January 31, 2003

Mathematicians Find Problems With New System for Scoring Figure Skating

By RICHARD MONASTERSKY

WHEN JUDGING GETS SLIPPERY: The 2002 Winter Olympics served up unintended drama with its "scandal on ice" show, starring a crooked French judge and two aggrieved Canadian figure skaters, primped to telegenic perfection. In the aftermath, officials of the International Skating Union, figuring that they had an image problem, developed a system to protect judges from what the organization terms "external influence." But three mathematicians who analyzed the new procedure conclude that the method