팀 거버에 따르면 잘못된 판정은 소트니코바의 트리플러츠-트리플 토룹 컴비네이션 점프에서도 나왔다. 그는 "소트니코바가 러츠 점프를 뛸 때 롱엣지 플러츠 도약을 한다는 것은 분명한 사실"이라며 "이런 기술적 문제는 그녀가 피겨 선수로 뛰는 동안 내내 가지고 있던 문제였다. 그런데 어떻게 테크니컬 패널들이 갑자기 그것을 못 볼 수가 있단 말인가? 그녀의 엣지는 도약하는 순간 아웃엣지에서 인엣지로 바뀌었다. 게다가 트리플 러츠-트리플 토룹 콤비네이션 점프의 연결 트리플 토룹은 명백하게 회전수가 부족한 점프였다"고 꼬집었다.
이번 올림픽 테크니컬 패널에 대한 두 번째 문제는 소트니코바의 트리플러츠-트리플 토룹 콤비네이션에 대한 판정입니다. 소트니코바가 러츠 점프에서 플러츠 도약을 했다는 건 명백한 사실입니다. 그녀는 이런(잘못된 엣지 사용이라는) 기술 문제를 그녀의 선수 생활 내내 가지고 있었습니다. 그런데 어떻게 테크니컴 패널이 그걸 갑자기 못 보게 된겁니까? 그녀의 엣지는 점프 도약시 명백하게 바뀌었습니다. 게다가 이 트리플러츠-트리플토룹 콤비네이션에서 연결 점프인 트리플 토룹은 명백하게 회전수가 부족했습니다. 선수가 90도 각도 이내에만 착지하면, 즉 1/4바퀴정도 부족하게 착지만 해도 회전수 부족으로 감점을 받지 않지만 소트리코바의 스케이트날은 이 기준에도 훨씬 못 미치는 지점에서 이미 빙판에 착지했습니다.
채점제도를 아주 많이 수정해야할 필요도 있습니다. 스텝시퀀스는 이렇게 과도하게 복잡할 이유가 없습니다. (과도하게 복잡한 스텝시퀀스는) 프로그램의 진짜 안무를 제대로 볼 수 없게 만들고, 경기가 벌어지는 동안 관중들로 하여금 저지들의 판정을 이해하는 것을 불가능하게 만듭니다.
마찬가지로 '난이도(difficult variations)'에 따른 스핀 레벨을 결정하는 규정 또한 자주 바뀐다. (심판들은) 어떤 스핀을 고난이도로 인정하기 위해서는 몸의 중심축에서 한결같이 흔들리지 않으며 수행되는 스핀 포지션을 봐야 한다고 배운다. 하지만 선수가 몸의 중심을 전체적으로 제어할 수 있는 능력이 돼야만 수행 가능한 스핀임에도 불구하고 이런 고난이도 레벨을 받을 수 없는 스핀들이 많다. 예를 들면, 전체적으로 등에 완만한 아치를 그리면서 떠있는 한쪽 다리를 뒤로 들어 빙면과 평행을 이룬 상태로 도는 전형적인 레이백 포지션, 등을 꼿꼿이 편 상태로 떠있는 한쪽 다리를 앞으로 곧게 뻗고 도는 싯 스핀 포지션, 그리고 떠있는 발을 엉덩이 높이 뒤로 뻗어서 수평이 되게 하는 자세로 도는 전형적인 카멜 스핀... 하지만 이 모든 포지션들은 이를 수행하기 위해서는 몸의 중심을 전체적으로 사용해야 한다는(중심축에서 흔들리기 않아야 한다는) 필수 요건을 만족시킴에도 불구하고 그저 '기본'포지션에 불과하면 (고난이도에 해당하는) 점수를 받을 수가 없다.
A month after the ladies’ event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, people are still questioning the result, with the Russian Adelina Sotnikova winning the gold medal ahead of Yuna Kim, the defending Olympic champion. And when I say “people”, I’m not referring only to the regular figure skating fans – who could be somehow accused of subjectivity when it comes to their favorite athletes – but to the figure skating specialists, very much acquainted with the ISU Code of Points, the scoring system currently used to judge figure skating disciplines. One of those people is Tim Gerber, former figure skater and, most importantly, a person who attended the ISU technical specialist seminar in the past; a seminar meant to provide full training for people to become technical specialists at competition. In this capacity, Tim Gerber has recently sent a letter via email to 33 figure skating office holders within the International Skating Union – including Alexander Lakernik, Technical Controller in the ladies’ event in Sochi – inquiring into the work done by the technical panel in this particular competition at the Winter Olympics.
by Florentina Tone
According to Tim Gerber’s analysis – reviewed by two other ISU-certified technical specialists – the level calls for the step sequence of Adelina Sotnikova and Yuna Kim (in the free program) were both wrong (the Russian received a Level 4 and the South Korean, a Level 3, when, in fact, it should have been completely opposite); and wrong was also the judgement of Sotnikova’s Triple Lutz + Triple Toeloop combination: “Sotnikova clearly has a wrong edge flutz takeoff on her Lutz. She has had this technique problem her entire career. How can it be that the tech panel suddenly missed it? Her edge clearly changes over as she takes off for the jump. Furthermore, the Triple Toeloop in combination with the Lutz was obviously underrotated”.
