because otherwise you’re gonna just waste time and energy.”
Educating for Skater Health
On Friday morning of Worlds, the ISU medical commission sponsored a “Healthy Skater Seminar” featuring several experts in topics related to skater physical and mental health. Many of the in-person attendees in person were federation officials and team leaders, but the webinar was also watched online by more than 200 coaches and skaters.
The first topic was the prevention and treatment of Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome, or REDs, presented by Dr. Kathryn Ackerman and Dr. Margo Mountjoy, two of the leading researchers on REDs. Dr Mountjoy thanked the International Olympic Committee for supporting their work to bring together consensus and educate about this topic, which impacts athletes in both endurance sports and judged aesthetic sports.
“The syndrome of REDs refers to when the body’s physiology – or how the body works – and the psychology – so body and mind – is impaired, and it’s caused by that athlete being exposed to something we call problematic, low energy availability,” explained Dr Mountjoy. “Problematic is being prolonged and severe, so it doesn’t happen overnight… It means you’ve been exposed to not eating sufficiently enough energy to match your body’s output over time. This problematic low energy availability over time can lead to impairment of the body’s physical and mental health, increased risk in injury…and impact performance.”
She noted that the causes of REDs can vary depending on the athlete, with some consciously or subconsciously restricting their eating, and others not keeping up with the high energy demands of intense training.
Symptoms and consequences can impact systems across the body. Some of the earliest warning signs can be impaired hormone systems, impacting ovarian function, menstrual periods, and libido. The next most common symptoms are stress fractures and other signs of poor bone health. “In young athletes, in their 20s, in the early 20s, I was measuring their bone density to be the same as someone in menopause in their 60s,” reported Dr Mountjoy, who added that bone density lost in puberty cannot be recovered later.
“Thin bones are really important. And there are many other [impacts], mental health ones, urinary incontinence, gastrointestinal dysfunction, muscle function in growing athletes impaired growth and development. So not all athletes have all of the body systems [affected], but all of these body systems can be affected. And then finally, there are sport performance consequences that we see with REDs, being injured, not having the muscle function, decreased concentration, motivation, lower muscle strength.”
With all of these impacts, preventing and treating REDs is essential. It involves treatment and intervention for individual athletes, as well as a change in culture within the sport. Dr Mountjoy noted that figure skating has many risk factors. “If there’s a culture that’s emphasizing being light and lean, combined with unhealthy practices on measuring weight and body composition in an individual with those personal risks of body dissatisfaction, body image disturbance and eating disorder or exercise addiction, that is the perfect recipe or the perfect storm for the developing both the physical and mental health outcomes of REDs.”
Dr Ackerman agreed, noting her recent research on figure skaters. “We recently did a study looking at adolescent and young adult figure skaters, and we did this at some of the clubs around here…[we] found that over half of our skaters had been talked to about their bodies, had been talked about body image, or comments were made about their bodies, and not surprisingly, there was a correlation between those we screened who had eating disorders and those who’ve been talked to by coaches and other staff about their bodies. So our words matter.”
Dr Ackerman emphasized the importance of coaches working with medical professionals to normalize screening for REDs and early treatment. While some elite athletes may at times need to lose or gain weight for performance reasons, it should always be done gradually and with the planning and supervision of medical professionals. “I can’t emphasize this one enough, no assessment of body weight or composition, unless for medical purposes, if the athlete is under 18, I’m going to say that one again, please do not do body measures, body composition, weight checking in an athlete who is under 18, unless it’s for medical purposes. “
“We want people to learn about REDs so they can ask themselves, is that what’s happening to me? Is that why I’m underperforming? Is that why I’m in a bad mood and grouchy? What’s happening? They should seek out expert advice, see a doctor, check in with a dietitian, potentially work with a therapist and coaches. It is always better to refer than to make assumptions.”
Mental Resiliency
The second session of the seminar was with Dr Ackerman, and Dr Gerald Reid, a PhD Clinical Sport Psychologist.
Dr Ackerman noted, “When we have athletes who need mental health support, they have more significant barriers to seeking help for their mental health than the general population…They’re embarrassed. They may not be aware that they have mental health problems because they’ve normalized that as being just part of the game. They deny it because they’re supposed to be the strong ones, so they can’t have a problem. They may say they have a lack of time or be scared of what might happen. They might be afraid if someone finds out about it, they won’t be making the team, or they may not have anywhere to turn for help.”
She described the importance of healthy eating and sleep habits to mental health while acknowledging, “If someone has a significant mental health disorder, these things are not going to be enough. So we need to know that there are other resources available and make sure our athletes stay connected to their family and friends. They need to have these social supports. They need to have love and social fun outside of sport.”
Dr Reid added to these strategies by emphasizing the importance of mental resilience.
“Traditionally, with mental toughness, we think about, ‘work as hard as you can. Move on, work towards your goals. Use failure as fuel. Get up. Don’t wallow. Deal with stress. Be tough, focus. Don’t show weakness’…It helps people to push beyond their limits, right? [Athletes] may be well-behaved, they may be stoic, they may be perfectionistic. Again, there’s nothing wrong with these things, but there is a line over which it becomes a part of the problem and not part of the ability to truly be resilient over the long term.”
He asked coaches and other mentors to emphasize flexibility as a strength and to normalize that many athletes go through challenges. “Because if you’re an elite athlete, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint, right? This is a long-term process, not only during sports…the habits that they create as athletes are going to carry with them after they retire.”
Dr Reid also mentioned teaching methods that can help, “things like setting goals collaboratively, rather than just saying ‘this is what your goal is’…That’s a change in the relationship, that could shift everything from ‘do what you’re told’ to, ‘hey, I’m going to empower you to feel like you want to do this. This is important to you. It’s not just important to me, because you’re the one. This is your life, right? You’re the athlete. This is your experience. I should honor that and respect that.'”
Dr Mountjoy and Dr Reid both praised the ISU for providing a “calm zone” during Worlds. The Calm Zone was a quiet and relaxing space at the skaters’ hotel. During some hours there were therapists available, as well as visiting therapy dogs.
Several athletes mentioned how beneficial they found the space, and especially how much they appreciated the dogs!
Sharing Skating with the Community
On Saturday morning, the practice rink was transformed into a welcoming space for the local Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. US Figure Skating partnered with Boston-area nonprofits to invite local families to learn to skate with the help of Team USA skaters. At “Celebrating AAPI Excellence: Together on Ice!” attendees had the chance to meet Asian-American skating legends Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Maia & Alex Shibutani, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Alysa Liu, along with designer Vera Wang and ISU President Jae Youl Kim.
The rink was packed for two sessions, with a mix of kids and families getting on the ice for the first time and local skaters of all ages. I spoke to one woman whose son has just started to figure skate, and who idolizes Nathan Chen. Getting to skate in front of him was a dream come true – and it was also inspiring to his mom to see so many adults on the ice.
It was also a nice opportunity for Team USA skaters to get on the ice with each other and the public. Valentina Plazas and Max Fernandez were back on the ice together for the first time since Max’s surgery took them out for the season. It was also fun to watch Valentina and Naomi Williams throw the (much taller) Anton Spiridonov – who didn’t let his dance blades stop him from landing a jump. The skaters also urged the more skilled kids to show off for them.
While the crowded ice was sometimes a little chaotic, the atmosphere was cheerful. It was a space that highlighted the important role of the AAPI community in figure skating while showing how a skating rink can be a place for fun and community, not only competition and high performance. It was a great event, which I would encourage other host committees to think about emulating!
