This is Yuzuru Hanyu, the number one most popular figure skater on the planet
doing his Step Sequence in the short program of Japan Nationals 2020
He scored 5.79 for this element
This is Nathan Chen, the reigning World Champion and US National Champion
doing his Step Sequence in the short program of US Nationals 2021
He scored 5.85 for this element
Judging by the scores, Nathan wins
And we could see some fans outraged at the unfair and biased judgement.
But here is why you should never compare these two scores
You see, figure skating scoring is complicated
You have a panel of 9 judges giving a GOE ranging from +5 to -5 to each element performed
In Hanyu’s case, he’s got +5 GOE from 7 judges and +4 GOE from 2 judges.
The highest and lowest points are dropped and the remaining points are averaged
GOE = (5*6+4) / 7= 4.857 = 48.57% * (base value of the level 4 step sequence (3.9)) = 1.89. 3.9+1.89 = 5.79 TES
In Nathan’s case, there were only 7 judges in the US Nationals 2021 panel so all 7 scores were counted and averaged.
And he's got +5 GOE from all judges = 50%*3.9 = 1.95 was added to his TES 3.9 = 5.85
According to the ISU Guidebook, in order to get +5 GOE, you need to fulfil at least 5 out of the 6 bullets for the Step Sequence
We have 6 +points for the step sequence 1) deep edges, clean steps and turns
2) element matches the music
3) effortless throughout with good energy, flow and execution
4) creativity and/or originality
5) excellent commitment and control of the whole body
6) good acceleration and deceleration
So all it takes is for the 2 judges in the Japanese judging team who thought
Hanyu didn’t fulfil 2 bullets to score him +4 GOE instead of +5 for him to lose to Nathan
Bear in mind that these 2 judges who gave Hanyu +4 GOE are not the same judges who scored Nathan
And you know what that reminds me of?
online review
Back in the days, we didn’t have much way of knowing if the restaurants or hotels was any good..
Now a good jumping off point is probably the overall rating of a product or service
So how many stars, dots, or eggs it has out of 5
Places like Amazon, Google Maps, and Tripadvisor have literally millions of reviews for just about anything you can think of
But, exactly how much trust can you put in these reviews?
You see one of us is doing airbnb and she has 2 duplicated listings of the exact same apartment on airbnb
One listing scored a perfect 5 rating from 10 reviewers. Another listing scored only 4.91 from the 11 reviewers
Needless to say, these scores come from totally different guests
But does that mean one listing is better than the other? They are exactly the same!
But only because the scores are different, you might be tricked to think the listing with perfect 5 is better!
And now you see the problem
Remember, the reviews were written by different users.
They might have the best intention, but some might be more critical and some more lenient
Just like the 2 judges who gave +4 GOE to Hanyu for his Step Sequence.
They might think he didn’t look effortless enough, he didn’t commit enough to the moves, etc.
Or they could be just thinking “Nah I’m not going to give him perfect scores in order to motivate him to work harder”
not knowing that “4” might have caused him the Gold
Just like some of you who might give a “4” to the airbnb you booked, thinking
“I would only give 5 stars if it were over the top nice luxurious hotel."
Or Uber, Amazon, and basically any rating system online.
Not knowing that “4” is putting the listing at risk under the online rating system
This is based on some reality for a long time. Guilty anyone?
Which is why in the international championship, there is a need to ensure the same panel of 9 judges
from different countries are appointed for the same competition
So, you can’t really compare the points from different competitions
or the national championships when the judges are different.
But still, there will always be bias.
Especially when they are judging the skaters from their home country or when they have their favorites
that is just the inherent part of human nature, being subjective
There’s some bias there
I think absolutely. You will see the judges from the same countries giving slightly higher marks
And the nationalistic bias was particularly pronounced among judges from Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, and the US
Did you hear that? Japan Skating Federation?
The main rivals of your skaters, US and Russia, they are all biased for their own skaters.
You don't need to over criticize your own skaters and lowball them in the national championships!
This is the time to be lenient and encouraging and build up the confidence of your skaters
not to negatively reinforce their mistakes and tell them that they are not good enough!
Well, in case you don’t understand what we say in English, here is one of us speaking in Japanese to you
Did you hear that? Everyone from the Japan Skating Federation! ?
