JSF to ask for triple axel rethink

TURIN, Italy (Kyodo) The Japan Skating Federation will call on the International Skating Union to adopt a fairer evaluation of the triple axel when it meets for its general assembly in June, skating sources said Monday.

The JSF plans to demand a change of rule in the short program that allows skaters to choose between a double and a triple axel.

Under the current rule for women, the short program requires skaters to jump a double axel, a triple jump and a combination including a triple jump.

"If there is a skater who can jump the triple axel, the rule should be changed," said JSF figure skating official Nobuhiko Yoshioka. Under men's rules, skaters are required to jump either the double or the triple axel.