Every Olympic program gets a score in two halves: technical points for the jumps, spins and other elements, and program component points for the skating as a whole, minus any deductions. A technical panel decides what each element was, and nine judges grade how well it was done. The short program and free skate scores are added together, and the highest total wins.
Key takeaways
- Each program's score is the technical element score plus the program component score, minus deductions. The short and free scores are added for the final result.
- Judges grade every element from -5 to +5. In singles and pairs, each step is worth about 10% of the element's base value, and the highest and lowest marks are dropped.
- Since the 2022-23 season there are three program components: composition, presentation and skating skills.
- A fall costs twice: 5 off the element's grade, from a starting grade no higher than +2, and a separate deduction from the program score.
- From the 2026-27 season, senior singles free skates are limited to six jump elements, one of them an Axel, and include a new choreographic spin.
If you've ever watched a skater land everything and still finish behind someone who fell, the scoring can feel like a mystery. It isn't, once you know what the numbers are measuring. Olympic skating uses the ISU Judging System, often called the IJS, which the International Skating Union adopted in 2004 after the judging scandal in the pairs event at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. The 2006 Turin Games were the first Olympics scored this way.
This page covers the parts that matter when you're watching the Olympics, with examples from Milano Cortina 2026. For every acronym and table in more depth, our full IJS scoring explainer goes element by element.
Who does the scoring
Two groups of officials share the work. The technical panel, led by a technical controller with two technical specialists, watches with instant replay and calls each element: which jump it was, whether it was fully rotated, and what level a spin or step sequence earned. That call sets the element's base value, the points it's worth before anyone grades its quality.
The judges, nine of them at the Olympics, then grade the quality of every element and mark the program components. A referee runs the panel and applies some of the deductions, such as for a program that runs too long or a costume piece that falls on the ice. Everything goes into a computer, which is why the detailed score sheet, called the protocol, appears a few minutes after each skate.
The formula
Each program, called a segment, gets its own score. The technical element score (TES) adds up every element's base value plus or minus its grade of execution. The program component score (PCS) covers the skating as a whole. Add the two, take off any deductions, and you have the segment score.
Skaters perform two segments: a short program and a free skate in singles and pairs, or a rhythm dance and a free dance in ice dance. The two segment scores are added together, and the highest combined total wins. That's why a big lead after the short program can disappear in one free skate.
The scoring system on two pages
Base values, GOE and the deductions that actually happen, as a PDF you print at home.
Get the cheat sheetGrade of execution
Every judge gives each element a grade of execution (GOE), a whole number from -5 to +5, where 0 means the element met the basic requirements. Judges add for things like height, flow out of a landing and a well-centered spin, and take away for errors such as a step-out, a hand down or a wobble. For each element the highest and lowest grades are dropped and the rest are averaged, a method called a trimmed mean.
In singles and pairs, each step of GOE is worth about 10% of the element's base value. A jump with a base value of 5.00 that averages +3 earns 6.50, while the same jump at -2 earns 4.00. So two skaters can do exactly the same jumps and end up several points apart on quality alone.
The three program components
Since the 2022-23 season, judges mark three program components instead of the five they used before. Composition covers how the program is built and how it uses the music and the ice. Presentation covers how the skater performs it and interprets the music. Skating skills covers the skating itself, like edges, flow, speed and control.
Each component is marked from 0.25 to 10.00 in quarter points, then multiplied by a factor so the components keep their weight against the technical score. In senior singles the factors are 1.67 for the men's short program and 3.33 for the free skate, and 1.33 and 2.67 for the women. That's one reason the free skate decides so many medals.
Falls, bonuses and deductions
A fall is expensive. Every judge takes 5 off the element's grade, from a starting grade no higher than +2, so it ends at -3 to -5 and loses 30% to 50% of its base value (the rule in both 2025-26 and 2026-27), and a separate deduction comes off the program score. In senior singles the first and second falls cost 1 point each, the third and fourth 2 points each, and every fall after that 3 points.
There's a reward for stamina, too. In singles, jumps in the second half of a program earn a 10% bonus on their base value, but only the last jump element in the short program and the last three in the free skate count. That's why you'll see top skaters save some of their hardest jumps for the end.
