The ASA Pro Tour is the event series where pro skaters become ranked. While it may seem mysterious as to how skaters earn their ranking, it's all basic math. The system is designed to reward consistency. Rankings take into account an entire year of skating on the ASA Pro Tour as follows:
Overall points for men:
Points are calculated over a 52-week period, factoring only the points earned at the top eight (8) events of the period. Once a skater has been to more than eight (8) events, the lowest point totals he has earned at events are dropped (e.g., if skater X competed in ten (10) events, his two lowest point totals of any event over the last 52-week period are eliminated). There are a total of 12 events on the ASA Pro Tour in 2000 - 11 regular season events and the World Championships. The top 34 ranked men for street and the top 28 for vert at the end of the regular season, plus two wildcards in each discipline, qualify for the World Championships.
Overall points for women:
The same calculation is made as for men, except only the points earned at up to the top five (5) events of the period are factored. The top 6 ranked women for street and vert at the end of the regular season qualify for the World Championships.
Pro Women's Policy
In 2000 the women will be competing at the same time as the men. While they will be mixed in the heats with the men, they will not be competing against them, and results, rankings and prize money will remain separate.
Tour Champion (Number One in Overall Points)
After the World Championships, the skaters (male and female) who have accumulated the most points in vert and street over the last 52-weeks are ranked number one in overall points and thus earn the title, "Tour Champion for Vert" and "Tour Champion for Street".
How the 52-Week Period Works
After the first Pro Tour stop in Lake Havasu City, March 24-26, 2000, the 52-week period for men and women will include points earned starting from Louisville '99 through and including Lake Havasu City, 2000. After the third ASA Pro Tour stop in Rome, the Louisville '99 event will have dropped off the 52-week schedule and the points earned from Richmond '99 through Rome '00 are counted. After the 2000 World Championships are done, the 1999 Finals drop off and all points come from events held in 2000. Skaters do not earn ranking points at invitational events including the X Games, Gravity Games, YOZ Games, World Team Challenge, MTV Sports and Music Festival, and Asian X Games.
The Difference between World Champion and Tour Champion
After the Finals, the ASA crowns World Champions and ASA Tour Champions. There are Tour and World Champions for both vert and street, as well as for both men and women (8 titles in all). Here is the difference:
The ASA Tour Champions are the four skaters who have the most overall points in each discipline (men's street, men's vert, women's street, women's vert) when all the points accumulated during the 2000 season (including those earned at the 2000 Finals) are considered. The Tour Champions are then the #1 ranked in the sport.
The World Champions are the four skaters who come in first place in each discipline at the Finals competition (men's street, men's vert, women's street, women's vert).
How Does a Skater Earn Points? Men: Each skater takes two 65-second preliminary runs for street or two 50-second runs for vert. Based on the average score from those two runs, the top ten skaters advance to the final round where they skate two more 65-second or 50-second runs. Each skater's best score of their two final runs is used to rank the finalists 1-10. Those who did not advance to the final round keep their rank from the preliminary round (11th place on).
Women: Each skater takes two 65-second runs for street or two 50-second runs for vert. Because the women's fields are so small there will not be a preliminary round and therefore results will be calculated based on the finals format (better of two runs). However, any women that scores high enough to make the top ten in the men's division, based on the average of the two runs, will advance to the men's final round. When competing in the men's final round the female skater will earn both the women's prize money and the men's allocation for their place.
Each male skater in a field earns points depending on his finish. Points are earned as follows:
1st place 320 points +1 point for each male skater beat in the entire field
2nd place 310 points +1 point for each male skater beat in the entire field
3rd place 300 points +1 point for each male skater beat in the entire field
33rd place 0 points +1 point for each male skater beat in the entire field
Women's points are calculated as follows:
1st place 100 points +1 point for each female skater beat in the entire field
2nd place 90 points +1 point for each female skater beat in the entire field
3rd place 80 points +1 point for each female skater beat in the entire field, etc.
Points at the World Championships are double what are usually given at each regular season event (e.g., First place in a field of 30 men skaters that would get 320+29 points at a regular season event gets 640+29 points at the Finals; First place in a field of 10 women skaters that would get 100+9 points at a regular season event gets 200+9 points at the Finals).
