An Overview of Scoring in Elite Gymnastics!

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• Dates: July 27 – August 5
• Venue: Bercy Arena
• TV channels: NBC, USA Network, E!
• Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app, NBC Olympics app

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In Elite-level gymnastics, scoring has two components: the difficulty (D-score) and the execution (E-score). When scoring a routine, the D-panel of judges evaluates the difficulty score for the routine and the E-panel of judges determines the execution score of the routine. The D and E scores are added together and any neutral deductions are subtracted (usually the gymnast going out of bounds or a routine going overtime) from that total. 

D-score

In 2006, gymnastics introduced the open-ended scoring system, moving away from the perfect 10 system. Today, the execution score is out of a 10.0, but there is no cap to a difficulty score.

On bars, beam, and floor, elements are assigned a letter A-J, A being the easiest and J being the most difficult. A elements are worth 0.1, B elements are worth 0.2, C elements are worth 0.3, working all the way up to J elements, which are worth 1.0. The first component of a D-score is the 8 most difficult  elements (including the dismount) in a routine added together. On beam and floor, at least three of the eight counting elements must be dance elements (jumps, leaps, or turns).

Gymnasts can also earn connection value for performing elements connected together. However, not all connected skills receive connection value. Specific formulas apply and gymnasts are rewarded 0.1 or 0.2 depending on the difficulty of each connection. On bars, directly connected releases, pirouettes, and dismounts receive connection value. On beam, gymnasts gain connection value for linking jumps and acrobatic elements. On floor, gymnasts earn connection value for either directly or indirectly connecting  tumbling elements within a tumbling pass or connecting a jump out of a tumbling skill. 

However, on beam especially, just because a gymnast performs two skills linked together, does not mean the judges will award them connection value. The judges must determine that a gymnast successfully linked the elements without any pause, hesitation, or break in rhythm. This is where many inquiries come from. 

Gymnasts can also earn 2.0 added to their D-score for meeting compositional requirements. There are four for each event and meeting each requirement adds 0.5 to a routine’s difficulty score. These are relatively simple to meet and most gymnasts competing at the Olympics will earn the full 2.0 of compositional requirements. 

On bars, gymnasts must have a flight element from the high bar to the low bar, a same bar release, the routine must use at least two different grips, and it must have a full pirouette. On beam, a gymnast must connect two dance elements including one jump or leap that has a 180 degree split, show a turn or roll, an acro series of two directly connected flight elements in the same direction, and have acro elements moving forwards and backwards. On floor, gymnasts must have a dance passage of two different jumps or leaps, a salto with at least a full twist, a double salto, and at least one forward and one backwards salto. 

Lastly, gymnasts can earn 0.2 in dismount bonus for performing at least a D level dismount on bars, beam, or floor. 

To get a gymnasts D-score, the judges add the value of the top 8 elements in the routine, any connection value earned, the points earned for meeting the compositional requirements, and the 0.2 dismount bonus if the gymnast earned it. 

Example:

The top 8 elements in Simone’s floor routine are:

Triple twisting double tuck/Biles II  – J (1.0)

Double twisting double tuck/Silivas – H (0.8)

Double layout half/Biles I – G (0.7)

Double Layout – F (0.6)

Gogean – D (0.4)

Double wolf turn – D (0.4)

Switch leap full – D (0.4)

Back 1.5 twist – C (0.3)

Adding 1.0+0.8+0.7+0.6+0.4+0.4+0.4+0.3 = 4.6

Simone also earns 0.2 in connection value for connecting the back 1.5 to her Silivas.

She meets all 4 compositional requirements, adding 2.0 to her difficulty score. 

Lastly, she ends her routine with a double layout (E), which earns 0.2 in dismount bonus.

Adding the 4.6 for her top 8 elements, 0.2 in connection value, 2.0 for meeting the compositional requirements, and 0.2 in dismount bonus, Simone’s D-score for this routine is 7.0. 

Different from the other events, on vault, each vault is assigned a value as its D-score. Some values for vaults that will be performed at the Olympics are:

Yurchenko full – 4.2

Tsukahara full – 4.4

Yurchenko 1.5 – 4.6

Yurchenko half on, layout half off/Lopez – 4.8

Yurchenko double full – 5.0

Front handspring front full – 5.0

Tsukahara double full – 5.2

Yurchenko 2.5/Amanar – 5.4

Front handspring 1.5 – 5.4

Yurchenko half on, 1.5 off/Cheng – 5.6

Front handspring double full/Yeo – 5.8

Yurchenko double pike/Biles II – 6.4

E-score

The perfect 10 still exists in gymnastics! However, it’s nearly impossible to get a 10.0 execution score today. Some coaches and commentators joke that gymnasts get deductions just for breathing or standing still because of how harsh execution judging is. 

Deductions range from 0.1 for small, minor deductions and 0.3 for medium deductions. Errors that warrant 0.1 or 0.3 deductions are similar – the judges take the larger 0.3 deduction on more dramatic errors and the 0.1 deduction on more subtle ones. Flexed feet, leg separations, hops and steps on landings, lack of precision, knee bends, balance corrections, and showing a lack of full split in jumps are some things that would lead to a 0.1 or 0.3 deduction. These deductions are taken each time the gymnast makes the error, so if a gymnast performs multiple skills with flexed feet, the 0.1 deduction will be taken each time. It’s nearly impossible for gymnasts to avoid 0.1 deductions, especially because they are performing such difficult routines. These deductions will add up and it’s very possible that a routine will look nearly perfect, but receive an execution score in the mid to low 8s. 

0.5 is taken off for large errors like landing in a deep squat, performing an empty swing on bars, grabbing the beam, and very large balance errors. These are major errors that gymnasts do not want to make in competition. 

Lastly, 1.0 is taken for a fall. On vault and floor and on bars and beam dismounts, a fall counts as using support on the mat with one or two hands. On vault, bars, beam, and floor, falling off of or onto the apparatus counts as a fall. 

On beam and floor, artistry deductions are also taken that count in the execution score. These range from 0.1 to 0.3 deductions and examples of some deductions are poor posture, poor footwork, insufficient variation in rhythm of movements, and poor musicality and engagement with the music.

Each time a judge notes a 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, or 1.0 deduction, that value is subtracted from 10.0 to determine a gymnast’s E-score. Seven judges score the routines, the top two and bottom two scores are thrown out and the remaining three are averaged.

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Photo credits: Lloyd Smith and Ricardo Bufolin for Inside Gymnastics

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