The backflip, legal again since 2024, has no base value of its own, so it can only help a skater through the program components. Our story on the backflip's return explains how it got there.
How the Olympic events run
There are five figure skating events at the Olympics: men's singles, women's singles, pairs, ice dance and the team event. In singles, the top 24 skaters after the short program go on to the free skate, so a bad short program can end someone's Games early. Our explainer on every Olympic figure skating event covers what to watch for in each one.
The team event works differently. Ten countries enter skaters in all four disciplines. In the short segments each placing earns points, from 10 for first down to 1 for tenth, and the top five countries go through to the free segments. Points carry over, and the country with the most at the end wins. In Milan, the United States won, ahead of Japan and Italy.
What the scores looked like in Milan
The men's event showed how much the free skate can change. Ilia Malinin led after the short program with 108.16, then fell twice in the free skate and finished eighth. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan was fifth after the short program, scored 198.64 in the free skate with five quads, and won with 291.58.
The other events were close too. Alysa Liu was third after the short program and won with 226.79, less than two points ahead of Kaori Sakamoto. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara were fifth in pairs after a lift error in the short program, then set a pairs free skating world record of 158.13. The table shows the final totals.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Mikhail Shaidorov, KAZ, 291.58 | Yuma Kagiyama, JPN, 280.06 | Shun Sato, JPN, 274.90 |
| Women | Alysa Liu, USA, 226.79 | Kaori Sakamoto, JPN, 224.90 | Ami Nakai, JPN, 219.16 |
| Pairs | Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, JPN, 231.24 | Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, GEO, 221.75 | Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, GER, 219.09 |
| Ice dance | Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, FRA, 225.82 | Madison Chock and Evan Bates, USA, 224.39 | Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, CAN, 217.74 |
Ice dance was the one people argued about. The French gold medalists won by 1.43 points, and the French judge's free dance marks put them 7.71 points ahead of Chock and Bates, the widest gap on the panel. The ISU said a range of scores is normal and that the trimmed mean is there to limit it, and U.S. Figure Skating did not appeal.
The trimmed mean drops the single highest and lowest grade on each element and component, not a whole judge's sheet. So one generous or harsh judge can still nudge a close result, which is why judging bias comes up after almost every Olympics. Our Milano Cortina results roundup has more on each event.
What's new for 2026-27
Rule changes often wait until after an Olympics, and a few have just landed. Senior singles free skates are now limited to six jump elements, one of which has to be an Axel. One of the required spins has been replaced by a choreographic spin, which needs at least three revolutions and has a fixed base value, so it's graded on quality rather than on levels. Both changes apply from the 2026-27 season.
The ISU has also added poor take-offs and two three-turns between jumps to the list of mistakes that keep an element's starting grade at +2 or lower, a cap that already applied to falls, step-outs and wrong edges.
Rules change most seasons, so check the current ISU communications before you rely on any detail here. If you'd like to see how these numbers play out in practice, our guides to what counts as a good score and spin levels are good next reads.
Sources
Rules come from ISU communications and federation summaries of them, and results from the official Milano Cortina 2026 results. The rule details were checked in October 2026 against ISU Communication 2788, the 2026-27 scale of values (Communication 2786) and the 2026-27 Technical Panel Handbook, as posted by U.S. Figure Skating, and the other sources below cover results and news.
- Olympics.com, Figure skating medallists, Milano Cortina 2026, and the official event results.
- International Skating Union, Incredible Alysa Liu strikes gold in spectacular finale and Miura and Kihara soar to historic Olympic pair skating gold for Japan (February 2026).
- ISU Communication 2788, Levels of Difficulty and GOE guidelines for 2026-27, and ISU Communication 2176 (second-half bonus).
- ISU Communication 2701, Levels of Difficulty and GOE guidelines for 2025-26: the errors that already capped the starting grade at +2 before 2026-27.
- ISU Communication 2786, Scale of Values and Program Components Factors valid as of July 1, 2026, and the ISU Technical Panel Handbook, Single Skating 2026-27.
- ISU Sports Rules, Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance, as of 1 June 2026: the deductions for falls.
- Ice Skating Australia, Program Component Factors and Falls 2026-2027.
- Associated Press reporting on the ice dance judging and the ISU's response (February 2026).
- CBC and Deseret News on the ISU's 2004 vote for the new judging system.
