New code of scoring system starts well, says FIG

International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) breathed sighs of relief after the new code of scoring system had been challenged only five times by Wednesday at Aarhus gymanstic worlds in Denmark.

FIG president Bruno Grandi considered the introduction of new scoring system a success after it was questioned only five times in men's qualifications.

Andre Gueisbuhler, secretary general of FIG, also echoed the president's points of view.

Grandi said he was very satisfied that FIG had made the decision to introduce the new system with a score of technical difficulty and a score for performance.

"It has been a revolution for some in the world of gymnastics but we have already seen effects. New countries have come up through the qualifications and broken the dominance of Russia and Romania," Grandi said.

"The technical difficulty will continue to develop like before, but I want the scoring system to favor execution because artistic gymnastics should remain artistic and gymnasts should be rewarded for their capacity to express themselves," said the president.

"It speaks for the quality of our judges," said Gueisbuhler as he pointed out that the judges had looked at 1425 exercises only within two day's qualifications.

Grandi concedes minor changes are needed, and quickly. Revisions must be in place for next year's world championships and must hold through the Beijing Olympics, he said.

One tweak could come on specifying exactly how and when to use the sport's new instant replay system. Grandi conceded the last two years have been difficult.

"We've had discussions. We've had fights," he said.

There are a lot of argues over the new system, which abolished the perfect 10 in favor of a two-pronged mark that scores difficulty and execution, is too confusing.

Some wonder if the new system has made the sport more dangerous by lifting the ceiling on difficulty. Others say the FIG simply tried to do too much too fast.

Source: Xinhua