The Winter Games of 2002 will long be remembered for its figure skating scandal. While Olympic officials continue to try to shift the public’s attention from this unhappy episode, they are also making efforts to improve the judging system. A proposed plan for a new scoring system designed to minimize the possibility of judging misconduct has been unveiled.
The vulnerability of the scoring system is not new; the Winter Games have been plagued with a history of judging scandals, the two most noteworthy occurring in 1978 and 1998. This week’s suspension of a French judge for misconduct after voting to award the gold medal to the Russian skaters instead of the Canadian couple in the pairs competition has thrown the present judging system into turmoil. The time seems right to unveil a new plan that has been under development for four months.
This is where technology enters the picture. The impartiality of the computer along with its accuracy and calculating speed is at the core of the new plan. The president of the International Skating Union (ISU) claims a computer-based system could provide a total revolution in the International Skating Union because of its ability to prevent judging improprieties. If accepted, the proposal will call for a panel of judges fourteen strong as opposed to the present panel of nine A computer will randomly pick only seven of the fourteen marks; the public and even the judges themselves will not know whose scores are included.
To put the plan in effect, the ISU delegates from almost sixty countries will have to accept the proposal by a two-thirds majority. A system in use for eighty years, admittedly faulty, will have to be abandoned. Change comes reluctantly. It is already anticipated there will be plenty of skepticism about this new approach to judging. Questions to expect will be “Can technology offer prevention of ways to manipulate the numbers?” and “Will the anonymity help or hurt?” Let’s sit back, watch, and see how technology takes to the ice.
