Philip Hersh: Rachael Flatt deserved systematic victory, but fans deserved an explanation

Some final thoughts on the women's result at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships:

Evan Lysacek, both a friend and training partner of Mirai Nagasu, was sitting among the press for the end of the women's free skate Saturday.  When Nagasu, last to skate, had finished, I asked Evan what he thought. "She was a million miles better,'' Lysacek said, meaning Nagasu had outdistanced Rachael Flatt.

Nearly everyone in the Spokane Arena -- including NBC TV commentators Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic, which means their audience as well -- shared the essence of Lysacek's opinion: Nagasu would win the free skate and, since she also had won the short program, would be the national champion.

The score sheets said otherwise, making Flatt the free skate and overall winner by some 12 points.  That opinion was right as well, given the parameters of the code-of-points judging and scoring system being used.

This time, the problem was the system, not the judging.  And, as I have frequently noted in this blog since the 2008 Skate America, it isn't as much a fault with the system itself as much as with the decision to use it negatively that took effect two seasons ago.

So Nagasu was penalized for under-rotating three triple jumps, which meant she did not make at least 2 3/4 turns in the air.  Justification for the downgrades came from video replay using only one camera, which many times will not give the right angle to provide irrefutable evidence (the National Football League's replay system uses multiple camera angles, and even that frequently does not provide conclusive reasons to change the call made on the field.)

In figure skating, an official known as the technical specialist, who is part of a three-member technical panel, calls out the elements as a program progresses and notes which ones need review. (The calls are heard by the technical panel.)

For jumps, that review can involve rotations, falls, takeoff edge (the lutz takeoff must be from an outside edge, which makes the jump more difficult than the flip, from an inside edge, because of the physics involved; so the lutz has a higher base value), and whether the landing was on one or two feet.

Any of the members of the technical panel can ask for review.  The decision is by majority vote.

Under the old 6.0 system, Nagasu would have won.  The first iteration of the New Judging System implemented after the 2002 Olympic pairs scandal had less emphasis on downgraded jumps, so Nagasu would have lost fewer points on downgrades and could have won.  Under the terms of the iteration used Saturday, she lost in a fair decision -- unless one disagrees with the downgrade decisions, as her coach, Frank Carroll, did with two of the three downgrades.

While the system has "artistic" marks (the so-called "program components," which judges frequently use to prop up skaters they favor; nothing new there), it chops a performance into so many pieces that the result often makes no sense to live or TV audiences.  It is as if one were judging a Monet water lily picture not by the overall impression it leaves but by whether Monet's brush strokes or use of color on each lily conform to some code of painting.

Flatt followed the skating code perfectly, executed her elements cleanly, and her performance reflected that dispassionate approach.  Nagasu was fire on ice, her performance burning into the minds of everyone who saw it -- and she also made no obvious mistakes.

"You had two things going on out there," Carroll said.  "One is a great athlete.  One is an artist."

To be fair, skaters who emphasized the athletic side of skating also beat artists under the 6.0 system, but those usually were exceptional athletic performances: Midori Ito of Japan, at the 1989 worlds, Tonya Harding at the 1991 U.S. championships, Tara Lipinski of the United States at the 1998 Olympics.  And Surya Bonaly won three world silver medals and five European titles with 100% athletic emphasis in her otherwise forgettable performances.

But, as a friend who wrote about figure skating for years pointed out, the new system would have given fewer points to Oksana Baiul's captivating 1994 Olympic free skate, which won the gold, than to either Flatt's or Ashley Wagner's artistically unremarkable performances Saturday.

Also to be fair, it is easier to grab audiences by interpreting a character from well-known music, as Nagasu did with Carmen.  It takes a different level of audience sophistication to identify with music that does not tell a story, even if it is relatively familiar (at least to classical music lovers) and emotionally fiery music like what Flatt used: the Rachmaninoff "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini."  The interpretive issue here was the discord between Flatt's paint-by-code-of-points skating and the florid romanticism of the music.

The bigger problem was skating officials' inability to communicate the reason for the result immediately to the public. 

NBC couldn't explain the decision because it went off the air only a few minutes after Nagasu skated, too soon to analyze the downgrades by airing video replays of the jumps in question.  Although the Spokane Arena crowd was given "ear bugs," allowing them to listen to the real-time, expert commentary by technical specialist David Kirby (who was not working in that capacity at nationals), that commentary also ended before Kirby could explain the score sheets.

(I explained the reasons for the outcome -- in less detail than I am doing now, given space restrictions -- in the final Sunday editions of the Los Angeles Times, although a glitch in the Tribune's new editing system meant that story was not posted until today.) 

A similar situation at the upcoming Olympics will cause uproar that will further damage figure skating, a sport losing its appeal in the United States because of a lack of home-team stars and the incomprehensibility of the scoring system.  And one can only imagine the reaction if the Olympics is decided by a controversial downgrade -- or failure to downgrade.  Downgrades given to Korean star Kim Yuna at last month's Grand Prix Final already have led to heated -- if nationalistic -- Internet arguments.

