Across the judges, the highest and lowest scores are thrown out, to emphasize fairness once again. If a skater falls on a jump, they automatically lose one point for the fall, but can still earn points for the attempt — their total will just be less than the base value. Unlike singles and pair skating, the different program components are weighted differently in each segment of the competition. [8], The twelve elements required of singles skaters in their free program are detailed in ISU rule 612; the skater must perform seven jumps, three spins (including one combination spin and one flying spin), one step sequence, and one choreographic sequence (formerly the "choreographic step sequence" for Men and the "spiral sequence" for Ladies).
Aside from intra-expert subjectivity, skating is very open to misjudgement from everyday spectators who only see skating casually, e.g.

In the case of a negative GOE, a judge must be able to support their evaluation with reference to the published list of reductions.

It was designed and implemented by the International Skating Union (ISU), the ruling body of the sport. Her take off from the ice is from a backwards positions. The elements can be reviewed after a skater’s performance, and scores can be changed accordingly.

In free skating, for jumps executed twice as solo jumps, the second jump is marked as +REP and receives 70% of its base value.

Beautiful Photos of the Team Figure Skating Event, Study Shows Bias in Figure Skating Judging, 12 Things to Know About Figure Skater Nathan Chen, 14 Things to Know About Figure Skater Adam Rippon, 15 Things to Know About Figure Skater Mirai Nagasu, Here Are the Olympic Men Figure Skating Results, Skating skills (like edges, power, speed, flow across the ice), Transitions (connecting moves between the required elements in a program), Composition (how the program is arranged), Interpretation (conveying the story and mood of the music).


<< indicates a severe under-rotation (a ½ turn or more) and the jump is valued as if it had one less rotation (e.g. Also at the 2009 U.S. For singles and pair skating, the factor is uniform for all components, as follows: The factors in Ice Dance are different for each Program Component and depend on the dance type.[8]. Judges’ scores used to be anonymous, but that changed in late 2016 — their names are attached to each score they give, in the hopes of having more accountability.

The total scores from the short as well as long program/free dance are added together for a final score that determines the placement. The judging panel consists of up to nine judges and one referee. There are five categories of PCS, graded on a scale from 0-10: A perfect program component score is 50 — 10s across the board. Jumps that are under-rotated are marked with < or << depending on the degree of turns completed on the ice instead of in mid-air. In addition to the technical panel, there are nine judges for each event. Have you watched figure skating at the Olympics and wondered what the heck is going on? Every spring/summer the ISU releases rule updates which include a current Scale of Values (SOV) for different types of element. In the original dance there are 5 marked technical elements. It’s why the judges always watch practices during figure skating competitions — so they are familiar with the programs and order of elements. There is a laundry list of requirements that make a move “level four," but suffice to say that's what all skaters at Olympic level are shooting for.

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Is your head spinning yet? [25] Since the highest and lowest extreme scores are discounted, the scores of seven judges (rather than ten) determine the outcome of competitions. The program components score will be added at the conclusion of the performance. If a jump is under-rotated, the skater automatically loses points.

Skaters also earn points based on their overall skating ability and performance level through program component scores. As judges, coaches, and skaters gain more experience with the new system, greater consensus may emerge.

Figure Skating. U.S.

As with GOEs, the highest and lowest scores for each component are thrown out, and the remaining scores are averaged. They also have access to an instant replay screen (and skaters also submit their programs' planned content/layout in advance, so the judges and TV commentators are prepped). 2094 – ICE DANCE Scales of Values, effective July 1st 2017", "Statistics including Personal Best & Season's Best information", "Jury is out on skating's latest judging system", "Despite Revamp, Figure Skating Gets Mixed Marks", "ISU vote to abolish anonymous judging system in figure skating to "increase transparency, "SmartOnes Skate America 2004 – Ladies – Short Program", "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2007 – Ladies – Results", "2008 U.S. The Technical Panel is composed of the following five people: The judging panel's primary purpose is to grade the quality of each individual technical element performed by the skater, known as the Grade of Execution (GOE), and the five Program Component Scores (PCS) for each segment of the competition. GOEs are proportional to the base value of each element. Following an event, the complete judges' scores are published in a document referred to as a protocol. However, problems with this system came to the forefront during the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and in June 2016 the ISU Congress voted to abolish anonymous judging altogether.[14]. The evaluation of the Grade of Execution (GOE) for each technical element has clear guidelines from the ISU; it ranges from a "base value" of 0, to as high as +5 and as low as –5. ), clarity of technique and use of effortless power to accelerate and vary speed. Jump elements performed after the halfway point of a program are marked with x and receive a 10% bonus added to their base value. The level of a spin or footwork sequence is denoted by the number following the element abbreviation. The difference in code depends on the precise take off. Group Five Reverse/Backward Lasso Lift. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we love. This is called the technical element score, or TES. 3 turn A one-foot turn with a change of edge that results in a '3' shaped tracing on the ice. ]]>
The highest and lowest scores for each element are thrown out, and the remaining scores are averaged to determine the final GOE for each element.