Adelina Sotnikova (RUS) Preparing for the Ladies Free Skate Which Took Her to Victory in the Ladies Event

Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)

Yuna Kim (KOR, Adelina Sotnikova (RUS), Carolina Kostner (ITA)

(20 February 2014)  Adelina Sotnikova (RUS) became the first Russian woman to win Olympic gold in the ladies figure skating event, surpassing the accomplishments of past Russian Olympic medalists Kira Ivanova who won bronze in 1984, and Irinia Slutskaya who won silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006.  Yuna Kim (KOR) took the silver medal to become the first Asian lady to win two medals in the ladies event since Lu Chen (CHN) who won the bronze in both 1994 and 1998.  Carolina Kostner (ITA) won the bronze to give Italy its second Olympic figure skating medal after Barbara Fusar-Poli & Maurizio Margaglio won the bronze medal in Ice Dance in 2002.

The top three ladies entered the Free Skate virtually tied in points, and it would be in the final segment of the event to decide the podium.  Sotnikova skated fourth in the last of four warm-up groups.

Skating to Saint-Sean's "Introduction and Rondo Caprissioso," skated a strong program with only one technical error, a step out of double loop on her three-jump combination.  She shredded her season best score earning 149.95 points.  It was the kind of score that said to Yuna Kim, 'I dare you to beat that!'

Notwithstanding, the marks near 9.5 for Choreography and interpretation, we found the choreography in the first half aimless and meandering, and felt the performance had restrained emotion and lacked the passion she showed in the short program.

On her victory she said, "I won.  It's my gold medal.  I can't believe it.  Two years ago, all of my competitions were very bad.  I didn't know if I had what it takes to be successful.  Now I know that I do.  I/m surprised.  My coach was surprised.  Thank you to my public.  Thank you to my fans."

Last to skate, Yuna Kim gave a solid performance to "Adios Nonino" with no significant technical errors.  Her performance was also emotionally restrained but we found her choreography more coherent than Sotnikova's.

After the marks came up, Kim look more relieved than anything else, showing neither joy nor disappointment with the marks.  It was as though a heavy, unwelcome burden had finally been lifted from her shoulders and she was relived it was all over and she could now move on with her life.  Kim has made no secret of the fact her passion to compete here was not as great as it was in Vancouver and that she was not personally obsessed with repeating as gold medalist.

After the flower ceremony she said, "Now I'm only thinking it's over, finally.  I didn't watch the skaters before me because I was preparing my program. I just thought I did everything I could.  I didn't feel any pressure but it has been four years since Vancouver so I was exhausted. ... I'm so glad it's over.  Training is so hard for any athlete.  I'm so happy to be here because it's my last competition as a skater.  When I finished I was so tired."

The results of the top two places has generated passionate international discussion over the fairness of the result and the impact of having a Russian judge and a friend on the Free Skate panel.

The judges marked the two skaters nearly equal in program components with Kim earning a 74.50 Total Program Component Score and Sotnikova 74.41.  For the elements Sotnikova's base value was 3.94 points above Kim's - 61.43 vs. 57.49.  The difference here due to Kim including one less triple jump (with no triple loop) and scoring one level lower on the layback spin and the step sequence.  For the GoE contribution, Sotnikova earned and additional 14.11 points vs. 12.20 for Kim.

The bottom line for the result is that for the elements Kim came here with less ammunition than Sotnikova, and was unable to overcome the deficit on the components side, perhaps more than anything else becasue her heart was not fully in it.  From our perspective the two women were scored as they deserved to be on the element side, but that Sotnikova was over-marked in components and Kim under-marked.  By enough to change the results, though, we cannot say.  It was a close result - closer than the points indicate - but we have no significant heartburn with the results.

Carolina Kostner gave a confident performance to Ravel's "Bolero."  Gave a clean performance, though she had to fight for the landing of a triple loop, where two judges gave her -1 for GoE, and one judge gave a -1 for the subsequent triple toe loop - double toe loop.

The performance did not grab our enthusiasm at first, with long transitionless edges into the jumps and some slow spins in the first half.  But she worked the temp and rhythms of the music masterfully and by the end we were hooked.  Still it would have bee nice if there was a little more complexity in the transitions in the program, and this was reflected in the judges marks where Transitions were scored 8.71 vs. Choreography and Interpretation marks of 9.21 and 9.61.

Kostner briefly quit skating after Vancouver, where she placed 16th but came back as a mature artist to win the bronze medal.  Of all the medalist we have listened too in press conferences here, Kostner has impressed us most with her thoughtful, reflective and personally genuine comments.

On the meaning of this medal she said, "This is just the icing on the cake of a beautiful path I have been on for so many years.  I am so happy to finally be here, not just for me but for all the people who have supported me in hard times.  I have been respecting and cherishing this dream for a very long time.  I even gave up on it.  But now I am living it, and I have been since I got the gold medal in Nice (the 2012 World Championships."

