This just seems odd. I can see scoring being 1-5 or 1-10, but 1-6? Was there a six-fingered judge that started this all?
And is it true that at least the US nationals are now switching to a 1-10 rating system? That and finally eliminating the no-one-sees-but-the-judges actual figure skating (as in figure “8”) part of the competition and reducing the importance of technical? I think if this is true, it is a much needed change that has been a long time in coming and would like to know the history of these developments and the politics that surround them. I feel if more importance was given to artistic expression than technical merit, the average age of skaters would stop its downwards trend to pre-schooler skaters and move back to mature adults.
And since I’m on the topic, why do skaters wear skin-tone parts of their outfits and not just show skin? It can’t be because it’s too cold. They’re sweating like politicians in Hell out there on the ice. Modesty rules? And have they ever considered or allowed women skating in bikinis? I know my viewership of skating events would go WAY up if that were permitted.
Have you ever skated with bare skin exposed? Holy crap is it cold! (Weather permitting, YMMV). I did it once playing hockey, and my ears and hands damn near froze off. The “wind chill” from moving around so much was the biggest pain in the ass.
But I would venture that the want to keep their muscles somewhat warm, and thus, something of a layer over their legs would keep them a little warmer.
Tripler
But I completely second your idea of skating in bikinis.
I guess it’s the same reason why baseball is 9 innings rather than 10 or golf has 18 holes rather than 20 - just tradition. Probably the first group to do ratings figured 6 was high enough.
Some people might remember that prior to 1976 it was virtually impossible for a gymnast to get a 10 in the Olympics. In fact the electonic scoreboard only could display up to 9.95. When Nadia Comenici got a 10 that year they put up 1.00 and at first everyone was confused - they had to explain it really was a 10. She ended up get more 10s. After that the scoreboards all could display 10.0.
I think the other reason for the use of illusion (the see-through mesh) in costumes is to make sure there’s no slippage of the costume – it’s most often used in on the upper chest area, and holds the bodice together so that the skater’s breasts don’t pop out.
The figures component of competition was eliminated in the early '90s. The current change in judging is to do away with marks out of 6 altogether - now skaters get points for what they do. It’s rather complicated, and I don’t understand it entirely, but basically under the new system the judging panel is divided in two, with some judges just handling the technical side and others just handling the presentation side of the performance. For technical marks, each element (jump, spin, footwork sequence) has been assigned a base value, then the judge decides how well it was performed, adding or subtracting up to 3 points from the base value. On the presentation marks, skaters get marked not only on the artistic merit of their program, but also the quality of their skating (ie, does they move smoothly or does everything look like a bit of a struggle?) and other more intangible elements. All of this then gets factored together to come up with the number of points the skater gets for the performance. The person with the highest points total wins. There’s an FAQ here. (Warning: PDF)
The history behind this change in judging is one event: the pairs event at the 2002 Olympics, where the Russians initially got the gold despite making some minor mistakes, while the Canadians skated clean. There had been growing discontent about corrupt judging within the skating community for years, but the whole controversy surrounding the pairs event at the Olympics finally forced the International Skating Union to do something about it. The new system has more judges than will be used for any one skater’s mark, and which judge’s scores count is selected at random so that no one ever knows which judges marked which skater. This is to remove both the possibility of collusion among the judges and pressure from a judge’s nation to mark in a certain way.
Mostly modesty rules. Skaters have even received deductions on their marks in the past for having costumes that were deemed inappropriate. Even use of skin-tone fabric is limited - I remember one ice dancer being penalized for a dress where the bodice was completely skin-tone except for these swirls on her breasts. You’re right about not needing it for warmth - I used to figure skate at a recreational level when I was in high school, and by the end each session everyone was out there in just a t-shirt and tights (and the little skirt, of course).