Skate Reforms to Be Proposed

The U.S. Figure Skating Assn., saying it feels compelled to “redeem the reputation of this great sport” in the wake of the Salt Lake City judging controversy, said Thursday it will propose a three-pronged reform initiative at the International Skating Union Congress in Japan in early June.

The proposal, as announced by USFSA President Phyllis Howard, would address the current judging system, the selection of international judges and the sanctioning of judges.

“We must institute these reforms now to ensure a level playing field to all the talented, young skaters who devote their lives to skating excellence and the dream of a championship medal,” she said.

The proposal suggests determining skaters’ placements by the median mark because it “represents the statistical consensus among the judges and puts the greatest weight where the experts collectively agree,” Howard said.

It also recommends appointing a committee to determine the distribution of judges to avoid a geographic bias, and recommends that any judge or federation official who is guilty of an ethical violation should be permanently banned from judging or officiating.

Judging became a hot topic at the Olympics, when French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said she had been pressured by her federation to vote against her conscience in the pairs competition. She was suspended by the ISU, and Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were declared co-gold medalists with Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. Le Gougne faces a hearing Monday and Tuesday at ISU headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.