Scoring System Isn’t a 10

Responding to controversies that shook the last two Olympics, the federations that govern figure skating and gymnastics decided to revamp their scoring systems. But in their zeal they created flawed plans that don’t fully address the issues behind the pairs judging scandal at Salt Lake City or the men’s all-around fiasco at Athens.

Like figure skating, which dumped its 6.0 standard, gymnastics is poised to phase out the perfect 10. Gymnasts will compete under an open-ended Code of Points with a two-judge “A” panel evaluating difficulty and a six-judge, two-part “B” panel rating execution, composition and artistry. Only the “A” score can be contested. Mistakes will be penalized more severely than they are now, and 10 will survive only as the top execution score.

“What happened in Athens is proof of the necessity for change,” Bruno Grandi, president of the international gymnastics federation (FIG), said at a symposium last weekend in Budapest, Hungary. “According to my own analysis, gymnastics has reached a point of no return that requires drastic updating, for our historical 10.0 point scale no longer provides for the accurate evaluation of a gymnast’s intrinsic value.”

Peter Vidmar, winner of two gold medals and a silver at the 1984 Olympics, said it would be a mistake to lose the 10, the sport’s brand. “It will just confuse the spectator, especially the one that pays attention only once every four years,” he said.

He also said he believed Grandi overreacted after the Athens mess. South Korea’s Yang Tae Young was docked a tenth of a point in start value on his parallel bars routine, but the mistake wasn’t found until two days after Paul Hamm of the U.S. got the gold medal. A challenge by Yang to reverse the outcome failed. Vidmar said Grandi, pressured by the International Olympic Committee, “took it too far” with ill-considered changes.

“I think they’re making it easier for subjectivity to come into it, and that’s a big problem,” Vidmar said. “It’s really too bad. It’s not the judging that has to be fixed -- it’s the judges. If they just adhere to the rules, everything would be fine.”

USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said a report from Budapest by U.S. delegate Steve Butcher indicated Grandi won’t bend. “The discussions focused more on the intricacies of how to deal with it, versus how it should be changed,” Penny said. “The technical committees have to make sense of this, and the implications have yet to be presented. There still seems to be more questions than answers.”

To be determined are how to value each skill, how to choose a computer system and programs, and whether the system can be used below the elite level. The FIG men’s and women’s technical committees will present proposals for a vote of the executive committee this month in Helsinki, Finland.

Penny said USA Gymnastics sent a letter to the FIG that emphasized a need to balance gymnasts’ safety against giving incentives for difficulty, fear that the system minimizes the prestige of the all-around event, and doubts that the public will understand the new system. Ron Galimore, senior director of the U.S. men’s program, said men are already near the point of peril.

“There’s only so much a body can do,” he said. “There is a concern that the artistry of gymnastics is drifting away a little bit. ... With any change there’s usually a couple hundred questions that pop up. This has quite a few coaches and gymnasts nervous. It’s important to make sure this is the direction we want to go.”

Figuring Things Out

Figure skating’s new scoring system, which will make its Olympic debut at Turin, requires computers and software that can be costly for local clubs.

A club competition held April 23 in Anaheim by the Glacier Falls Figure Skating Club, the first domestic competition in the U.S. judged exclusively under the new system, tested three approaches that varied the extent of the computer’s use. Club President George S. Rossano concluded that using the full hardware was best, but clubs that can’t afford the estimated $18,000 cost could share the hardware with other clubs or use a semiautomated system that requires only one computer that supports instant replay.

The third alternative, in which accountants manually entered judges’ marks and calls made by the technical specialist, was too slow to be practical, Rossano said.

Rossano, a U.S. Figure Skating judge, provided a computer and software he’d developed to support the use of seven judges and a technical specialist to identify elements. To economize, there was no technical controller, data entry operator or instant replay operator. About 80 skaters ages 6 and up competed at different levels.

“Other than the delay in posting the marks, the skaters and coaches were enthusiastic about the new process,” Rossano said. “The skaters were particularly excited about seeing their protocols and studying their marks.

“Overall, the ‘great experiment’ proved extremely useful in providing real-world experience and information about how the new judging system can be implemented at the lower levels of the U.S. Figure Skating competition structure.”

Here and There

The purse for the May 22 Adidas Track Classic in Carson, set at $139,400, is drawing an outstanding field. In the men’s 100, 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin and 2000 champion Maurice Greene will be joined by John Capel, Athens 200-meter silver medalist Bernard Williams, Coby Miller and Darvis Patton. Olympic 200-meter gold medalist Veronica Campbell of Jamaica will compete in the women’s 100, as will U.S. 60-meter indoor champion Angela Daigle, who trains at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. Lauryn Williams, Athens silver medalist in the 100, will run the 200.

Allen Johnson and Terrence Trammel highlight the men’s 110-meter hurdles, and colorful shotputters John Godina, Christian Cantwell, Adam Nelson and Reese Hoffa will do their thing. Meet director Rich Perelman said he expects more than 80 Athens Olympians and is still filling lanes with athletes who want to test the track before the U.S. championships, to be held June 23 through 26 at Carson.

Individual tickets are on sale for the Adidas Classic, as are five-day packages that include the Adidas meet and the U.S. championships.