Eligibility
Pair skaters may struggle to find a good match, in terms of skills, strength, style, height differential, and drive, in their native country. Some look abroad and agree to represent another country. Pairs composed of partners of different nationalities are required to choose one country in order to compete. Skaters who have agreed to change countries include Aliona Savchenko (Ukraine to Germany), Tatiana Volosozhar (Ukraine to Russia), Yuko Kavaguti (Japan to Russia), Mervin Tran (Canada to Japan), Ondřej Hotárek (Czech Republic to Italy).
Skaters may represent a country of which they are not yet a citizen in most competitions, except the Olympics which require citizenship. If a skater has previously represented another country, International Skating Union rules bar the skater from 24 months of international competition from the date of his or her last major event for the previous country, or 12 months from a minor event. To ease the difficulty of finding a partner, the period may be 12 months from a major event for pair skaters (and ice dancers) but only if the skater is released by his or her previous skating federation.
In 1996, the International Skating Union imposed age requirements. In order to compete at Worlds, Europeans, Four Continents or the Olympics, skaters must be 15 before July 1 of the preceding year, or 14 for other senior international competitions. To be eligible for junior-level events, a pair skater must be 13 by July 1 but cannot have turned 19 (females) or 21 (males).
Skaters may lose their Olympic eligibility if they perform in an unsanctioned show or competition.
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