WRC Decisions with Frame by Frame Analysis

Announced by Carter Kucala on

Dear WCA Community,

With support from the WCA Board of Directors, the WCA Regulations Committee (WRC) has decided to retroactively apply the previously announced approach to frame-by-frame analysis to various past results. The process is documented in this incident log.

For those unaware, the WRC’s previous approach was to only review footage at full speed when determining penalties, based on this incident. However, it became readily apparent that the approach became inadequate for detecting violations that gave a significant advantage but were not visible at full speed. This most notably affected the 0.78 2x2 world record average.

To address this, the WRC changed its approach to reviewing footage frame-by-frame for certain results. Initially, this approach only applied to results set after the announcement was made – past results could not be reviewed using frame-by-frame analysis. This created a situation where past results were in violation of the WCA Regulations but could not be penalized, even if those violations resulted in a significant advantage.

Following further discussion, the WCA Board decided to return the decision on the 0.78 average to the WRC, as well as authorize the use of frame-by-frame analysis on past results to apply necessary penalties.

The WRC reviewed several past results that fell under the criteria listed in our approach to Frame-by-Frame analysis and voted on each of the attempts individually before coming to a final decision. Per the approach, only the timer starts could be penalized – timer stops were not to be analyzed with frame-by-frame analysis. Attempts were only penalized if the WRC determined with a strong degree of confidence that regulations were violated.

Much of the discussion surrounding this issue has been related to the 0.78 2x2 world record average. After analyzing these attempts frame by frame, the WRC determined that multiple attempts were in violation of the WCA Regulations. The results from our findings in reference to the 2x2 world record are summarized below. All +2 penalties are due to violations of Regulation A4b, and all +4 penalties are due to violations of both Regulation A4b and Regulation A4b1.

0.78 2x2 WR Average (Johor Cube Open 2024 Round 1)

  • Attempt 1: 0.74 (+4)
  • Attempt 2: 0.70 (+2)
  • Attempt 3: 0.97 (+2)
  • Attempt 5: 0.81 (+4)

0.90 2x2 WR2 Average (Dalian Open 2024 Round 1)

  • Attempt 2: 0.49 (+4)

A public report on the analysis conducted on these attempts can be found here. Information regarding other penalized results will not be released publicly out of respect for these competitors’ privacy. We request that the community not attempt to widely publicize the identity of those penalized and is respectful in discussions surrounding these incidents.

The rankings will be updated to reflect any changes shortly. Any appeals regarding the decision must be made by an affected party to the WCA Appeals Committee (WAC) at appeals@worldcubeassociation.org within 60 days of the announcement as per the Disputes motion.

Community members are encouraged to forward any results fitting the criteria for frame-by-frame analysis privately to the WRC at regulations@worldcubeassociation.org if they believe that the Regulations were violated.

Once again, we would like to give you our deepest thanks to the community for your patience as we discussed and made this decision. Ensuring that the WCA Regulations are followed and maintaining the integrity of results at WCA competitions continue to be the WRC’s utmost priority.

Signed,
The WCA Regulations Committee

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