Competition Format and Scoring

The International Skating Union (ISU) is the governing body for international competitions. The ISU oversees the World Championships and the figure skating events at the Winter Olympic Games.

In singles and pairs figure skating competition, competitors must perform two routines, the "short programme", in which the skater must complete a list of required elements consisting of jumps, spins and steps; and the "free skating", in which the skaters have slightly more choice of elements. Ice dancing competitions usually consist of three phases: one or more "compulsory dances"; an "original dance" to a ballroom rhythm that is designated annually; and a "free dance" to music of the skaters' own choice.

Skating was formerly judged for "technical merit" (in the free skating), "required elements" (in the short programme), and "presentation" (in both programmes). The marks for each programme 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 programmes were then combined, with the free skating placement weighted more heavily than the short programme. The lowest scoring individual (based on the sum of the weighted placements) was declared the winner.

In 2004, the ISU adopted a new judging system called the New Judging System (NJS) or Code of Points which will be mandatory at all international competitions in 2006, including the 2006 Winter Olympics. This judging system fundamentally changes the criteria by which skaters are judged. Each individual element within a programme is worth a predetermined number of points and the elements are judged based on their execution; while the former presentation mark has been replaced by various "programme components" scores which are assigned subjectively on a scale from 0.0 to 10.0.

Figure skating is a very popular part of the Winter Olympic Games, in which the elegance of both the competitors and their movements attract many spectators. Unsurprisingly, the best skaters show many of the same physical and psychological attributes as gymnasts. Many of the best skaters are from Russia, the United States, Canada and Japan. The United States is a traditional power in singles skating. In recent years, it has been especially dominant in the Ladies' events. Russia (and the Soviet Union before it) is dominant in the Ice Dancing and Pairs competitions.

Many fans of more traditional sports find the judging procedures incomprehensible, and the universal practice of judges attending competitors' practice sessions dubious in the extreme. It is also generally believed that judges often judge the competitors performance over many competitions rather than just the performance in the competition at hand - competitors must "pay their dues" by consistent performances before they are rewarded by the judges in major meets. Disputes over judging are not uncommon; most recently, the pairs competition at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games ended in controversy when a judge from France admitted to being pressured by her federation to "fix" the results of the event. Rather than addressing problems of judging corruption and incompetence at their source, the International Skating Union has added to the controversy by introducing secrecy to limit the public accountability of judges for their decisions.

Professional competitions in figure skating are not governed by any central organisation or common set of rules. Individual promoters of these events tend to choose formats and rules that are designed to showcase the talents of the specific skaters they have invited to participate, and which may vary wildly from one event to another.