Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics explained

Event:Figure Skating
Games:2014 Winter
Venue:Iceberg Skating Palace, Sochi, Russia
Dates:6–22 February 2014
Competitors:149
Nations:30
Prev:2010
Next:2018

Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia. The five events took place between 6–22 February 2014.[1] For the first time at the Winter Olympics, a figure skating team event was held.[2]

Records and firsts

See also: World and Olympic records set at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The following new ISU best scores were set during this competition:

Event Component Skaters Score Date Ref
Team eventIce dance – Free dance114.349 February 2014[3]
Pair skatingShort program84.1711 February 2014[4]
Men's singlesShort program101.4513 February 2014[5]
Ice danceShort dance78.8916 February 2014[6]
Free dance114.6617 February 2014
116.63
Total score195.52[7]

Other records and firsts:

Competition schedule

The following is the competition schedule for all five events.[24]

All times are (UTC+4).

Date Time Event
6 February 19:30 Team event pair short
Team event men's short
8 February 18:30 Team event ice dance short
Team event ladies' short
style=background:lemonchiffonTeam event pair free
9 February 19:00 style=background:lemonchiffonTeam event men's free
style=background:lemonchiffonTeam event ice dance free
style=background:lemonchiffonTeam event ladies' free
11 February 19:00 Pair skating short
12 February 19:45 style=background:lemonchiffonPair skating free
13 February 19:00 Men's singles short
14 February 19:00 style=background:lemonchiffonMen's singles free
16 February 19:00 Ice dance short
17 February 19:00 style=background:lemonchiffonIce dance free
19 February 19:00 Ladies' singles short
20 February 19:00 style=background:lemonchiffonLadies' singles free
22 February 20:30 Gala exhibition

Medal summary

Events

Men's singles
280.09275.62255.10
Ladies' singles
224.59 219.11216.73
Pair skating
236.86218.68215.78
Ice dance
195.52190.99183.48
Team

Evgeni Plushenko
Yulia Lipnitskaya
Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov*
Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov**
Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev*
Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov**		75.00
Patrick Chan 		65.00
Jeremy Abbott 		60.00

*Indicates the athlete(s) only competed in the short program/dance.

**Indicates the athlete(s) only competed in the long program/dance.

Controversies

See main article: Concerns and controversies at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Athlete selection

The United States' selection of Ashley Wagner over Mirai Nagasu for the Olympic team caused some controversy as Nagasu finished ahead of Wagner at the 2014 U.S. Championships. The results at the pre-Olympic nationals often play a major role in the decision process but U.S. Figure Skating never stated that they would be the only results considered. Wagner was selected on the body of her work, instead of her performance at that event.[25] [26] [27]

This was the first time that U.S. Figure Skating selected a skater who had competed in the pre-Olympic nationals and lost over another on who had also competed. On previous occasions, this was done for skaters who had been injured and unable to compete at nationals.[28] [29]

The selection of Evgeni Plushenko by the Russia Olympic Team for figure skating caused some controversy, as he had been beaten by Maxim Kovtun at the 2014 Russian Figure Skating Championships. Plushenko said he won’t participate in European Championships and will give spot at men's singles for Kovtun and he will participate in the team event only.[30] ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta cautioned the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, "If one of your skaters has sustained the same injury for years. You should not enter him or her."[31] Plushenko skated strongly in the Short and Free Programs for the Team Event, however in the Men's individuals he withdrew right before the start of the Short Program which left host Russia without an entry since it was too late have Kovtun as a replacement. Russian figure skating officials defended the initial selection of Plushenko by noting that Kovtun had done poorly at international events.[32] [33]

Allegations of votes swapping

French sports newspaper L'Équipe, quoting an anonymous Russian coach, alleged that Russia and the United States would swap votes, with the U.S. voting for Russian athletes in pairs figure skating and team events and Russia voting for the U.S. in ice dance.[34] [35] The allegations were categorically denied by U.S. Figure Skating.[36]

Ladies' singles figure skating results

Immediately after the final scores were announced, confirming Russia's victory, journalistic questions arose regarding whether Russian 17-year-old Adelina Sotnikova's performances deserved higher scores than the performances of 23-year-old Yuna Kim from South Korea.[37] [38] Questions over the judges, the judging system, and the anonymity of scores were also raised in the press.[39]

Official responses

On 21 February 2014, the International Skating Union (ISU) issued a statement which asserted all rules and procedures were applied during the competition and that no official protest had been filed by any participating nation concerning the results of the competition.[40] Such a protest must be done within 30 minutes of the event.[41]

