How do scores work in Olympic sports

The Daily Advertiser's Tahlia Sinclair explains the ways gymnastics and diving scores are calculated at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Filmed July, 2024

Transcript

00:00Every four years, we gather round to watch a bunch of sports that we don't really care about.

00:05And I want to know, how do they work?

00:08Of the 32 Olympic sports, at least 10 are based on a judging system.

00:12That subjectiveness has really made me wonder, what goes into scoring?

00:17Gymnastics is and always has been a fan favourite sport.

00:21However, it's one of the more confusing ones to understand.

00:24Each skill has a value.

00:26For example, a very basic skill is worth 0.1, which is an A.

00:30So they call it an A.

00:32And then it goes up by 0.1, like the alphabet.

00:35So you could be gaining a whole mark on a skill if you get up to a letter J skill,

00:39which is a really extremely difficult skill.

00:42So they'll calculate your difficulty score.

00:45And then your execution judges will judge your execution out of a 10.

00:53So your pointed toes, your bent legs, and things like that, gets all taken off 10.

00:58And then they add those two scores together, and that's the total score.

01:03Okay, so now we understand how you get a score flipping across the floor.

01:07But what about if you're flipping through the air?

01:10So when you're a diver, it starts at zero, and then you perform your dive on the board,

01:15and there'll be a panel of about seven judges, and they'll score your dive.

01:21When they dive, the judges are looking at the execution and the height.

01:26So when you're coming off the board, if the dive is getting enough height.

01:30And then they look at the actual dive, if they've performed what they're supposed to

01:35and the type of technique they're doing and whether they're strong enough.

01:40And then they look at the entry, if they've pointed their toes, feet are together,

01:45and obviously whether there's too much splash or not.

01:51For more information visit www.FEMA.gov