Time to restore perfect 6.0?

Vancouver, British Columbia-six years ago a uproar over judges vote between Olympic resulted in a wholesale change in the way way figure skater are evaluated.

The judging rules for figure skating and affecting the skater comment 3: 06 former at Olympics Sasha Cohen, Katarina Witt, Michelle Kwan and Peggy Fleming.

The rules can now vary, but the controversy continues to turn and rotate.

Some current and former skater say the new merit-based rules have been used in the Vancouver games, artistry, arithmetic victims. Others think is the system only as subjective as the old.

The loudest complaints come from members of the Russian Federation skating, think the silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko gold medal last week competition net members was the men.

2: 15 WSJ's Geoffrey Fowler says Kelsey Hubbard, why the Russian skating Federation believes there is a problem with the new judging system.

Mr Plushenko has publicly he was robbed because judges him enough points for completing skating's hardest jump awarded quadruple toe loop jump not been suggested. After his performance, Mr Plushenko said "now it's not the men skating - no, it's dance."

In an interview Wednesday with Rossiyskaya Gazeta the President of the Russian Federation, figure skating, Valentin Piseev, said that the new rules system "distorts the importance of sport." "Who does not understand that jumps are the basic element figure skating?"

Achieved in Vancouver on Wednesday, said Mr Piseev not athletes rewarded the new system try, difficult and risky moves and thus countries puts at a disadvantage with trained skater. "This system was from all countries," he said. Mr Piseev said he plans to send a letter to the International Skating Union expressions his concerns.

Many experts believe the international judging system, skating, IJS, brought more stability to one of the most subjective competitions in sports - and one long known for expressions the nationalist bias and other escapades. The debates that have arisen in Vancouver involve, for the most part, rivalries on the ice - between individual competitors - rather than from the ice between countries.

SIPA press Evgeni Plushenko of Russia leads in the men's free skating program.

The ISU respond to queries about Mr. Piseev's latest complaints. But in an interview on Monday, ISU said President Ottavio Braga, while the new system "not perfect" was his "Structure is good and satisfying" because it quantifies a subjective concept.

"How many people can understand when a piano player is perfect?" Figure skating is the same, Mr. Martini said, moves add the ISU is still assigned specific figure skating set values.

Mr Martini said skating well rounded competitors needed and should be not cooked down to just, who makes the most jumps. "If you want to jump, track and field or pole vault do," he said. "This is not the circus."

Under the old system, judges compared a skater to the next. Score of 6.0 would be allocated for a perfect performance, but certain movements were not graded. Each is initiated under the scoring system in 2004 to its or evaluating your own performance through a combination of judges and technical experts. There is no perfect score - instead points are assigned, for certain and moves as skill performance.

A triple Axel jump earned 8.2 points in the men's competition with points added or subtracted from how well executed based on the go.

Find out how you win a contest involves a lot of math Italian figure skater Massimo Scali felt the bite of the new system during a performance of last week. Mr Scali said he lost two points, because he only the back of his skate blade when you move into a complicated instead of grabbing touched. The next night, Mr Scali detail he said respected, movement and deserves full credit.

Many skaters think the new system is more useful feedback. Canadian Scott Moir who won here ice dance for a gold medal, said the new system "You are rewarded for what you do." If the marks are not satisfactory, "You see on a piece of paper and go home it and improve."

Vancouver organizers introduced a live radio broadcast named Axel radio offering live comment audience on how are skaters accumulate or lose points. The audience a low score for a performance that wowed the crowd boo, take Axel pain, spokesman for the judge to explain reasons.

Katarina Witt, who won two Olympic gold medals in figure skating – the women in the old scoring system, said the new "more accountable" but "makes the sport [only] to collect these points." She adds: "It is sometimes difficult then to be really emotionally involved."

Play the U.S. skaters Sasha Cohen, silver at the 2006 won, said the new system forcing to competitors include even while on the ice to focus. "It removed the individuality and a bit of freedom the sport needs", said Ms. Cohen. "If you keep something a second less your entire spiral sequence not count and thats eight points of less."

Critics have more anonymous dinged IJS making judgments. Under the old system judges were presented results together with the countries they represent. Well, judge revealed name but results are randomized. In theory, this keeps the focus on the skater instead of the judges and relieving pressure on judges.

Economics Professor Eric Zitzewitz argues still Dartmouth anonymity may everything nor made worse. His analysis found that under the new system, skaters have benefited more from with a fellow countryman to the jury. The average home judge advantage of part of the score said, the judges affect 20% higher than under the old rules, Mr Zitzewitz.

Ted Barton, a consultant of the ISU helped to develop the new system, you said "greatly reduces the possibility each one individual, a difference in a final score has."

The judges are random, he noted, and the highest and the lowest your results will be deleted. The ISU reviews also judge performances. Judge found want your judging privileges revoked, can, as a judge before Games 2006 happened.

-Richard Boudreaux in Moscow and Anton Troianovski in New York contributed to this article

Write toGeoffrey A. Fowler geoffrey.fowler@wsj.com with phred Dvorak at phred.dvorak@wsj.com

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