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As with many judged sports, there are two main factors to balance when scoring an artistic gymnastics routine – difficulty and execution.
The two scales used to assign points are the ‘D-Score’ for difficulty and the ‘E-Score’ for execution, each with a dedicated panel of multinational judges who are accredited by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
The scores produced by each of these panels – following any ‘neutral deductions’ – are then combined to give the gymnast a final score, either as an individual result for individual events or as a combined score for multiple events for all-around competition.
The biggest difference between how the two scores are determined is that the difficulty score starts at zero and depends on how challenging the routine is perceived to be—with no upper limit to scoring.
However, the question with the e-score should probably be ‘how points are lost’ rather than ‘how points are scored’, as each athlete starts their routine with a perfect 10 which decreases as mistakes are made.
Points are deducted in increments of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5:
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0.1 points are deducted for minor errors like slight loss of balance
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0.3 points deducted for moderate errors such as loss of balance
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0.5 points are deducted for major errors – an example is a deep squat on the landing
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1.0 points deducted for major errors such as falls
D-scores are derived from predetermined values for various elements of the FIG code of points, with difficulty ratings set from A to HJ.
For example, the Code of Points assigns 0.1 points to A-grade ‘basic’ skills such as a forward roll or handstand, and 0.8-1.0 points to HJ grade ‘extraordinary’ advanced moves.
Difficulty points are also available for composition of routines, showing a balance of skill types, and connection points for how well the skills are combined to create a flowing display.
The only exception to the dual E-score and D-score system is the vault event, where each routine has a pre-determined D-score and therefore only the E-score is judged.
Neutral discounts are applied to the combined E and D-scores and non-routine errors are taken into account.
These include going out of bounds, exceeding the allotted routine time or dress code violations.
For a medal winning result, athletes will aim for points in at least 14 and 15 seconds.
A world-class routine can reach the high 15s or low 16s.
For example, his time Dominate the 2016 OlympicsUS gymnast Simone Biles scored a 15.866 on the vault, 14.966 on the uneven bars, 15.433 on the balance beam, and 15.933 on the floor exercise to produce an overall score of 62.198 for the gold medal, more than two points ahead of the runner-up.