Was Nagasu a million miles better?  Or even an inch better?  Not by the mathematical standards of the judging system, which have become exponentially more punitive in the past two seasons.  And it has long been no secret that the numbers game is taking the joy out of the sport.

-- Philip Hersh, reporting from Spokane, Wash.

Photos: (Above) The computer panel used in skating's by-the-numbers judging system.  (Getty Images / Go Chai Hin.)  (Below) Mirai Nagasu's fiery interpretation of Carmen in Saturday's free skate at the U.S. Championships.  (Getty Images / Matthew Stockman)

Comments

[R Ricardo]

I couldn't agree more with some of your statements. The new scoring system has got to go. It's not only hurting skating, but is making it less enjoyable for many fans like myself.

[San Francisco]

I have been a figure skating fan since Dorothy Hamil in the '70s. I usually watch the Nationals every year and the Olympics. I am not an expert and know very little about the technical aspects of the sport nor, have I ever been a figure skater.

As a fan of figure skating, I have to say I am confused about the judging system imposed since the 2002 fiasco. Obviously, after 2002 something had to be done to ensure impartiality in the judging system.

The other night, I thought Mirai had won the long program. I have to say I was confused. However, from what I have read Rachael's jumps were a lot more difficult so she gained more points. Rachael landed them cleanly and beautifully! I think one of the most important elements to figure skating is that you land the jumps correctly and not fall. So I am torn....Mirai has the spins, flexibility, musicality, spirals etc. However, Rachael can deliver those awesome jumps!!! It is a sport...so if it were gymnastics and a gymnast did not perform an element correctly on the beam they would get points deducted. I think above all else figure skating is a sport so Rachael deserved to win due to the difficulty in her skating program. These athletes train for years to learn these incredibly difficult jumps. I see them at my local rink falling on jumps all day long. It is a very difficult sport with the risk of great injuries. It is not a beauty contest and those who can do the real athletic moves should be rewarded. Just my humble opinion.

[Jessica]

I have quite a few issues with the code of points system but I actually think it's fairer than the 6.0 system in terms of rewarding skaters for difficult elements and penalizing them for incorrect technique like flutzing and underrotation, something that was rarely done under the 6.0 system. It does seem however that the rules have become much harsher in the past two years in penalizing such mistakes. These are not mistakes that take away from the overall quality of the program or the skating. I find it hard to understand why Flatt would get a higher PCS than Nagasu or even Wagner since her artistry is of a lower quality even if her athleticism is superior. I definitely think some critical changes need to be made (particularly getting rid of anonymous judging and using more than one camera angle to determine errors) but I think this system has come a long way in getting rid of some of the political bias that dominated figure skating in the past by getting rid of confusing system of ordinals.

The other problem is of course the main point of this article: lack of communication to the public, whether they are in the arena or watching at home. I watched the event (delayed) on NBC and I found the commentary utterly ridiculous. ESPN/ABC used to devote much more time to technical analysis of the programs and explanation of the scores, including video replays. NBC spends more time on fluff pieces while leaving little time for the commentators to analyze errors. The commentators themselves act and sound more like fans then experts. Hamilton and Bezic frequently make comments that have little to do with explaining and evaluating elements and scores, and have even come across as nationally biased. It is fine to get caught up in the performance but it is equally important for these "experts" to realize this is a sport where athleticism matters.

[Cassie]

I didn't watch the free skate... the new judging system may be confusing to viewers, but I think it is correct to take (for example) not just a triple jump into consideration but whether the triple was completed completely and whether the right edge was used in take-off.

I don't remember when skaters used to have to do compulsory figures (I was a little kid and didn't watch skating) but those skaters had to be able to do the various edges correctly. Under the 6.0 system, as long as you land on your feet and you perform the heck out of the performance, you theoretically could win. But assuming we are still counting figure skating as a sport (which we are, because otherwise why is it in the Olympics), the technical stuff do matter.

In basketball, you have to be behind the 3-point arc for the basket to be counted as a three-pointer. You stand behind the foul line in order to shoot free throws and you can't jump. And the rules of figure skating state that a lutz is taken from a certain edge so if you are doing a lutz, it better be the correct edge. If you are doing a triple jump, it should be a triple - not a 2 and a half.

Yes, sometimes the replay camera angle may be deceiving but similar situations happen in other sports (like basketball) - some games come down to questionable calls. It happens. It stinks. And you hope that you had built up enough of a lead in the ball game so it doesn't come down to that one call.

In terms of figure skating, this means skaters just have to do the jumps correctly and completely - I've read it's difficult to go back and retrain a skater who has been taking off from the wrong edge, but it's something that the skater should do if he/she wants to win.

[Mark A. Weinberger]

I'm only a spectator, however my opinion is that Racahel Flatt was ripped-off. She skated beautifully and should have been in at least second place for the silver.