PARIS, France — If you’re tuning into the women’s Olympics gymnastics all-around final looking for a perfect score to simply be 10 points, sorry, that's so 1992.
The International Gymnastics Federation tweaked the system after the 2004 Athens Games, going to one that awards separate scores on execution and deduction.
A score is divided into two parts. The difficulty or “D-score” is what a gymnast does. The execution or “E” score is how well they do it.
What is a perfect score in gymnastics?
That's where things get complicated. Because there isn't a "perfect 10" anymore, there isn't a set number that would be a perfect score in gymnastics at the Paris Olympics.
However, the execution or "E" score is based on a 10-point system, but no perfect 10 for execution has ever been awarded anywhere since the new paradigm was introduced (though American Simone Biles has come close a couple of times on vault).
What is a good score in gymnastics?
Shorthand: a score of 13.0 or better is solid. Anything in the 14s is excellent and puts you in medal contention. A 15 or better (typically reserved for vault and typically reserved for Biles, though Algerian Kaylia Nemour posted a 15.6 on bars in qualifying on Sunday) and you’re pretty much assured of a gold medal.
During the finals, each team will enter three athletes per event, with all three scores counting. That differs from qualifying, when four athletes go up on each event, with the lowest score being dropped from the team total.
What is the highest score in gymnastics?
Since the scoring change, the highest overall score on an apparatus came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when Nastia Liukin got a 16.900 on the uneven bars, according to ESPN.
Simone Biles has the highest women's floor exercise score since the change, earning a 15.966 at the 2016 Rio Olympics, ESPN reported.