ISU Judging System
The ISU Judging System (also called Code of Points (CoP) or the New Judging System (NJS)), is the scoring system currently used to judge figure skating. It was designed and implemented by the International Skating Union (ISU), the ruling body of the sport. This system of scoring is used in all official amateur competitions sanctioned by the ISU, including the Winter Olympic Games.
The ISU Judging System replaced the old 6.0 system in 2004. This new system was created in response to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal, in an attempt to make the scoring system more objective and less vulnerable to abuse.
Previous judging system
Figure skating was formerly judged on a 6.0 scale. Skaters were judged on "technical merit" (in the free skate), "required elements" (in the short program), and "presentation" (in both programs). The marks for each program ran from 0.0 to 6.0 and were used to determine a preference ranking, or "ordinal", separately for each judge; the judges' preferences were then combined to determine placements for each skater in each program. The placements for the two programs were then combined, with the free skate placement weighted more heavily than the short program. The lowest scoring individual (based on the sum of the weighted placements) was declared the winner.
Scandal and response
In 2004, after the judging controversy during the 2002 Winter Olympics, the ISU adopted the New Judging System (NJS), or Code of Points, which became mandatory at all international competitions in 2006, including the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Technical details
Under the new system, technical marks are awarded individually for each skating element. Competitive programs are constrained to have a set number of elements. Each element is judged first by a technical specialist who identifies the specific element. The technical specialist uses instant replay video to verify things that distinguish different elements; e.g. the exact foot position at take-off and landing of a jump. The decision of the technical specialist determines the base value of the element. A panel of twelve judges then award a mark for grade of execution (GOE) that is an integer from -3 to +3. The GOE mark is then translated into a value by using the table of values in ISU rule 322. The GOE value from the twelve judges is then averaged by randomly selecting nine judges, discarding the high and low value, and averaging the remaining seven. This average value is then added (or subtracted) from the base value to get the value for the element.
The number and type of elements in a skating program depends on the event and on the level of competition. At the senior international level, single and pairs short programs contain eight technical elements. The actual eight elements are detailed for single skaters in ISU rule 310. Each skater must attempt one combination jump, two solo jumps, three spins, and two skating sequences. The eight elements required for a senior pairs short program include two lifts, two jumps, two spins, one step sequence, and one death spiral (ISU rule 313).
Free programs have 14 elements for pairs and men, and 13 elements for ladies. The details of the elements are given by ISU rules 320 and 321. Pairs do 4 lifts, 4 jumps, and 6 spins, steps, or spirals. Men do 8 jumps, and 6 spins or step sequences. Ladies do 7 jumps and 6 spins, steps or spirals.
Jumps done in combination are marked as a single element, with a base mark equal to the sum of the base marks for the individual jumps. However, a combination can be downgraded to a "sequence", in which case the base value is 0.8 times the sum of the individual jumps. The jumps normally executed at the senior level, and their base values, are quad toe loop (9), triple Axel (7.5), triple Lutz (6), triple flip (5.5), triple loop (5), triple Salchow (4.5), triple toe loop (4) and double Axel (3.3).
The former presentation mark has been replaced by five categories, called program components. The components are (1) skating skills, (2) transitions, (3) performance, (4) choreography, and (5) interpretation. A detailed description of each component is given in ISU rule 322.2. Each component is awarded a raw mark from 0 to 10, with a mark of 5 being defined as "average". The five raw marks are then translated into a program mark by multiplying by a factor that depends on the program and the level.
For senior ladies, the factor is 0.8 for the short program and 1.6 for the long program. The factors are set so that the total score from the artistic marks will be about equal to the total score from technical marks.
Subjectiveness
Judging in figure skating is inherently subjective. Although there may be general consensus that one skater "looks better" than another, it is difficult to get agreement on what it is that causes one skater to be marked as 5.5 and another to be 5.75 for a particular program component. As judges, coaches, and skaters get more experience with the new system, there may emerge more consensus. However, for the 2006 Olympics there were cases of 1 to 1.5 points differences in component marks from different judges. This range of difference implies that "observer bias" determines about 20% of the mark given by a judge. Averaging over many judges reduces the effect of this bias in the final score, but there will remain about a 2% spread in the average artistic marks from the randomly selected subsets of judges.
Ice dancing judging is similar to pairs and singles, but uses a separate set of rules and table of values. In the compulsory dance, steps are specified and "elements" are defined for each dance as subsets of the prescribed steps. For compulsory dance only, there is no artistic mark given for choreography. Instead the marks for skating skills and transitions are multiplied by 1.5. In original dance there are 5 marked technical elements. In the free dance, there are 9 marked technical elements.
Criticism
The new judging system moves ice skating closer to judging systems used in sports like diving and gymnastics. It also has some features intended to make judging more resistant to pressure by special interests. However, there are many who question whether the new system is actually any better than the old. Under the ISU rules, the judges' marks are anonymous, which removes any public accountability of the judges for their marks. The random panel selection procedure can change a skater's mark by several points and alter the outcome of competitions depending on which subset of judges are chosen. The U.S. Figure Skating association has split with the ISU on these two issues. In the U.S., the judges names remain associated with the marks. Also the US uses only nine judges and counts all nine. Another issue that has appeared in the press is that the sport is still ruled by the same people, and still subject to bias and pressure from invisible insiders. Another problem is that the new system excessively constrains the content of skaters' programs and reduces creativity. Still, another complaint is that the technical specialist has too much power to control skaters' scores.