Your skaters' main rivals, America and Russia, are all very sweet to their own skaters.
At the Japan Championships, you don't have to over-criticize your skaters and under-score them!
Now is the time to be generous, encourage them, and give them confidence
without emphasizing mistakes or saying “They are not good enough!” It's time to wake up!
Wake up! JSF
In Japan (and Asia in general), parents often tell their children that “You are not good enough”
Many parents think this way when talking to their children
OMG, I heard that a lot
What do you think about this trend?
For a child, it’s horrible
Children have blind faith in those who raise them
So if the person you believe the most tell you that
“You are not good enough” – Then you begin to doubt yourself
Now let’s take a look at the American mindset
Big man and a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?
Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist
Iron Man: I’m the best!
So, what you thought is helping the skaters might harm their confidence!
Just give them as many points as you can! They deserve that!
Hanyu: In Figure Skating, even 1 point is important!
You might not understand the figure skating competition enough. Sometimes skaters lost by less than 0.1 point
So every point is really important..
There is another side effect for constantly over-criticizing the skaters.
It gives people and judges from other countries the impression that your skaters are only worth that much.
I can’t help but remember Worlds Figure Skating 2016, ladies free skate.
Satoko Miyahara had a clean skate and she scored 139.89,
in line with her free skate scores in Japan Nationals 2015 3 months earlier.
When she won the championship there, she scored139.59
But in Worlds Championships, that score was only enough to put her 3rd in the Free Skate and 5th overall
Now take a look at the second place finisher of the free skate, Ashley Wagner from the US
She scored 142.23 despite having 3 mistakes in her programs
including 2 under-rotations and an edge call for her Lutz.
That result was also in line with her free skate scores in US Nationals 2015
where she scored 148.98 for the relatively clean skate she did
You see, GOE are given in real time by judges and they have only about 2 minutes for PCS scoring.
How do they know what scores to give?
It’s all based on the impressions of that skate and their data from the past competitions which they can remember.
Back to the airbnb story just now
She actually had experienced guests giving her 1 star earlier for one of her listings
because the guests were unhappy that they were not allowed to drink the wines stored in her cabinet
That caused her listing to drop to 3 stars and at risk of getting removed
She tried hard to win 5 stars from the next guests to the extent of offering free wines to them
But the next few guests all gave her roughly 3 or 4 stars no matter how she tried
When she asked them why, they always came up with some reasons like there is dust, the house is not clean enough, etc.
But let’s be honest, most guests rely also on the past data to give the reviews.
They saw the 3 stars rating and thought that there must be something wrong about this apartment
So they gave such a rating, in line with the rating in the listing.
I’m guilty for that myself because there was once I booked an airbnb with a 5 stars rating in Cusco, Peru, near Machu Picchu
When I went inside, the kitchen had a bad smell.
But when I opened the windows of the house and saw the views
What came to my mind was “Ah, no wonder they’ve gotten 5 stars in airbnb”
and I gave 5 stars as well.
That’s how much your decision can be influenced by the mass.
And there is a psychological term for that, called the “Groupthink”
Groupthink happens when a group of people choose to go for conformity and cohesiveness
And that may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs
to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation.
A solution? The 10th man rule!
In the 30s, Jews refused to believe they could be sent to the concentration camps
In 1972, we refused to think a massacre could happen in the Olympics (Munich ‘72)
Most people don’t believe something can happen until it did
It’s not stupidity or weakness. It’s just human nature
So we decided to make a change
If 9 of us look at the same information arrive at the same conclusion, it’s the duty of the 10th man to disagree
The 10th man has to start thinking with the assumptions that the other 9 were wrong
So back to the airbnb story. She finally decided to create another listing and start all over.
And that listing is now standing a high 4.88 out of 17 reviewers, without the influence of the 3 stars rating over there.
She could do that in the online world.
But can the skaters start all over and put their past data behind them?
Well.. maybe in their next life when they are reborn in another country like the US or Russia.
Something to think about!
Of course! All of our calls here are based on the assumption that no one mean the rig the system.
And that, would be a different story!
Alright that's it for our story today.
We are simply trying to offer another perspective on how to watch figure skating.
Remember to subscribe to our channel for more interesting stories to come! Thank you