Judging Bias and Figure Skating

Figure skating has a long history of being plagued by judging controversies. In response to a scandal during the 2002 Olympic Games, the International Skating Union (ISU) implemented a more objective scoring system. However, despite these efforts, the sport still faces challenges with biased scoring that other Olympic sports do not encounter. This visualization shows the scores of a panel of nine judges for the top six pairs skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics, each labeled with their nationality. It identifies judges who may have shown a preference towards athletes from their own country, as well as penalizing their competitors.