ISU's 21 February 2014 statement declaring their confidence "in the high quality and integrity of the ISU judging system". Adding "judges were selected by random drawing from a pool of 13 potential judges" and all nine judges on the free skating panel were from different nations.[40]

On 10 April, the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Korean Skating Union (KSU) filed an official complaint with the ISU Disciplinary Commission (DC) concerning judging. The complaint was regarding "the wrongful constitution of the panel of judges and the unjust outcome of the competition". It requested that the DC conduct a thorough investigation, "take appropriate disciplinary actions against the concerned individuals", and institute corrective actions. On 14 April, the DC ruled the complaint inadmissible because a general request for investigation is not within DC's jurisdiction and the complaint was not addressed at an individual or federation as required.[42] [43] [44]

On 30 April, the KOC and KSU filed a second official complaint with the DC. This time the complaint was against Alla Shekhovtsova and Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR), specifically citing a hug Shekhovtsova shared with Sotnikova and Shekhovtsova's marriage to the current Director General of the FSFR. On 30 May, the DC dismissed the complaint. It ruled Shekhovtsova "is not responsible for the judging panel's composition", her marriage did not create a conflict of interest, and since Sotnikova initiated the hug, Shekhovtsova did not break any rules by responding.[42] [43] [44]

As of June 2014, the KOC and KSU are considering appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).[44]

Opinions

USA Today reported "A high-ranking Olympic figure skating official … said the geographic makeup of the judging panel 'was clearly slanted towards … Sotnikova.'"[45] The free skating panel included two Russian officials, a Russian judge and a Ukrainian judge.[46] Journalists questioned the appointments of Russian judge Alla Shekhovtsova, the wife of the former president and the current general director of Figure Skating Federation of Russia Valentin Piseev, and Ukrainian judge Yuri Balkov, who was suspended for a year after being caught on tape attempting to fix the ice dancing competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics.[47] The technical panel, that oversees correct execution of elements, is headed by fellow Russian Alexander Lakernik.[38] Shekhovtseva was photographed hugging Sotnikova in the arena, raising another question of bias.[48] The detailed score sheet shows that one judge gave Adelina Sotnikova +3 grade of execution (GOE) on all except two elements. In contrast, the score sheet of short program shows that one judge gave Yuna Kim +0 grade of execution on her triple flip, of which the NBC commentator Tracy Wilson commented as 'another perfect flip'.[38] [49]

Journalists and experts argued that scores given to Adelina Sotnikova were inflated both in the short and long programs. She was inexplicably scored above all others in the free program, where most believed she merited only 4th place in the phase behind Yuna, Mao Asada, and Carolina Kostner. Many among them cite that certain judges gave generous scores along with fellow Russian competitor Yulia Lipnitskaya. In particular, numerous +3 grade of executions were handed out to the two Russian skaters as well as nods in component scores compared to other skaters.[37] [38] Others noted that Sotnikova made a mistake by stepping out of one of her jumps which got a -0.9 grade of execution in the scorecards. Ryan Bradley, 2011 US champion, asked "Are we just going to ignore that she botched the landing of her 3 jump and pretend she was perfect?"[50] [51] There are also debates about whether Sotnikova's triple lutz had a wrong edge on takeoff and the triple toe loop in her first jumping pass was under-rotated. Neither error was flagged by the event's technical panel. Retired national-level figure skater Tim Gerber wrote a letter to the ISU, claiming that Sotnikova's triple triple combination jump should have received wrong edge and under rotation. Gerber also asserted that the step sequence levels were not correctly awarded for Kim and Sotnikova. He stated that Kim's step sequence should have received a level four (instead of three) and Sotnikova's step sequence should have received a level three (instead of four), as Sotnikova's step sequence elements in free skating didn't meet the requirements to get level four, and Kim's met the requirements enough to get level four.[52]

Katarina Witt, a two-time Olympic champion, stated "I am stunned by this result, I don’t understand the scoring."[53] [54] Several experts have also pointed out how Kim and Kostner's programs have significantly better artistry, choreography and skill on ice that should translate to higher component marks to other skaters. One judge in the scoresheets gave out significantly lower marks to Kim and Kostner in the component marks. Sonia Garbato, seven-time Olympic figure skating judge and former high-ranking ISU official, wrote: "No fair judge … could have awarded to Adelina higher marks in choreography, performance/execution, and interpretation of the music."[55] Four-time world champion Kurt Browning also expressed his surprise at the results, declaring that he did not understand how Kim and Sotnikova could have been so close in the programme component scores. He also pointed out how Sotnikova had her component scores boosted compared to her previous programs [56] Michael Weiss, a two-time world bronze medalist, wrote "couldn't disagree more that Yuna and Sotnikova had basically same Component marks?..in Both short & long? Home field inflation." Dick Button, two-time Olympic champion and longstanding skating analyst, commented: "Sotnikova was energetic, strong, commendable, but not a complete skater."[38] [57]

