What regulations do figure skaters have to go by?

Answer 1

The International Skating Union, or ISU, regulates the sports of figure skating and speed skating. In figure skating, the ISU establishes required elements for figure skaters' programs, appropriate costume and music choices, and the scheduling and organization of ISU-sanctioned skating competitions.

ISU-qualified judges evaluate skaters' performances, giving them a technical score and a grade for "program components." which was formerly known as the "artistic merit" (or "artistic impression") score. The current judging system is extremely complex, and to the casual fan it is not easily understood. Many TV commentators do not adequately explain the reasons why, for example, a skater can fall and still win a competition. The GOE, or Grade of Execution, is the factor which determines how well or poorly each skater or skaters execute each element. Programs with more difficult content are usually judged higher than those that do not, and they also have a slight margin for error.

The ISU handbook for the Technical Panel alone is over 100 pages long. There is a brief version online which includes color photographs for each element as well as detailed descriptions of what the judges are looking for. This is very instructive, and is designed for those judges assigned to count numerous items, including the number of revolutions in spins, determining whether the takeoff of a jump was cheated, whether a lift was held too long and so on. Then it is up to the program component panel to decide on a GOE based on an element's meeting, exceeding, or falling short of its baseline value. The two scores are combined to provide a ranking for each phase of a competition, with the scores from both phases added to form the total score.

Figure skating is a closely monitored, heavily regulated sport. Countless other rules and regulations govern figure skating, many of which have nothing to do with what the average spectators see on the ice.