 She continued, "It is hard sometimes. It is like destiny is testing you to se if this is really your path in line, but I am very thankful it has turned out like this."

Gracie Gold was the best placing U.S. skater, finishing fourth in the short and fifth in the long for a fourth place finish. She fell on triple flip and also had an edge call on the attempt.  Rather than under-rotated she landed with her weight too far outside and fell off the edge.  Other than that error she skated a clean program, and had she stood up on the jump it would not have changed her results.  Her components averaged 8.54.

On falling on the triple flip she said, "When I went down on it, I thought 'Dang i!  That's what Frank Carroll (her coach) told me not to do. Don't go drop that right arm.'  I went down on the triple flip but, at the end of the day, skating these three programs at the Olympics was wonderful. ... When I ended up fourth after the short, I thought the pressure was lifted off.  I was only six points from a medal after the short.  But if I wasn't going to get a medal, I wanted to skate for myself."

Julia Lipnitskaya again struggled in her performance.  AS she took the ice 12,000 people in the Iceberg Ice Palace began deafening screams of "Julia, Julia."  She started strong, but in the second half of the program three elements had errors.  She stepped out of a triple loop that was called under-rotated, and then fell on a subsequent triple Salchow.  In the next element she had an edge call on triple Lutz - double toe loop.  She placed sixth in the Free Skate but was scored fourth best in components.  She ended up holding fifth overall.

"Of course, I'm disappointed," she said about her skate, "it wasn't he skate I dreamed of.  I wanted to put an ideal performance out there and I didn't manage that.  Actually, I was in better shape for the individual event than for the team event.  I fought but it wasn't enough."  Regarding her fall on the triple Salchow she said, "I'm disappointed I fell again - I think I wasn't concentrating on the Salchow.  I'm upset because this is the second time I had problems with my jumps.  I was nervous and mentally tired."  Elaborating, she added, "Maybe I was tired in the second half, like I was in the short program.  Maybe this was because the first half went so well, but I don't know, this is something new to me."

Sixth place went to Mao Asada who had been 16th in the short, well out of medal range.  She gave an outstanding performance which took her to third in the Free Skate and sixth overall.  She landed her opening triple Axel, which after looking at the slow motion replay we though slightly under-rotated though less than the 1/4 turn that would trigger the under-rotation designation.  It was the best attempt at the jump we have saw this week.  She had three minor errors on other jumps though, under-rotation calls on triple loop, in a triple flip - triple loop combination, and on triple toe in a double Axel - triple toe loop combination, and also an edge call on a solo triple Lutz.

"In the end, I'm really pleased with the performance," Asada said.  "I was just really happy.  The skate I had today was the skate I've been shooting for my whole career, not yesterday's.  I really felt the fear of skating at the Olympics yesterday."

Asada's performance was a season best, about which she said, "I was determined to carry out what I've been working on all along. I wasn't that sharp this morning, and yesterday was a massive disappointment. ... I may not be able to bring back an Olympic medal to Japan but I feel like I had the best performance I possibly could.  I'm obviously disappointed with myself from yesterday but everything I've been practicing for the past four years bore fruit today.  i like to think I've matured since Vancouver in my own distinct way."

Had Asada skated equally well in the Short Program she well could have medaled hers.  But as we have heard many athletes and coaches say the past two weeks about about unfulfilled potential, 'this is sport, and that is the way it sometimes works out.'

Ashley Wagner placed sixth in the short and seventh in the long for a seventh place finish.  She had an under-rotation call on her opening triple Lutz - triple toe loop combination, and an edge call on a solo triple Lutz. Her three jump combination was also scored negative.

After her skate which scored a season best, she said, "That was such a solid performance.  I think that was a mentally tough one for me because I had two so-so long programs that were backing me up.  So the first program of the season, a personal best, I can't complain and it makes me look forward to the Worlds."

 Later she slammed the judging and called for changes in the scoring system.  Her remarks are likely not to prove reputation enhancing, and seem ill advised to us.  From our point of view, Wagner placed exactly were she deserved to be, and where many anticipated she would place at the start of the games.

The third U.S. lady, Polina Edmunds, seventh in the short and ninth in the long for a ninth places finish.  She had a clean skate except for a fall on triple flip that was called under-rotated.  She impressed at the Games as a technically proficient skater with great potential.  Her components averaged 7.52.  Through their marks, the judges have given her their "homework" for what she needs to further develop to move up through the ranks.  We view that to be, improved transitions and more sophisticated and polished choreography that shows greater emotion and passion in presentation.

Describing her performance, Edmunds said, "I missed an element and that wasn't fun.  Of course, I would have liked to have done a clean skate but I'm glad of the way I came back. ... I felt like I was skating on the ice for hours.  After my second triple Lutz, I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm at the Olympics."