A petition in Change.org against the results of the event demanding an investigation and rejudgment has amassed over 2 million supporters breaking several web traffic records on the website.[58]

Qualification

See main article: Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics – Qualification. A total of 148 quota spots are available to athletes to compete at the games. A maximum of 18 athletes could be entered by a National Olympic Committee, with a maximum of 9 men or 9 women. An additional six quota spots were made available for the team event. A further ten team trophy quotas (two in each discipline) were distributed to countries qualifying for the team event, but not the discipline itself. This means up to a maximum of 158 athletes could partake.[59] [60]

Participating nations

149 athletes from 30 nations participated, with number of athletes in parentheses. Brazil[61] and the Philippines[62] [63] made their Olympic debuts in the sport.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Iceberg Skating Palace . . 12 November 2012 . 10 November 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131110132049/http://www.sochi2014.com/en/games/places/objects/sea/figure_skating/ . dead .
  2. News: Figure skating-New team event at Sochi Olympics will begin early . Pritha . Sarkar . Reuters . 29 March 2012 . 12 November 2012.
  3. Web site: ISU Judging System Statistics, Progression of Highest Score, Ice Dance, Free Dance Score . International Skating Union . 29 January 2015 . 28 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150202054808/http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/phsdfd.htm . 2 February 2015 . usurped.
  4. Web site: ISU Judging System Statistics, Progression of Highest Score, Pairs, Short Program Score . International Skating Union . 12 October 2014 . 28 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141016083604/http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/phspsp.htm . 16 October 2014 . usurped.
  5. Web site: ISU Judging System Statistics, Progression of Highest Score, Men, Short Program Score . International Skating Union . 12 October 2014 . 28 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141013160605/http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/phsmsp.htm . 13 October 2014 . usurped.
  6. Web site: ISU Judging System Statistics, Progression of Highest Score, Ice Dance, Short Dance Score . International Skating Union . 29 January 2015 . 28 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150202054813/http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/phsdsd.htm . 2 February 2015 . usurped.
  7. Web site: ISU Judging System Statistics, Progression of Highest Score, Ice Dance, Total Score . International Skating Union . 29 March 2014 . 28 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140804231557/http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/phsdto.htm . 4 August 2014 . usurped.
  8. Web site: Yuzuru Hanyu Sets World Record in Figure Skating Short Program at 2014 Olympics . . 13 February 2014 . 14 February 2014 . Goldberg . Rob.
  9. News: Adelina Sotnikova (RUS) skates off with gold . ISU.org . 10 February 2014 . 20 February 2014.
  10. News: 14 February 2014 . Japan's Hanyu wins gold in men's figure skating . Orange County Register . 24 March 2014.
  11. News: 16 February 2014 . Sochi 2014: Asians Are Kind of Good at Figure Skating, Too . AX3 Battery . 24 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140312055448/http://ax3battery.com/2014/02/16/sochi-2014-asians-awesome-figure-skaters/ . 12 March 2014 . dead .
  12. News: Japan's first Olympic men's figure skating gold medal for Yuzuru Hanyu . . 14 February 2014 . 14 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170825152611/http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/japans-first-olympic-mens-figure-skating-gold-medal-yuzuru-hanyu . 2017-08-25 . dead .
  13. News: 14 February 2014 . Japan's first Olympic men's figure skating gold medal goes to Yuzuru Hanyu . NBC Olympics . 24 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328115642/http://www.nbcolympics.com/kgw/news/japans-first-olympic-mens-figure-skating-gold-medal-goes-yuzuru-hanyu . 2014-03-28 . dead .
  14. News: 14 February 2014 . Yuzuru Hanyu Wins Gold Medal In Men's Figure Skating, Patrick Chan Takes Silver . The Huffington Post . 24 March 2014.
  15. News: Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) dance off with Olympic gold . ISU.org . 18 February 2014 . 18 February 2014.
