Does it seem like the gymnastics judges are fixing the scores?

Question

I am a gymnastics fan its almost close to dancing. but i have never been in gymnastics but form what i can tell the routines are fairly goo but the chinese especially are getting very good scores when it seems they have the same skill level. i understand that difficulty and other things come to play before they even perform. but the men's gymnastics a few days ago. (mens individual final) seemed like a joke the judges were so partial toward the chinese. is it my inexperience in the gymnastic world or something else.

Answer 1

the chinesse goverment paid off those judges. fei cheng fell on her kness and got first plae while shawn got 3rd place

Answer 2

No, I would say you are spot on, I also have had a lot to do with watching  dancing, and see how they are judged, it seems to me the Olympics are no different, and that at different meets the scores vary alot, one might win at the first gig and then get nowhere at the other, a lot of favorites get the nod.  

Answer 3

In my opinion it's hard to prove anything.  That being said Helen Colaguiri, the Australian "judge",  must have been out in the concourse getting a tasty snack or maybe she dropped her pen and had her head under the table for awhile during the women's uneven bars event or she would have scored it more accurately. That's all I can figure.  That or she's incompetent... but don't they get rid of incompetent judges?

(Hmm... perhaps she WAS fixing the scores.  You decide.)  

Answer 4

The new scoring system is totally different from the old system. 1/3 of the points are now the result of difficulty level, while the other 2/3 is how well someone performs a technique (execution).

For example, in yesterday's women's gymnastics:

It was on the highest difficulty, and Cheng scored 15 something...which is a bad score.

For example:

6.5 difficulty (max) + 10 execution (max) = 16.5 max

If you do everything right and mess up the landing, you get less than a single point deducted.

For Cheng Fei's case, she had around 1 point deducted because of the fall...which explains why her score was in the low 15's.

As for the men's gymnastics, the PR-Chinese team had harder routines and started with higher scores, giving them more leeway.

The only dumb 'judge result' was the decision to award the gold to China in the tie between China & the USA because China had scores closer to 10's. They should've just had an overtime match.

Answer 5

Any "sport" that requires judging to produce a winner is always going to be a farce, whether it be gymnastics, boxing, diving, or even ice skating. It brings politics into the competition, and politics have no place in sport. If there is no clear winner like a race or a game, and the winner is left up to an outside, non-competitor to pick, is it really a sport?

Answer 6

I don't think so.  The scores are based on a new system with emphasis on difficulty level.  It's apparent when during the All-Around competition, the last chinese girl put out a practically flawless performance, but only scored a 15.00 because her difficulty was not high enough.  The Gold was awarded to Liukin.  Obviously no one cries foul because an American rightfully won, right?

Answer 7

i agree with you, i used to be a gymnast and i really don't understand the way th judges are scoring this comp.  

Answer 8

i was watching the gymnastics last night in OZ and to me it looked like its getting rigged.

Answer 9

I wouldn't be able to say if it's rigged or not, because I don't understand system myself.

Answer 10

No it's not rigged. I'm not a fan. I'm a gymnast.

Answer 11

yeah, I'm no professional but the scores seem kinda wacky.  I mean look at the womens vaulting.  

And poor Nastia, she lost cuz of that one Australian judge "forgot" to give He the deduction.

The in vault, How on earth did that one chines girl win gold , one of her vaults was AWFUL and she also fell on the other one.

Answer 12

Bela Koroyli explained that there is no fixing or bias or they would be kicked out of judging....however, he did say some judges see things differently and sometimes get it very wrong. So far (I am Pacific time so have not seen any tonight) he has only complained about the  vault being very wrong saying more should have been taken off Cheng because of other errors she made in addition to the landing/fall.