Should Beth Tweddle really have won floor? Let’s see what Andy’s Code says!

It’s my last major push. I can’t promise you won’t ever see my code of points pop up again, but at least for now, it’s my final big experiment. I’ve already put my code to the test on women’s bars, men’s high bar, and men’s pommel horse. Personally, I was very pleased with how all the results turned out on those events and felt my code succeeded in doing exactly what I designed it to do…separate routines based on not only the difficulty and execution, but on the artistry, originality, and virtuosity. In this segment we’ll put my COP to the test on what is currently the lowest scoring women’s event, and the one that clearly needs the most revamping…floor exercise.

I first became disgruntled about the women’s floor judging at the Olympics in Beijing last year. I felt that not only were the execution scores incredibly harsh, but they were all within such a narrow range that routines became separated by essentially the difficulty alone. It seemed that no matter how clean the performance was, at least a point in deductions was taken, and the final scores for strong routines were very anticlimactic and uninspiring. Furthermore, routines that stood above the rest in terms of artistry and expression weren’t rewarded in any way. Anna Pavlova’s routine from the all-around final was perhaps the prime example. We’ll actually be taking a look at that routine in this segment to see how it stacks up against some of the other top routines in the world this year.

A few things to point out about my floor judging:

• I DO NOT agree with the new landing rule, and thus I will be evaluating landings according to the old rule that allowed a controlled and artistic step.

• I know the values of some of the turning elements have changed back and forth a bit, but I will be considering these skills all D’s: triple turn, double turn with leg at horizontal or attitude, Memmel turn.

• I’ll consider all the tumbling values the same as they have now, which includes a double tuck being a D (even though I don’t necessarily agree with that one).

• I’ll also consider all connection points the same way they are now (examples: direct D+C = 2 points, indirect C+E = 2 points).

• Notice that not all of these routines will receive all 10 difficulty points, so the difficulty will make more of a difference here than on the other events we’ve looked at.

• Virtuosity on floor refers to BIG tumbling passes (double layouts, double-doubles, great height on skills), very difficult combinations (Bross’s front layout to double front), and also to extreme flexibility (Porgras’s Memmel turn).

• An out of bounds deduction will be taken from the FINAL SCORE.

• The scores will seem quite low, but remember these routines aren’t designed for my COP. If they were, many would be more artistic and would probably include some more difficulty to get higher points in these areas.

• Once again, there are several ties, but that’s just how it happened to turn out. Don’t forget that these ties would be much less likely with multiple judges.

Let’s get started! We’ll first judge 7 of the routines from the 2009 world floor finals (obviously not Jessica Gil, who was injured in her routine). Then I’ll actually throw in three more routines for comparison’s sake…Bridget Sloan’s AA routine in London, Anna Pavlova’s famous routine in Beijing, and Ksenia Semenova’s routine from this year’s European event finals. Let’s see who wins!

If we include all ten gymnasts together, here are my results:

1. Bridget Sloan            8.6

2. Anna Pavlova           8.4

2. Anna Myzdrikova    8.4

4. Beth Tweddle          8.0

4. Ana Porgras          8.0

4. Sui Lu                     8.0

7. Ksenia Semenova    7.9

7.  Lauren Mitchell        7.9

9. Rebecca Bross        7.4

10. Deng Linlin            7.0

Interesting! Once again, I agree with the results, although I wish I hadn’t come out with so many ties. As with my other events, I didn’t want to change the results just because there were ties. Notice that only three of the ten gymnasts received all 10 difficulty points – Sloan, Myzdrikova, and Tweddle. Also notice that all these routines were executed quite well, with Deng Linlin’s the lowest at a 7 and Pavlova’s the highest with a perfect 10 (do you see any reasonable deductions in Pavlova’s routine?) Artistry scores ranged from a 5 for Bross (I find that routine incredibly inartistic) up to a 9 for Semenova and Pavlova. I gave Myzdrikova the highest originality score with a 4, although all routines had some original aspects either in dance or tumbling and didn’t differ too much here. I didn’t think any of the routines deserved a 4 or 5 for virtuosity because they lacked a lot of the big tumbling skills, but I gave 3’s to Myzdrikova, Pavlova, and Sloan for their tumbling elements (and Pavlova for flexibility as well). I thought Deng Linlin and Semenova were lacking in height on their tumbling elements, but Deng Linlin did have both a full-in and Arabian double front, and I thought Semenova’s dance could be considered a little “virtuous,” so I gave each a 1.5.

If these were the 2009 worlds we would need to take out Sloan, Pavlova, and Semenova. This means my COP says Myzdrikova should have been world champion, followed by Tweddle, Porgras, and Sui Lu in a tie for silver. I was kind of expecting Lauren Mitchell to score a bit higher, but the 7 in difficulty hurt her.

I’d love to hear your opinions on these!