Category: judging

Watanabe interview with the IOC

Our FIG President went online for an hour-long interview, discussing his campaign to be the next President of the International Olympic Committee in a forum arranged by the International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS).

● “The purpose of the Olympic Games is for as many people as possible to understand Olympism. And to contribute to the development of sports and peace. So, if we will organize this five-continent Olympic Games, we will get many benefits.”

● “For the athlete, each sport will take place in one of the five countries that offers the best climate and facilities for that sport. For the host countries, each country will host 10 sports, greatly reducing the financial burden.”

● “For marketing and the TV rights, there will be 24 hours coverage and more sponsorship potential. And new sources of continental sponsorship.” …

“In judging sports, we must be more fair. In reality, we have a problem, not just in gymnastics, and in many other sports. That’s why I started [pushing] for the AI judging system.

We need technology, so I think we will see – in this year – in the world championships in gymnastics in Jakarta [INA], we can see with the judging – AI – how is judging in that [way].

“We need more transparent [judging], we need more, better judging.”

Sports Examiner – INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Presidential candidate Watanabe stresses innovative 5-continent Olympics, AI in gymnastics judging

Fred Richard’s NEW competition wear?

Personally, I’m all for INNOVATION in our sport.  Kudos to Fred for putting himself out there with his Winter Cup look. 

That said, I can’t see how baggy clothing can work in Artistic Gymnastics.  Tight fitting clothing allows the judges to more correctly assess FORM and LINE.  

The best discussion I’ve seen on this debate is from MrBulletPig.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. 

FIG Women’s Gymnastics Code changes

Blythe Lawrence:

In terms of element values, the 2025-2028 women’s code looks much like its predecessor.

But a closer read shows that small changes have been seeded throughout the text, refining how Artistry is defined on Balance Beam and Floor Exercise, and adding new incentive for gymnasts to show two dramatically different vaults.  ,,,

Beginning this year, a 0.2 bonus will be added to the final scores of gymnasts who do one vault with a forward salto off the table and a second with a backward salto in the after flight or vice versa. …

Several Tkatchev variations with half turns are worth 0.1 less than they were a year ago, and the Jaeger with a half twist has also dropped by 0.1. Forward stalders, meanwhile, have increased by 0.1, and the full-twisting double layout dismount, before an E-value skill, has been elevated to an F, a 0.1 gain. …

read more – FIG – What’s changing in the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points in the 2025-2028 Olympic cycle?

FIG Men’s Gymnastics Code changes

Blythe Lawrence:

… Far and away the biggest overall change in the Code of Points is that the number of elements used to build difficulty has dropped from 10 to 8 everywhere except Vault. …

… gymnasts earned 0.5 for any D-level or higher dismount, what they will now get depends on their dismount. In simplest terms, value of the dismount = value the gymnast receives in compositional credit. A D-value dismount brings 0.4 in compositional credit, an E-level dismount 0.5, F gets 0.6, and G is good for 0.7. Upshot: The harder the dismount, the more the gymnast gets paid for it. There is also a new 0.1 stick bonus on most apparatus as well. …

read more – FIG – What’s changing in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points in the 2025-2028 Olympic cycle?

A.I. generated



FIG Women’s Code changes

What’s changing in the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points in the 2025-2028 Olympic cycle?

The short answer is not much, and for FIG Women’s Technical Committee President Donatella Sacchi (ITA) that is for the good of the sport. “Not making critical changes provides opportunities for gymnasts to stay active longer,” she says. “This approach provides stability.”

Rhythmic judge banned – Evangelia Trikomiti

I’d stopped paying much attention to Rhythmic over the years due to blatant corruption.

But it seemed that Discipline had cleaned up their system, somewhat.

… Perhaps not.

A Cypriot rhythmic gymnastics judge has been banned for four years for manipulating scores to help her compatriot qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) found that judge Evangelia Trikomiti altered the scores at the European Championships to ensure Vera Tugolukova clinched the final European qualifying spot for the Olympics. …

European Gymnastics said it would consult with lawyers before considering an appeal.

The Cyprus Gymnastics Federation said it would “thoroughly review” the ruling.

BBC – Judge banned for helping compatriot reach Olympics

male gymnasts with tattoos

A history by zhoxxyy.

15 YEARS AGO, THERE WERE NO GYMNASTS WITH TATTOOS COMPETING. WHAT DO YOU THINK CAUSED A SHIFT IN THE PERCEPTION OF TATTOS IN THE 2010s?

Bart Deurloo (NED) 

If I remember correctly, Marcel Nguyen was the first to compete with very visible tattoos. I was second and right after me, it was Casimir. We were the first ones to roll up our sleeves (so to speak) at a major competition.

… After Marcel secured a silver medal at the Olympics, many athletes started thinking “if he can achieve Olympic success with his arm adorned in ink, it must be permissible.” This prompted a substantial shift within the sport. Kind of proud to be one of the first gymnasts who played a role in such a major shift in the sport.

Taboos & Tattoos in Men’s Gymnastics

Four elite gymnasts talk about tattoos in men’s gymnastics: challenging old taboos and reshaping perceptions of athletes in the sport.

Marcel Nguyen (GER) at the 2012 Olympic Games in London – Source NBC

video analysis slowly, SLOWLY replacing judges

Obviously, video and analysis by computer is better than humans at calling balls and strikes in Baseball.

Video analysis is better than a human line judge in Tennis.

And I’d argue that FIG Trampoline competitions are more fair for the electronic analysis used supplementing human judges.

BUT progress has been too slow.

There might always be a role for human judges in Artistic sports.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (April 2004)

NEW – NCAA Judges Evaluation System

This season, for the first time, judges are being evaluated on their scores compared with a panel reviewing routines.

I ASSuME the judges over-scoring routines Florida v Georgia, Jan. 24th, 2025 will be evaluated severely.

For 2025 there may be no consequences for being off target score. But hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. Some are deliberately giving impossible scores because there is so little accountability.

To learn more, listen to an interesting interview with panelists on the All Things Gymnastics Podcast.

In your favourite Podcast player, search for:

“Scoreboard: Introducing NCAA Gymnastics’ New Judges Evaluation System“