  16. News: Hanyu Wins Men's Figure Skating Gold . The New York Times . 14 February 2014 . 14 February 2014.
  17. Web site: Bronze is as Good as Gold for Olympic Ice Skater Carolina Kostner . 21 February 2014 . 21 February 2014.
  18. Web site: Carolina Kostner flies onto the Olympic podium with a bronze in the figure skating . 20 February 2014 . 26 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140302141136/http://www.coni.it/en/news/62-sochi-2014-inglese/20080-carolina-kostner-flies-onto-the-olympic-podium-with-a-bronze-in-the-figure-skating.html . 2014-03-02 . dead .
  19. Web site: Olympics medalists: Men . International Skating Union . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130513155843/http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-130381-131689-25997-0-file,00.pdf . 13 May 2013 .
  20. News: 21 February 2014 . ru:Самая юная олимпийская чемпионка . The youngest Olympic champion . http://www.rg-rb.de/index.php?option=com_rg&task=item&id=13424&Itemid=13 . ru . Русская Германия . 25 March 2014.
  21. News: 10 February 2014 . ru:Чемпионка зимних Олимпийских игр Юлия Липницкая побила «возрастной рекорд» Тары Липински . Winter Olympics champion Yulia Lipnitskaya beats Tara Lipinski's 'age record' . http://www.dayperm.ru/node/67793 . ru . Day Perm . 25 March 2014.
  22. News: 21 March 2014 . ru:Самые молодые олимпийские чемпионы . The youngest Olympic champions . http://www.rg-rb.de/index.php?option=com_rg&task=item&id=13588&Itemid=13 . ru . Русская Германия . 25 March 2014.
  23. News: 14 February 2014 . ru:Юлия Липницкая 15-тилетний мастер спорта . Yulia Lipnitskaya, 15-year-old Master of Sports . http://www.krasfun.ru/2014/02/yuliya-lipnickaya-15-tiletnij-master-sporta/ . ru . krasfun.ru . Vkontakte . 25 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150110200753/http://www.krasfun.ru/2014/02/yuliya-lipnickaya-15-tiletnij-master-sporta/ . 10 January 2015 . dead .
  24. Web site: Figure Skating Schedule and Results . . 11 January 2014 . 10 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140410171342/http://www.sochi2014.com/en/figure-skating-schedule-and-results . dead .
  25. Web site: 'Ashley Wagner Face' Is Your First Winter Olympics Meme . Rick . Chandler . 9 February 2014 . SportsGrid . 25 February 2014 . 26 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140226131335/http://www.sportsgrid.com/controversy-2/ashley-wagner-face-is-your-first-winter-olympics-meme/ . dead .
  26. News: Mirai Nagasu: Olympic snub remains 'devastating,' but hopeful for future . Kevin . Kaduk . 30 January 2014 . Yahoo Sports .
  27. Ashley Wagner Speaks Out About Olympic Ice Skating Controversy . Johnny . Dodd . People . 13 January 2014 .
  28. Web site: Controversy as figure skater who fell TWICE at Olympic qualifiers and came fourth is chosen for games ahead of woman in third . Mandy . Oteng . 13 January 2014 . USA-UK Online .
  29. News: Mirai Nagasu, Ashley Wagner and the Myth of the Golden Girl . Tao . Jones . 14 January 2014 . Wall Street Journal.
  30. Web site: Алексей Мишин: Все время думаю о том, где и в чем я допустил ошибку. 26 December 2013 . Sovsport.
  31. News: The Plushenko case: To skate or not to skate? . 17 January 2014 . Ice networks . 9 March 2014 . 28 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180628013702/http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014/01/17/66781884/the-plushenko-case-to-skate-or-not-to-skate . dead .
  32. Evgeni Plushenko Pulls Out of the Olympics, Proving That Corruption Is Bad. The New Republic . 16 February 2018.
  33. Web site: The Olympic No-Show That Shook Russia. Leonid. Bershidsky. February 14, 2014. Bloomberg. 16 February 2018.
  34. News: Alleged Olympic vote-swapping deal would keep Canada from gold . . 8 February 2014 . cbc.ca/ . CBC News . 8 February 2014.
  35. Web site: L'ÉQUIPE - L'actualité du sport en continu.. https://web.archive.org/web/20140223071423/http://www.lequipe.fr/Tous-sports/Article/Petits-arrangements-entre-amis/10186. dead. February 23, 2014. 16 February 2018.
  36. Web site: U.S. Figure Skating denies report of ice dance collusion . Hersh . Phillip . 8 February 2014 . chicagotribune.com/ . Chicago Tribune . 8 February 2014 . https://archive.today/20140208180329/http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/chi-us-figure-skating-ice-dance-collusion-20140208,0,1915304.story . 8 February 2014 . dead .
  37. News: McCurry . Justin . 21 February 2014 . Sochi 2014: 1.5m sign petition calling for inquiry into figure skating gold . The Guardian . Tokyo . 25 March 2014.
