Skating revolution proposed

End to 6.0 system and new, simpler rules on judging are aimed at vote-swapping.

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 19, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY -- Acting quickly to reform the judging that has scandalized these Olympics, the head of the International Skating Union proposed a revolutionary scoring system to reduce the chance of vote-swapping.

The plan outlined Monday would eliminate the 6.0 system of perfection and replace it with a far simpler way of grading jumps, spins, footwork and other elements based on their difficulty.

The proposal also calls for 14 judges, rather than the current nine, but only the scores from seven would count. Judges wouldn't know whose marks would be used, limiting the possibility of a repeat of the improprieties that rocked the Salt Lake City Games.

Ottavio Cinquanta, head of the ISU, called the proposal "a total revolution."

"But more importantly, I promise this system will reduce to a minimum the prospect of bloc judging," he said.

The plan also would eliminate perfection. For more than 100 years, a 6.0 has been universally known as the mark of perfection. It's a mark rarely attained.

"Great! Hooray! We're finally putting something together that may make us all feel will benefit figure skating judging," said Claire Ferguson, the U.S. member of the skating federation's council.

"It will take a while for everyone to learn the various aspects of it, because it is very technical. But I think it has wonderful potential."

The plan would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of all member federations, but Cinquanta said he wasn't sure it would be ready for the next ISU Congress in June.

Figure skating's subjective judging system long has been criticized because it leaves room for improprieties. Skaters start with a base mark of 6.0, and deductions are made for mistakes and missed elements. Skaters also can be marked down simply for the aesthetics of their programs.

Under Cinquanta's proposal, every technical element, such as jumps and spins, would have a certain point value. Skaters would get points for required elements, as well as for execution. All of the judges' scores would be added and the winner would be determined by total points.

French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne

On Feb. 11, Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the pairs gold medal by the slimmest of margins, defeating Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier despite an obvious technical error. French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said she had been pressured to put the Russians first, implicating her federation.

She subsequently was suspended indefinitely.

An ISU vice president said Monday that French skating chief Didier Gailhaguet pressured judges in the past and should be kicked out of the ISU if he forced Le Gougne to cheat at the Olympics.

"As far I know, it is not the first time for Didier to make such pressure. There were other cases in the past," said Katsuichiro Hisanaga of Japan.

Cinquanta said Gailhaguet would be interviewed by a special commission appointed by the union to determine whether he bears responsibility.

Told of Hisanaga's comments, Gailhaguet denied ever pressuring any judge.

And, in something of a reversal, Le Gougne told the French sports daily L'Equipe that she had never made a deal involving the pairs competition.

"I judged in my soul and conscience," Le Gougne said in an interview published Monday. "I considered that the Russians were the best. I never made a deal with an official or a Russian judge."

Cinquanta said in a news conference that Le Gougne's original admission of wrongdoing came after an interview with him and others that was conducted "extremely professionally."

"I think she was under the best conditions," he said. "Obviously she wasn't happy. But what she said and what she signed was something that she reviewed. She looked at it. She thanked us for having created a very good atmosphere for a rather delicate interview."

If she has changed her mind, Cinquanta said, the ISU will listen to her.

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