Scandal

In 2002 the seemingly perfect performance of Canadian pair Jamie Salé and David Pelletier earned them second place in Salt Lake City—until an inquiry uncovered a judging scandal that forced the development of a new scoring system, called code of points, or COP. This year, when your favorite skater strikes her last pose and glides to the "kiss and cry" area for scores, don't expect to see the familiar row of numbers flash across your screen. Instead you'll see just two: one for technical ability and another for something called program components. Here's a quick lesson on the new system:

Each skater begins with a technical score of 0, as opposed to the old 6.0. The technical score measures how well the skater completed her elements, from jumps, spins and footwork spiral sequences. Each element is assigned a base value of points—4 points for a clean triple toe loop jump, for instance—and judges can add or subtract up to 3 points, depending on how well it was done. The skater can build her total depending on the number and difficulty of jumps and spins she fits into a program. Trickier jumps, and spins that involve changes of foot and body positions, earn more points. Skaters can also earn bonus points by performing certain skills, including jumps, in the second half of their program, when they start to get tired and big tricks become riskier.

The second score, program components, runs from 0.25 to 10, in increments of 0.25. Judges evaluate the more subjective aspects, including control of edges, mastery of quick direction changes, transitions between elements, choreography and interpretation of the music. At each event, nine judges will be chosen from an international pool of 12 to score the competition. Only seven of their scores will count; the highest and lowest scores will be dropped.