Imprecise language at heart of controversy
FIGURE SKATING
Vague wording in rules allows more than one interpretation of how to calculate scores. A different interpretation could have made Lysacek, not Weir, U.S. champ.
A top international skating official said Friday that imprecise wording of rules has contributed to a controversy over the results of the men's competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
"The programming of the way the results are obtained is consistent, but we must make the language more precise, and that is what we will do," Peter Krick, chairman of the International Skating Union sports directorate, said from his home in Germany.
Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir both finished with a total of 244.77 points after the short and long programs, with Lysacek becoming champion because he had won the long program.
The issue involves the formula for calculating the scores, which is not spelled out in the rules used by the ISU or United States Figure Skating.
The applicable rules -- particularly USFS Rule 3435 -- are vague enough to allow at least two interpretations of what formula could be applied to make the calculations. One interpretation would have given Lysacek one fewer point in the free skate and made Weir the winner.
The outcome will not change because the calculations for the formula used were accurate, according to David Raith, executive director of USFS.
That is another way in which the complexities of the sport's new scoring system, adopted after the judging scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, confuse even the hard-core fan base of a sport struggling to attract live crowds and TV audiences.
Because of the controversy, taking place largely on the Internet, Raith has asked the ISU to clarify how the formula for calculating the results works.
"Rule 3435 is a basic description of the calculation rules, but it is not intended to describe all the elements of the software program," Raith said.
USFS uses a formula programmed into the software it receives from the international federation.
"This program has been used the same way for all competitions and competitors since the inception of the [new scoring] system," Raith said. "Based on the formula in the software program, the math is right."
Speaking on background, a USFS official familiar with the math involved said the software formula undoubtedly was the one used when calculations must be made manually and would have yielded the result that made Lysacek the winner.
Philip Hersh covers Olympic sports for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.
