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Olympic
skating hopeful to take ISA dispute into the rink The ISA controversially overlooked Manzano, 30, for the squad in favour of her NSW arch-rival Joanne Carter, who placed higher in ISA's nominated Olympic qualifying event, the Four Continents championships in Korea in February. Manzano's argument lies with ISA's failure to give proper notice the championships would be used as the sole qualifying event for the Olympics. "Ice Skating Australia failed to tell us prior to the competition, we only found out at the event," Manzano said. "It was quite a shock for me to find out that you're not just qualifying to get into the World Championships afterwards but something as big as the Olympics - and for it to be only based on one set performance and not having any time to prepare was quite a huge thing." Manzano was upset with the treatment she received from ISA and said her subsequent ninth place behind Carter's fourth had much to do with the unexpected added pressure. "I'm disappointed, I'm really disappointed because you shouldn't treat your representative team that way, when it's something like the Olympics Games or the world champs or any event; the rules, the criteria and the policies should be out there." Manzano hoped her status as current Australian champion and the country's highest ranked international figure skater would aid her cause. Should she gain a position in the Australian team, it would be at the expense of Carter, who is ranked seven places behind Manzano at 44th in the world. Manzano was adamant she deserved Carter's place at the Games in February, and that ISA's selection policies were unfair. "I'm still national champion and I've won five national championships and all competitions against Joanne Carter every time we've met," Manzano said. "Not just that, but I have a higher world ranking than Joanne, I've been invited to world championships and grand prix events, and I'm going to next year's world champs. "Basically Ice Skating Australia are going off one decision at the Four Continents in Korea, which I found to be a little bit unbelievable considering all the other countries are basing their decisions on their skaters' national championships as well as their world ranking." Manzano said she held no ill-will towards Carter but she'd be doing everything she could to secure her spot in the team. "Certainly this isn't an individual thing, it's not about her, my complaint is against Ice Skating Australia and what they've done," she said. Ice Skating Australia was unavailable for comment yesterday but a decision from the tribunal is expected within the next two weeks. |
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