How Grades of Execution Affect Figure Skating Scores

That means a clean jump, spin or step sequence can earn more than its base value, while errors can reduce what it contributes to the technical score. GOE is separate from an element’s base value, so two skaters performing the same element may receive different scores for it.

Understanding how grades of execution affect figure skating scores makes score sheets easier to read: look at the element’s base value, its GOE adjustment and the resulting total.

What does a grade of execution change?

Grade of Execution (GOE) changes the points awarded for a figure-skating element by adjusting its base value according to how well the element was performed. The base value reflects the element’s difficulty; GOE reflects its execution.

Judges assign each technical element a GOE from -5 to +5. A positive grade adds points to the base value, while a negative grade takes points away; a zero grade leaves the base value unchanged. The adjustment is calculated separately for each element, so two skaters performing the same element can receive different technical scores if its execution differs.

What the scale means

• Positive GOE: The element earns more than its base value because of its execution.
• Zero GOE: The element receives its base value, with no GOE adjustment.
• Negative GOE: The element earns less than its base value because of its execution.

The GOE scale expanded from -3/+3 to -5/+5 in the 2018-2019 season. The wider range gives judges more room to distinguish execution quality, while the base value remains the measure of difficulty. GOE therefore does not make an element harder or easier on paper; it changes how much that element contributes to the score after it is performed.

How do positive and negative GOE affect the points?

GOE changes an element’s base value according to execution: +5 adds 50%, -5 subtracts 50%, and 0 leaves the base value unchanged.

The base value measures an element’s difficulty; GOE measures its quality. A more difficult element does not automatically earn a positive GOE, and GOE is not a second difficulty score.

• Positive GOE: Rewards clean or especially strong execution, increasing the element’s points above its base value.
• GOE 0: Means adequate execution, with no adjustment to the base value.
• Negative GOE: Reflects errors and reduces the points awarded for the element.

The scale runs from -5 to +5, but its effect is measured against the element’s own base value. The same GOE grade can therefore produce a different points adjustment on elements with different base values.

How can one judge’s marks differ from the panel’s?

A judge’s marks can differ from the panel because each judge assesses the element execution independently, and their evaluations need not match those of the other judges.

Grade of Execution (GOE) is assigned to each element and reflects its execution, while the element’s base value reflects its difficulty. A judge’s GOE therefore records that judge’s view of a particular element; it is not the same as comparing the teams’ total scores for a segment.

What the segment-score examples show

In one ice-dance example, Italian judge Isabella Micheli awarded the Italian dance team a total segment score of 130.70. The team’s average score from the remaining eight judges was 124.59, leaving a relative score of +6.11.

In another example, French judge Jezabel Dabouis scored the French team 7.71 points higher than the Americans, even though five of the eight other judges on the panel gave the United States team a higher score.

These comparisons concern total segment scores, not the GOE assigned to a single element. A judge’s difference from the panel total can reflect assessments across the segment; it does not, by itself, identify which element received a different execution grade.

Why can a small scoring difference matter?

GOE can change a figure skating element’s technical points, so even a small adjustment contributes to the total and can matter when final scores are close.

Japan’s Shun Sato finished with a total score of 274.90, less than one point above the fourth place number of 273.92. That narrow final margin shows how a small difference can affect placement, but it does not reveal which element or judging decision created the gap.

Read the element scores, not just the margin

GOE adjusts the base value assigned to each technical element: positive execution grades add points, while negative grades subtract them. The size of the adjustment depends on the element’s base value, so the same GOE does not necessarily produce the same number of points on different elements.

To understand a particular result, compare the element-by-element technical scores. The final margin alone is not a GOE figure and cannot show whether the difference came from one element, several execution grades, or other parts of the scoring.

When does GOE not tell the whole story?

GOE does not tell the whole story because it measures execution, not an element’s difficulty; the element’s base value represents its difficulty.

In figure skating, a positive GOE adds value for how well an element was performed, but it does not make a difficult element and a well-executed one the same thing. The base value and the GOE answer different questions: what the element is worth before execution is judged, and how its execution changes that value.

A negative GOE reduces the element’s points, but it cannot by itself explain a skater’s final competition result. The total also depends on the other elements and their scores, so one deduction is only part of the score sheet.

How to read a specific mark

For a specific element, check its base value and the individual GOE entries on the score sheet. The base value gives the starting points; the GOE entries show the judges’ execution marks that modify them. Reading both keeps difficulty and execution distinct.

Frequently asked questions