The ISU Council (the executive board of the ISU) met in Prague, Czech Republic the week of June 9. In regard to figure skating the following actions were taken.
The Council approved that a modified method of calculating placements would be used on a trial basis at the "Nebelhorn Trophy" competition at Oberstdorf, Germany on August 25-29, 1997. The modification to be tested has been the given the acronym OBO, standing for "one-by-one", meaning that each skater's performance will be compared to each performance of all other skaters.
A description of how this method will differ from the current method is not yet available. According to an ISU press release this method will not change any of the currently used principles of judging not the use of the majority principle inherent in the current scoring method. The OBO system will only change the mathematical way in which the majority is calculated. The main purpose of this change is to avoid, as far as possible, place switching - where the placements of skaters who have already skated is subsequently reversed by the inclusion of marks of skaters who perform later. Further details are expected as we get closer to the Nebelhorn competition.
The following competitions were awarded:
1999 Four Continents Championships - Halifax, Canada
2000 World Junior Championships - Oberstdorf, Germany
2000 Four Continents Championships - Osaka, Japan
2000 World Figure Skating Championships - Brisbane, Australia
2000 synchronized skating World Championships - Minneapolis, USA
A decision to select the site of the 2000 European Championships was postponed.
The 48th ISU Congress will be held in June 2000 in Quebec City, Canada.