Category Archives: gymnastics judging

Because There is No Such Thing as Perfect: Why the Perfect 10 is Perfectly Gone in Elite Gymnastics

    “Wait? What happened to the perfect 10?” This question will be on the lips of many a casual gymnastics fan, confused by the scoring system at the Olympics this week. “What the heck does a 15.877 even mean?” Well, aside from meaning that’s a really great score, the 15.877 (and all the other […]

5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Gymnastics Judges (according to an actual judge!)

A dear friend (who asked to remain anonymous) sent me this terrific list of five things you might not have known about gymnastics judges. 1. We don’t get to just be a judge because we want to. We have to earn it. Becoming a gymnastics judge requires work. A lot of hard work. We have to […]

20 Thoughts That go Through Your Head Before a Gymnastics Meet: Parent, Gymnast, Coach, Judge and Meet Director Perspectives

In honor of the 2014-2015 competitive meet season beginning, twenty thoughts that go through your head before a gymnastics meet from the perspectives of a parent, a gymnast, a coach, a judge and a meet director: Parent… Are we late? My daughter will kill me if we are. Coffee? Please let there be coffee… Where […]

8 Myths about Gymnastics Judges Busted

Can you write in a wholly unique symbolic shorthand language, without once looking at the paper, while watching a moving target and having music blasted in your ear? And can you do that while keeping in mind the specific rules and requirements of the 140 different sets of policies that might be applicable to that […]