How is gymnastics scored now the perfect 10 is gone?
Since 2006, artistic gymnastics has used an open-ended scoring system with two separate components added together, replacing the closed 10-point scale.
The two scores:
D-score (Difficulty). Determined by the content of the routine — which skills are performed, their individual difficulty values, connections between skills, and fulfilment of required elements. Each skill has a value from A (easiest) upward through the Code of Points, and the D-score is built by adding the hardest counting elements plus connection bonuses.
This score has no ceiling. A gymnast who adds harder skills raises it indefinitely, which is the point of the change.
E-score (Execution). Starts at 10.0 and has deductions taken for errors — bent legs, separated knees, steps on landing, insufficient amplitude, falls. A fall is a standard 1.0 deduction. Small errors cost 0.1, medium 0.3, large 0.5.
Final score = D + E, with any neutral deductions (stepping out of bounds, time violations) subtracted.
Why the change was made. Under the old system, the scale had compressed at the top: multiple gymnasts scored 10.0, and the judges had no way to distinguish between routines of genuinely different difficulty. The 2004 Athens Olympics produced a scoring controversy in the men's all-around that accelerated reform.
The open-ended system rewards risk. A gymnast can now win with a lower execution score if the difficulty is high enough, or with a clean but easier routine if rivals make errors — which creates genuine strategic choices.
The criticisms: it is much harder for spectators to interpret, since a score of 15.2 means nothing without knowing the D-score; and it has been argued to push athletes toward dangerous difficulty, an ongoing safety discussion.
Judging panels are split, with separate D and E panels, and the highest and lowest E-scores discarded.
Rhythmic and trampoline use related but distinct systems.