What Happens When Figure Skating Scores Tie?

Those rules can compare components or results from particular segments, depending on the event and scoring system. Knowing what is compared explains why two equal totals do not always mean a shared place—and how a tie is resolved.

What does a tied figure-skating score mean?

A tied figure-skating event total means the skaters have equal combined scores, but the rule for separating them is not necessarily the same as the rule for a tie within one segment. Under the International Judging System (IJS), each segment score combines the technical elements score (TES) and program components score (PCS).

The Short Program or Rhythm Dance score is added to the Free Skating or Free Dance score to produce the event total. A tie in that total is distinct from equal scores inside a single segment: the applicable competition rule determines which scores are compared to break the tie.

What the tie-break comparison can involve

For a tie in the final total, the described IJS tie-break sequence compares the skaters’ TES first; the skater with the higher TES places ahead. If the tie remains, the comparison moves to PCS from the Free Skating or Free Dance, followed, if needed, by the individual judges’ scores.

How does the IJS break a tie in the final total?

Under the International Judging System (IJS), a tied final total is resolved by comparing the skaters’ technical elements scores, then their free-segment program components scores, and, if needed, individual judges’ placements. The higher-ranked skater is determined by the first comparison that separates them.

Total first

The final total is the first comparison: when totals differ, the skater or team with the higher total ranks ahead. When totals match, the IJS moves to the technical elements score (TES), which reflects the value of the elements performed.

• Final total: the higher total ranks ahead if the totals are unequal.
• Total TES: if the totals tie, the higher technical elements score receives the higher placement.

Then compare the free segment

If both the final total and TES are level, the next comparison is the program components score (PCS) from Free Skating or Free Dance. The skater or team with the higher PCS in that free segment gets the edge; a tied PCS moves the comparison to the judges’ individual placements.

• Free Skating or Free Dance PCS: the higher component score breaks a tie that remains after TES.
• Individual judges’ placements: if the listed score comparisons remain level, these placements can serve as a further tiebreak.

Why can the free segment matter more than the short segment?

The free segment can matter more because its program component score is the later tiebreak criterion: after the entries’ overall totals are tied, the higher total technical elements score (TES) takes priority, and only then can free-segment PCS separate them. PCS from the Short Program or Rhythm Dance is not used at this stage.

The segment pair depends on the discipline. In singles and pairs, the comparison is between Short Program and Free Skating; in ice dance, it is between Rhythm Dance and Free Dance. In both cases, the relevant component score comes from Free Skating or Free Dance—not the earlier segment.

• Singles and pairs: Free Skating PCS is the tiebreak criterion after total TES.
• Ice dance: Free Dance PCS is the tiebreak criterion after total TES.

This makes the free segment’s components a late-stage separator, not a replacement for the combined score or the technical-score comparison. If those comparisons still leave the entries level, the judging sequence moves on to individual judges’ scores.

How can a segment score disagree with judges’ preferences?

A segment score can disagree with judges’ preferences because the total combines scores, while a judge-by-judge comparison counts which skater each judge placed ahead. In the free-dance example, five of the nine individual judges preferred Chock and Bates to Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, even though the American skaters had a lower total score than their French competitors in that segment.

The individual marks show how those results can coexist: eight of the nine judges gave the American duo a score exceeding 130 points. French judge Dabouis awarded the French duo 137.45 points, 7.71 more than she awarded Chock and Bates.

The comparison is not a contradiction: a majority preference among individual judges does not mean the same thing as the higher aggregate segment score. Chock and Bates were preferred by five judges, but the French pair’s total for the segment was higher; the two measures answer different questions.

When might a tie rule not settle the result immediately?

A tie may persist after the first comparison because equal total scores do not necessarily mean equal technical elements scores (TES), and equal TES does not necessarily mean equal Free Skating or Free Dance program components scores (PCS). Under the International Judging System, these are separate comparisons, so a result can require another step before the placement is settled.

Common mistake: treating every tie as a tie in one segment

The combined result and the tie-break criteria are not interchangeable. A judge-placement comparison is a separate final step: it examines which skater received more favourable placements from the individual judges, rather than simply comparing the combined segment score again.

The correct sequence depends on the event and on what is being ranked. Before interpreting a tied result, check the governing event regulations for the applicable tie-break rule and whether the ranking concerns a segment or the overall result.

• Total score: establishes the tie that needs resolving; it does not by itself show that TES is also equal.
• TES: a separate comparison; equal TES can leave the tie unresolved.
• Free Skating or Free Dance PCS: another distinct comparison, used if the preceding criterion has not settled the placement.
• Individual judges’ placements: a separate final comparison, not another name for the combined segment score.

How is this different from the older 6.0 system?

The IJS differs from the older 6.0 system because it builds results from points for technical elements and program components, while 6.0 ranked skaters by judges’ ordinal placements. Under the IJS, the two score categories form a segment score, and segment scores are combined across the event.

• IJS: Technical elements and program components contribute points to a segment score; the Short Program or Rhythm Dance score is added to the Free Skating or Free Dance score.
• 6.0 system: Judges assigned skaters placement rankings rather than using the IJS’s combined point-total structure.

Why an old tiebreak rule may mislead

The 6.0 system had a historical tiebreak based on the technical score in the free skate. That rule belongs to the older placement-based system and should not be treated as the current IJS procedure: IJS ties are resolved under IJS-specific tiebreak rules, not by automatically importing the 6.0 rule.

Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

• The IJS final-total tiebreak begins with total TES.
• If TES remains level, Free Skating or Free Dance PCS is compared.
• Individual judges’ placements are distinct from the combined segment score.
• Check the event regulations before applying a tiebreak to another event or stage.