are gymnastics execution scores too low?

INTERNATIONAL GYMNAST Editor Dwight Normile part way through the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships:

… While scanning the hundreds of scores from the women’s qualifications here in London, I realized something odd. The results sheets included zero scores above 9.0 for the E-score (execution). And how many scores of 9.0 appeared? Two: one each for American Kayla Williams and North Korean Hong Un Jong on vault.

What shocks me most is that I saw some very good routines that would have scored 9.5 and above under the old 10.0 system. …

The men’s scores were more realistic, with numerous gymnasts cracking the 9.0 barrier, and well into the mid-9.0s.

It’s a pity that men’s and women’s gymnastics is judged so differently right now. This new Code was supposed to restore artistry by emphasizing execution over difficulty. The best way to do that is to lower the value of the D-score as severely as the E-score is being evaluated. …

Is 9.0 the new 10.0 for women?

I agree with Dwight. The Men’s judges are more confident to adjudicate. The range in execution scores is greater between best and worst.

Why are the Women not doing the same?

Are they afraid of being “out of range”?

Or, … are there so many vague deductions listed in the women’s code that they feel obliged to deduct something on every skill?

Leave a comment if you have an opinion. Especially if you are a judge.