Judging System Scores Points in Tryout

Michelle Kwan was outstanding. Sasha Cohen was almost as good. Irina Slutskaya was better than both.

At least, those were the results after a points system perhaps resembling the one proposed this week by the International Skating Union was applied by The Times to the women’s technical program Tuesday night at the Salt Lake Ice Center.

I say perhaps because ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta wasn’t entirely clear about how the new system would operate if adopted. But figure-skating experts consulted on Tuesday offered their best guesses, and, interestingly enough for those who assume all figure skating competitions are fixed, the points system devised resulted in almost the same order of finish as the one produced by the nine judges.

(A cynic might suggest that the panelists who scored the skaters for The Times were as corrupt as the judges, but you’ll have to trust me on that one.)

Overall, the quality of skating was good. None of the favorites took herself out of medal contention by committing a serious error in the 2 minute, 40 second technical program. All performed the eight elements required with levels of presentation ranging from adequate to excellent.

Then again, no one was really daring technically. Unlike the men, who took risks in their short programs last week with quad-triple combination jumps, none of the women even attempted a triple-triple combination.

Only two of the contenders, Slutskaya and Sarah Hughes, varied from the tried-and-true triple lutz-double toe combination. They performed more adventurous triple lutz, double loop combinations.

That technical edge provided the difference for Russia’s Slutskaya in The Times’ standings. She finished with 45 points to 441/2 for the United States’ Kwan and Cohen. Hughes was fourth with 431/2.

According to the official standings, compiled by the judges using the traditional 6.0 scoring system for technical and presentation marks, Kwan was first, Slutskaya second, Cohen third and Hughes fourth.

“Ooooh, I didn’t like the technical marks,” Kwan said afterward of the scores awarded her by the judges.

But an analysis of the elements reveals a technical advantage for Slutskaya. Not only did she attempt a more difficult combination, she had incredible height on her triple lutz. She also was more sure on her double axel and performed her required step sequence on one foot. Only one other skater, Ukraine’s Galina Maniachenko, performed steps on one foot. Kwan was superior technically to Slutskaya only on her spirals.

Kwan remained so close in points, and gained the edge in the judges’ scoring, because of her elegant presentation, which was clearly the best of the night. If she is as impressive Thursday night in the freestyle program, which rewards presentation more than the technical program does, she will win the gold medal.

The only real complaint about the judging came from Elena Tchaikovskaya, who coaches Russia’s Maria Butyrskaya.

“She skated beautifully and the judges’ games continue,” she said.

If judges were playing games, it was the ones from Russia, Denmark and Belarus who placed her third. The other judges had her between fourth and eighth. She finished fifth.

Tchaikovskaya would have been even more upset about The Times’ standings, which placed Butyrskaya sixth behind Japan’s Fumie Suguri.

The Times’ panel assigned a standard number of points to each of the eight required elements and awarded bonuses depending on how well those elements were performed. For instance, a double axel was worth three points. If it was done well, it was worth an extra point. If it was done superbly, it was worth two extra points.

The same point system was used to judge presentation, then doubled to give it extra weight, then gave it even a little more weight by deeming it the tiebreaker. But presentation still was worth only 20%, not 50% as it is in the current system. That removes a great deal of subjectivity--and potential for judges’ malfeasance--from the short program, which, after all, is supposed to place more emphasis on technique.

Butyrskaya suffered because of that. She brings more maturity to her skating at 29 than most of her competitors, but she was technically above average Tuesday night on only her double axel and flying spin.

Two much younger Americans, Cohen, 17, and Hughes, 16, exhibited a better command of the ice.

That was particularly true of Cohen, who was virtually equal with Kwan. The Times’ panel gave the edge to Kwan due to her presentation.

Cohen built momentum early with a better than average combination and then rated excellent for her spirals and layback spin. The Times’ awarded ultimate points for only seven elements all night. Cohen, Slutskaya and Kwan earned two each. The other was earned by Suguri.

Hughes, skating second among the contenders behind Suguri, was very good technically, although some judges might have marked her down for cheating slightly on her triple lutz. Others obviously didn’t. It wasn’t clear either way, even with the use of instant replay. But her jumps in general weren’t very high and her spins were not remarkable. As for presentation, she still lacks the dynamism of Slutskaya, Cohen and Kwan.

The points system needs considerable work. For instance, it doesn’t reward degree of difficulty enough in the technical program. The tie breaking process is also imperfect. But the system potentially will cut down on bias, which is the point.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at randy.harvey@latimes.com.

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