I don't know how you can avoid impropriety in 'subjective' contests such as skating, dance, etc. Without objesctive criteria, it seems to me that anything goes.
And, the very notion of them as competitive sports strikes me as odd. Why not have competitive abstract painting as an Olympic event?
Also, this from the article
told the FBI that he also had fixed beauty pageants in Moscow in the early 1990s
struck me as odd.
I've always assumed all 'beauty contests' were decided in advance.
...good point; that way, a triple-twisting fuschia glop, fired from a slingshot at 20 paces, for instance, would have an inherently higher degree-of-difficulty than, say, a mere red brush-stroke; not to mention the fact that the former would produce some interesting impact-effects and ripples, thus adding to the style and creativity points. But, then there's always that pesky eye-of-the-beholder, isn't there. Again, you make an excellent point. Sigh.