The purpose of this study is to determine whether the international rhythmic gymnastics judges at Sydney-2000 Olympic Games showed a pattern of bias or not. To determine whether judges were biased in favor of the rhythmic gymnasts from their own countries, and against the gymnasts from other countries in close competition with their own, the score of each individual judge was compared to the average of the remaining judges on the panel. The results of sign-test analysis (in Individual All-Around Qualification) revealed that judges were biased in their scoring of gymnasts. Judges scored rhythmic gymnasts from their own countries higher than the other members of the panels. The pattern of negative bias, when the judges scored the gymnast in close competition with their own was not shown. The analysis was made within the competition of 24 rhythmic gymnasts from 19 federations, including 4 events: Optional routines with rope, hoop, ball, and band (39 cases in panel A-2, artistic value, and 57 cases in panel B-Execution). Key words: olympic games, Rhythmic Gymnastics, competition, judging, evaluation, bias
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