How is figure skating scored at the Olympics? Here's a breakdown

The first week of Olympics has been an emotional rollercoaster, especially in the figure skating sport.

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned silver in a controversial finish with the French, and Ilia Malinin fell multiple times in his free skate and missed the podium entirely.

Now that the men’s individuals are over, pairs are next with a short program beginning Sunday afternoon. This is followed up the following day with free skate.

However, the final skates of the Milan Cortina Olympics may be among some of the most anticipated. The last skates are left for the women — with Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito in the mix for the U.S.

The “Blade Angels” as they’ve called themselves, are considered one of the strongest collection of U.S. female skaters in many years. They take the ice in the final days of the Games.

With figure skating being among the most popular sports at the Winter Olympics, and considering the controversies this time around (see above for Chock and Bates controversial finish and Malinin’s fall) it helps to know how figure skating is scored.

Judging figure skating

According to NBCOlympics.com, figure skaters have been judged by the International Judging System, or IJS, since 2004.

The IJS was designed for fairness and to avoid subjectivity.

Previously, a single panel of judges held up scores with a limit of a perfect 6.0 (not 10.0). However, now, the IJS has two groups that contribute to the overall score: the technical panel and the judges.

The technical panel is responsible for identifying the elements and assigning difficulty levels for spins and steps. These elements have a base value already determined by a scale. (For example, a double toe loop jump (essentially two rotations in the air) has a base value of 1.3 and a quad axel (which is four rotations in the air) is 12.5.)

The other group, the judges, look at each of the elements based on their quality — giving an execution grade from -5 to +5. These grades add or subtract points from the base value. This is known as a technical element score or TES. 

The judges also are responsible for scoring artistry.

There are five categories that comprise artistry. Each of the categories can receive points from 0.25 to 10. This makes up the Program Component Score, or PCS:

• Skating Skills (which looks at edge control, speed, power, and the use of turns and change of direction)
• Transitions (which looks at the linking of elements with intricate and varied movements)
• Performance (which looks at the overall performance, skaters are judged for connecting with the audience, music and choreography)
• Composition (which involves the elements and transitions within the music and choreography
• Interpretation of the Music (this looks at the creativity and interpretation of the music used)

Subsequently, the PCS is then multiplied by a factor. The TES and the PCS are weighed equally. They are then added together for a Total Segment Score.