  38. News: Why People Think Adelina Sotnikova's Figure Skating Gold Medal Was Rigged . . 25 March 2014 . 5 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140305080229/http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/why-people-think-adelina-sotnikovas-figure-skating-gold-medal-was-rigged/358344/ . dead .
  39. News: Sarkar . Pritha . 20 February 2014 . Sotnikova's win raises judging questions . Reuters . Sochi, Russia . 24 March 2014.
  40. Web site: ISU Statement on the ISU Judging System . 21 February 2014 . International Skating Union . 25 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140221235630/http://www.isu.org/en/news-and-events/news/2014/02/isu-statement-on-the-isu-judging-system . 2014-02-21 . dead .
  41. News: Armour . Nancy . 4 June 2014 . Skating officials say no bias by Russian judge in Sochi . . 9 June 2014.
  42. http://static.isu.org/media/149883/case-2014-03-korean-oc-and-su-vs-shekhovtseva-final-decision-for-publication-30052014.pdf "Case No. 2014-03 – Decision of the ISU Disciplinary Commission"
  43. News: Zaccardi . Nick . 5 June 2014 . Olympic figure skating judging complaints rejected by ISU . . 6 June 2014.
  44. News: Kim . Narae . 5 June 2014 . South Korea slip up in Sochi figure skating complaint . . Seoul . 6 June 2014.
  45. Web site: Official says judges slanted toward Adelina Sotnikova . USA Today . 21 February 2014.
  46. News: Pilon . Mary . Who Were the Figure Skating Judges? . The New York Times . 20 February 2014 . 21 February 2014.
  47. News: Brennan: Skating Insiders Question Sochi Gold Judging . Christine . Brennan . 21 February 2014 . USA Today . 21 February 2014.
  48. News: A Whole New Set of Questions About Adelina Sotnikova's Allegedly Rigged Gold Medal Win . 16 March 2014 . 10 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140310021821/http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/whole-new-set-questions-about-adelina-sotnikovas-allegedly-rigged-gold-medal-win/358425/ . dead .
  49. Web site: Olympic Winter Games 2014 Ladies Free Skating Scores . ISU Results . International Skating Union . 25 March 2014.
  50. News: . 20 February 2014 . Reaction to Adelina Sotnikova's gold medal win over Carolina Kostner and Yuna Kim . . 25 March 2014.
  51. News: . 21 February 2014 . 2014 controversy as Russian Adelina Sotnikova upsets Korean favourite Kim Yuna to snatch figure skating gold medal. . . 21 February 2014.
  52. Web site: Letter to ISU office holders: "People deserve to know if a mistake was made" . 20 March 2014 . 25 March 2014.
  53. News: McCurry . Justin . 21 February 2014 . Sochi 2014: 1.5m sign petition calling for inquiry into figure skating gold . . Tokyo . 18 May 2014.
  54. News: . 20 February 2014 . Judges on thin ice after controversial Russian win . . 18 May 2014.
  55. Web site: Sonia Bianchetti Garbato, Figure Skating Referee, Author: The 2014 Olympic Games" . 29 March 2014.
  56. News: . 21 February 2014 . Kurt Browning 'shocked' by Adelina Sotnikova's gold in figure skating . . . 10 April 2014.
  57. Web site: Olympic figure skating icon praises Kim's performance . 20 February 2014 . 30 March 2014.
  58. Web site: Petition in Support of Yuna Kim Gets Record Signings. 21 February 2014.
  59. Web site: Qualification Systems for XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014 . December 2011 . . 12 November 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130428211955/http://corporate.olympics.com.au/files/dmfile/ISU_FigureSkating_Sochi2014_Sept2012.pdf . 28 April 2013 . dead .
  60. Web site: Olympic Winter Games 2014 Entries/Participation . 1 October 2013 . . 23 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131224112119/http://isuprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/107588/1821-owg-fs-qualified-entriesandjudges-after-qual-comp.pdf . 24 December 2013 .
  61. Web site: Williams puts Brazil on Olympic skating map . Luchianov . Vladislav . 7 October 2013 . icenetwork . 27 December 2013 . 23 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140223194621/http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2013/10/07/62616682/williams-puts-brazil-on-olympic-skating-map . dead .
  62. News: For first time, Pinoy skater qualifies for Winter Olympics . . 6 October 2013 . 7 October 2013.
  63. News: Michael Christian Martinez qualifies for Winter Olympic Games 2014 . Pinoy Headline . 30 September 2013 . 6 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020020209/http://www.pinoyheadline.com/?p=588 . 20 October 2013 . dead .

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