At first glance, Amber Glenn’s women’s short program in Milan looked solid. She stayed on her feet, maintained speed, and completed her elements without a visible fall. Yet when the scores came in, one jump was listed as an “invalid element” — a ruling that significantly impacted her placement and left her in 13th.
So what does “invalid element” actually mean?
In figure skating, each segment — especially the short program — has strict technical requirements. Skaters must include specific types of jumps, spins, and step sequences. If an element does not meet the required criteria, it can receive zero points. That’s what “invalid” signifies: the element does not count toward the score at all.
This can happen for several reasons. A skater might repeat a jump that isn’t allowed in that segment, execute the wrong takeoff edge, miss a required rotation, or fail to include the correct combination. Even if the jump looks clean to the audience and the skater lands it upright, it can still be ruled invalid if it doesn’t meet the rulebook’s specifications.
In the short program, the margin for error is especially thin. Unlike the free skate, where there’s more flexibility in content, the short program requires precision in both execution and structure. One invalid element means not only losing the base value of the jump, but also forfeiting any potential positive grades of execution.
That loss can amount to several points — enough to dramatically shift standings in a tightly scored field. At the Olympic level, placements are often separated by fractions of a point, so a zero on a jump is costly.
Importantly, an invalid element is different from a fall. A fall results in a deduction and negative grades of execution, but the jump still retains some base value. An invalid element, by contrast, earns nothing.
For Glenn, the ruling turned what appeared to be a composed skate into a significant scoring setback. Without the points from that jump, her technical score dropped, affecting her overall ranking despite otherwise steady skating.
Moments like this highlight how technical figure skating scoring can hinge on details that aren’t always obvious in real time. Under Olympic pressure, even a small deviation from required content can carry major consequences — no fall necessary.
