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A new era
Current judging system takes controversy out of figure skating
| Source: |
CBC Sports |
| Date: |
October 30, 2007 |
| Author: |
Tony Care |
Canada's Jamie Salé and David Pelletier retired from the amateur ranks
five years ago, yet are indirectly responsible for permanently
changing the world of figure skating.
Back in 2002, the Canadian pairs team was awarded a second set of gold
medals after a judging scandal rocked the sport to its very foundation
at the Salt Lake Olympics.
Amid reports of voting manipulation, French judge Marie-Reine Le
Gougne admitted to being pressured when she awarded the Russian pair
of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze first-place marks before
fleeing from the Games in disgrace.
While process took time, the International Figure Skating Union -
possibly feeling the wrath of a red-faced International Olympic
Committee - implemented a new scoring system that would never again
allow one judge to affect the outcome of a competition.
"Jamie and David were very likeable and had it been another set of
athletes or a team with no personality, the [new judging system]
probably wouldn't have happened." CBC figure skating analyst and
four-time world champion Kurt Browning told CBCSports.ca.
"It was the right athletes, the Olympics were in North America and
there was an outcry from the media."
The new system has been in place for three years, but didn't receive
attention until the 2006 Torino Winter Games - a time when a
world-wide audience witnessed a sport finally devoid of
controversy.
Marks graded on the old 6.0 scale for technical and artistic
performances were scrapped in favour a more complicated
system.
Using instant replay televisions as an aid, a panel of 12 judges grade
every element of a skater's performance, assigning points for each
spin, jump and footwork progression.
The computer then randomly eliminates three of the judge's marks and
also dumps the high and low scores, leaving only seven on the panel to
grade the competition. The judges themselves don't even know whose
marks will count.
Better system
Tracy Wilson, who earned a bronze medal in the ice dance competition
with the late Rob McCall at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, acknowledges
the current judging system allows the athletes to better critique
their performances, despite its complexities to the average
fan.
"I think it's been quite successful," said Wilson, also a CBC
analyst. "For the skaters, it's an easier way to understand how
they're being measured and it's a concrete way. They can look at the
breakdown of the marks and see specifically what the issues
were.
"In the past, you just didn't know. You're left guessing as to what
the judges saw."
Canada's Jeffrey Buttle skated to a bronze medal at the Torino Games
under the current system.
Buttle, one of the many skaters competing at the Skate Canada
International event beginning with CBC Sports' coverage Friday in
Quebec City, has never questioned any marks he's received and believes
the system is fairly straightforward.
The Sudbury, Ont., skater also thinks controversies - like the one in
Salt Lake City - are a distant memory.
"It makes more sense," said Buttle. "We receive grades on an element
to element base. If I did it bad I get a bad score for it, and if I
did this element well I get a good score for it.
"I think in that sense I'm able to come back after a competition and
say, 'All right, this is obviously what I need to work on and this
other area is something that's stronger for me.' It helps you develop
a sort of a system for improving."
No personalities
Although he likes the new system in a number of areas, Browning
differs from most of the athletes and analysts when it comes to
grading every element - a rule he feels has taken a performer's
personality out of the sport.
During Browning's era, Olympic and world champions like Brian Boitano,
Brian Orser and Katarina Witt dazzled audiences with flare equal to
their technical master.
"I don't like it because it puts too much work on these kids," said
Browning, who is also Joubert's choreographer. "There's no room to
rest or time to enjoy the program. They literally have to work every
second, even their steps in between are being marked.
"In my generation, the spins used to be sort of a rest. Once you're in
a spin position you're like 'OK, I've got the next five or six seconds
to breath.' I feel like we as fans of figure skating are getting
robbed of the skaters' personalities. I would like to see programs
that free up the skaters within the system."
Wilson reasons that the new system has been tweaked every year since
its inception and is always flexible for fine-tuning.
But unlike the old days, the often-maligned ISU is actually willing to
listen to suggestions on how to improve the system - getting input
from judges, coaches and the competitors.
While Wilson would like to see the panel split its responsible rather
than judge every aspect of the performance, she's still pleased with
the process.
"With the old system, it was the same for 100 years and really nothing
was changing," she said. "For me, one of the best things that have
happened with the new system is that there is room for
improvement."
All thanks to a likeable Canadian team that never competed under the
new structure.
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