How exactly does "home ice advantage" work in competition, say at Olys or Worlds? If the judging panel is made up of individuals from multiple countries and the technical callers are also from different countries, it would seem to me that where the competition is physically held would not make a big difference in how skaters are scored, aside from the more enthusiastic crowd noise for skaters from the host country making their performances seem more impressive. Do the host country's reps put pressure on all the judges to favor their skaters more? Just wondering because I hear comments about "skating on hostile ice" and it's a little confusing...
Well, if you were to put aside the fraudulent judging - imagine taking shower/bath in your home v. at someone else's house. It's just more comfortable even if everything is the same. This kind of home advantage is, however, largely accepted as an inevitable in every sport. Corrupted judging or score fixing a la Sochi is a different story, however.