Can judging in international events ever be fair and unbiased?

[Deb in IA]

OK, the judging in the men's gymnastics at the Olympics was horrible.

So was the judging in the pairs figure skating at the winter games two years ago.

And I'm sure there are many, many other instances of unfair judging.


Which brings up the question: When you have athletes and judges from various countries in competitions where the results are solely based on judges' scores, can you ever have fair, unbiased judging?


Perhaps in another time, I would have said yes. But now, with all the pressure from their homeland to become the Olympic GOLD medalists, I think that completely impartial judges are going to be very difficult to find.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I don't think there's any question of the judges impartiality, at least for this year's olympics. However, the problem with them is that they're human. Humans make mistakes. Not intentionally, but it happens. Espicially when you're watching a live sporting event and don't have the benefit of replays.

I've refereed ice hockey for about 6 years. Not even very high levels of the game. And I still miss calls. I try to minimize the number of missed calls, but they still happen. I'd be fairly sure that any other sports officials out there will admit that the occasional missed call DOES happen, and that you just have to move on to the next play, and not let the missed call get to you.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

Another sport with judging problems,Olympic ice dancing