The levels of the step sequence for both skaters, the flutz takeoff, the underrotated Toeloop… Tim Gerber summarizes: “This is a total of 4 wrong calls that the technical panel made, which were all in the benefit of Sotnikova. She also received insanely high and incorrect scores from the judging panel – who on Earth could ever give Sotnikova’s step sequence +3 GOE when she has so many sloppy edges, lack of flow between movements, and very little rhythmic timing of her movements? All of these incorrect marks look like far more than honest mistakes or being generous to a young girl who skated well in front of a home audience. It looks like cheating. There is no explanation other than complete incompetence by the both the technical panel and the judges”.
Requiring to know “exactly which duties each tech panel member took at these Sochi Olympics and what calls they made” – because, as Tim Gerber puts it, “People deserve to know if a mistake was made” – the letter was sent via email to 33 figure skating office holders within the International Skating Union, including Mr. Alexander Lakernik, Technical Controller in the ladies’ event at 2014 Sochi Olympics. Up to this point, no answer was received from any of the recipients.
Given the huge interest the ladies’ event in Sochi still holds a month after its conclusion and given the legitimate questions raised in the letter, we asked for Mr. Gerber’s permission to share the document to a wider audience. Here it is, in its entirety, exactly as it was sent to all the figure skating office holders within the ISU:
“Hello my figure skating associates,
We need to talk about how poorly the tech panel did their job at the Sochi Olympics. For the moment let us center the discussion around the Ladies’ event, specifically the calls made for the top 2 skaters.
The first issue I want to talk about are how the step sequence levels were called for Adelina Sotnikova and Yu-Na Kim – Sotnikova received a Level 4 and Yu-Na received a Level 3. However, all the analysis that I have done, and other experts have done, shows that these level calls were wrong. Sotnikova should have only received a Level 3 and Yu-Na should have received a Level 4. You can find full analysis, posted for the public to see, here –
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?49801-Analyzing-Sotnikova-and-Kim-s-footwork-in-the-FS
How can it be that Sotnikova’s step sequence was given a Level 4 by this tech panel when she clearly had incomplete edges and steps and has only received a Level 3 on it all year long in every other competition she competed in? How can Yu-Na Kim’s step sequence have been given a Level 3 when she had far more content in and met or exceeded all of the criteria to receive a Level 4? This step sequence is very complex and has very clear edges.
Each tech panel splits up the duties of looking at the step sequence and each of the 3 members of the panel looks at a different criteria to determine what level the sequence should be called as. I would like to know exactly which duties each tech panel member took at these Sochi Olympics and what calls they made. People deserve to know if a mistake was made. At the very least, technical panels in the future can learn from the poor judgements made here and improve upon their work.
The next technical panel issue at these Olympics was the judgement of Sotnikova’s Triple Lutz + Triple Toeloop combination. Sotnikova clearly has a wrong edge flutz takeoff on her Lutz. She has had this technique problem her entire career. How can it be that the tech panel suddenly missed it? Her edge clearly changes over as she takes off for the jump. Furthermore, the Triple Toeloop in combination with the Lutz was obviously underrotated. Her blade is fully pressing into the ice at a point that is significantly short of the 90 degree allowance skaters are given. She takes off for the jump facing 90 degrees away from the board where the tech panel is sitting, which means her skate should land on the ice directly facing the tech panel in order to receive full credit. Her blade clearly comes short of that point. This is yet another technique issue Sotnikova has had for her entire career. She has never been credited with a fully rotated Triple Lutz + Triple Toeloop combination, ever. Until these Sochi Olympics. How can this be, when the jump was cheated without a doubt?
This is a total of 4 wrong calls that the technical panel made, which were all in the benefit of Sotnikova. She also received insanely high and incorrect scores from the judging panel – who on Earth could ever give Sotnikova’s step sequence +3 GOE when she has so many sloppy edges, lack of flow between movements, and very little rhythmic timing of her movements? All of these incorrect marks look like far more than honest mistakes or being generous to a young girl who skated well in front of a home audience. It looks like cheating. There is no explanation other than complete incompetence by the both the technical panel and the judges.
If the sport is going to continue with success, these things can not continue happening. For a moment let us put aside the talking of cheating. Let us assume none of the judges or technical panel members were bribed or threatened by Russians to skew the outcome of the event. What can be done to make everything more clear and less open to possible corruption? The technical panels need be trained better. The judges need to be trained better. The judges can not be anonymous. The scoring system needs many more modifications. There is no reason that footwork sequences need to be this overly complex. It detracts from the actual choreography of programs and makes judging decisions impossible to decipher while competition is happening.
