Farewell, 6.0

As a solution to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics judging scandal, where vote swapping collusion threatened the integrity of the sport, the ISU has instituted a new scoring system called the Code of Points. Formerly, all figure skaters were judged using a 6.0 scoring system, composed of the technical score, and a second mark referred to as “artistic presentation.” Additionally, competitors were ranked and assigned placements from first place to last.

For the first time ever, this year’s World Championships and next year’s Olympics will take place under the Code of Points. It is essentially a “skater with the most points wins” concept that continues to be tweaked and fine-tuned as both athletes and officials get used to the change.

Under the system, nine randomly-drawn scores are taken from a panel of 12 judges. The highest and lowest scores are discarded, and the average of the remaining seven scores is the skater’s score. Skaters first earn a technical score based on the number of elements performed and their Grade of Execution. Additionally, judges will award points on a scale from 0-10 for five Program Components, to grade the overall presentation of the performance. The Program Components are: skating skills, transitions, performance/execution, choreography and interpretation.

This year’s top American skater, US National Champion Johnny Weir, who to date has not performed a quad jump in competition, said the new system has been good to him: “It gives credit for the way we go into jumps, and the way we move. I don’t have to try the quad, I can improve on other aspects of my skating.”

Many say if the artistically gifted Weir wants to catch Plushenko, he will have to increase his technical prowess to include the quad. Plushenko trounced Weir by 25 points at this season’s Cup of Russia (which used the new system) and again later at an invitational event using the old system.