About the scoring

How a routine is composed

In each routine, men count their top 10 highest value skills and women top eight skills (with the exception of vault) towards their scores. Both male and female gymnasts need to show fluidity and variety in the composition of their routines.

On floor, women perform to music and are assessed for artistry. The judges are looking for an overall performance, which includes expression, musical interpretation and personal style, with a varied tempo throughout the routine. This isn’t required in men’s floor routines, but they need to show elements of creativity as well as the fast-paced tumbling runs.

The judging panels

There are two judging panels in artistic gymnastics. One looks at the difficulty (the D-Score panel) and the other looks at the execution (the E-Score panel).

Calculating the final score

Difficulty – the D-Score

• Two judges assess the difficulty of each skill.
• Skills are rated from A, which is the easiest and worth 0.1 points, to J, worth 1.0 points.
• These are then added together to get the D-Score which is open ended.
• Vault is the only exception. Each vault is awarded a D-score, which increases according to the complexity and difficulty of the vault. It is the responsibility of the D-panel to ensure that the declared value is performed by the gymnast and to inform the E-panel should a different vault be executed.
• Bonus marks are given for linking two or more difficult elements, for example, a series of release and catch elements on the horizontal bar, or a series of elements on the beam.

Execution – the E-score

• Seven judges evaluate the execution of each skill.
• All routines start with an E-Score of 10 from which execution faults are subtracted.
• The judges deduct for technical errors, with the most obvious being when a gymnast falls, which incurs a 1.0 point deduction. Other errors include steps on landings, steps outside the boundary line floor (which can be up to 0.30), steps outside the parallel white lines on the landing area of vault, lack of amplitude (failing to reach 180 degrees in split leaps, for example), bent arms and legs, and many others.

The final D-Score and the final E-Score are added together to give the total score for the routine.

Inquiries

If a gymnast feels an element in their routine has not been assessed correctly, they can submit an inquiry for the D-score. If the judges uphold the inquiry, the score will be changed accordingly. No inquiry can be submitted for the E-score.

What is a good score?

To win medals at the top international level, gymnasts usually need to score in the mid 14s, with the best routines usually reaching the 15s. On rare occasions, a score in the 16s is awarded for an outstanding routine.