Thank you for reading.”
Who is Tim Gerber, the author of the letter to ISU
In addition to the document, Inside Skating publishes a short interview with Tim Gerber, in order to better understand the circumstances in which the letter to ISU was written.
Mr. Gerber, for a better understanding of your letter, a brief description of you and your figure skating experience might prove useful…
I trained as a figure skater for many years and had all jumps up through Triple Lutz. In 2010, I was given the opportunity to attend the technical specialist training courses. It was there that I saw the ISU does not provide good enough training and does not even seem to fully understand its own scoring system.
I have independently studied figure skating history and technique to an extensive degree, as well as choreography.
What do you mean by “ISU does not provide good enough training”? Would you care to elaborate on that?
The seminar was a 3 day course that is meant to provide full training for people to become technical specialists at competitions. There are two per year in the U.S. on this scale, if I recall correctly. Many examples are provided of how to identify elements, but what I found glaring is that there is no actual scientific basis that is taught for determining how to judge the jump rotation of competitors. Figure skating jumps are very much a science, with an identifiable amount of air rotation that can be measured. This ISU course provided only cloudy explanations of how jumps should be judged as underrotated or not, without teaching people to look at the actual takeoff point of the jump and compare it to the actual landing point.
Similarly, the rules for determining “difficult variations” for spin levels are not consistent. It is taught that a spin position must display full usage of the body core in order to quality as a difficult variation and yet there are many spin positions which are not considered as such, even though they DO display such control from the skater. The classic layback position with a fully arched back and free leg held parallel to the ice, the sit spin position with straight back and fully extended free leg, the upright scratch spin, and the classic camel position with a fully extended free leg and ample arch between the back and leg – all of these positions are only considered “basic” positions and do not count for points even though they DO satisfy the requirement of needing to fully utilize the body core in order to achieve them.
Did you actually use your knowledge in a figure skating technical panel?
I have not participated as a technical panel member for any ISU events and I am not currently working with any skaters, but I have done some coaching and choreography for low-level skaters in the past. In late 2012, I decided that I would not currently be able to continue pursuing figure skating as a professional career, as there were not enough opportunities for me to make a living doing it. Throughout my entire skating career, I have paid my own way without any help from my family or sponsors at all. All of my own earnings from other jobs, ever since the time I was a teenager, have funded my skating. This is completely unheard of in the figure skating world and severely limited my opportunity to compete at the highest levels and thus gain a bigger name in the skating world. I am currently the business manager for a design company in Hollywood.
Who was the letter addressed to? Any feedback from the recipients?
My letter was sent to all of the figure skating office holders within the International Skating Union. Mr. Lakernik, who was on the technical panel in the Ladies’ competition at the Olympics, is one of those office holders. He is the head of the technical committee for singles and pairs skating. In total, my letter was sent via email to 33 ISU office holders, all on the same email. So far I have not received any responses from them.
Also, on a related note, this is not the first time I have sent materials to the ISU (although this is the first time I have sent such an “incendiary” letter directly to the ISU office holders). For many years I have been critical of the scoring system and tried to take an active role in submitting proposals to the ISU that can improve the system. Some of my proposals have successfully reached the ISU congress and been voted into law.
At the beginning of the letter you say that other experts agree with you on the fact the level calls were wrong…
Two other ISU-certified technical specialists have reviewed the work I did in examining the technical calls made for Adelina Sotnikova and Yu-Na Kim and they both agreed with my findings.
To summarize, what was (is) the purpose of the letter? Actually, after having it sent to the ISU, you tried to popularize it among other people in the figure skating world…
The purpose of the letter was to inform others in the skating community about just how poorly the competition was called by the technical panel (and how poorly it was judged). Many skating experts had a natural reaction that the result was wrong, but there hasn’t been enough actual analysis done. In the days following the competition, there was a feeling of “resigning” the argument because of talk about how Sotnikova played the judging system better than Yu-Na Kim and deserved to win more points because of the rules we have in place (that does NOT mean that the rules are good, of course). However, this is not correct at all. Even based upon the current rules in place, Sotnikova did not deserve to win the competition. The actual elements were called incorrectly by the technical panel and the judges’ GOE and PCS scores were completely out of place in many instances.
Because of how poorly the technical panel did their job, and how poorly the judges did their job (everyone is still wondering exactly how a judge who was formerly banned for cheating could ever be allowed to judge at an international competition ever again), it very much creates possible evidence of cheating. If members of this technical panel and judging panel were not bribed/threatened to create the result they did, then the only explanation can be that they are incompetent at their jobs. If they are incompetent at their jobs, then they should no longer have them. Furthermore, I hope that my analysis shows flaws in the judging system (mainly the overly complex footwork sequences, in this case) that need to be improved.