# Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The events took place between 14 and 27 February 2010.
Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo (CHN) won the gold medal in the pairs skating. This was the first time since 1960 that a Russian, Soviet, or Unified Team (CIS) flagged team did not win the gold medal.

## Qualification
### Skater eligibility

To be eligible for the 2010 Winter Games, skaters needed to be older than fifteen as of July 1, 2009 and had to be a citizen of the country they were representing. Unlike qualification rules for International Skating Union events, in the case of a pair or ice dance couple, both skaters were required to be citizens of the country they represented in competition. In addition, International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules required that at least three years had passed since the competitor(s) last represented another country in competition.

### Skater qualification

There was no individual athlete qualification to the Olympics; the choice of which athlete(s) to send to the Games was left to the discretion of each country's National Olympic Committee (NOC).

### Country qualification

The number of entries for the figure skating events at the Olympic Games was limited by a quota set by the IOC. There were 30 skaters in the disciplines of ladies' and men's singles, 20 pairs, and 24 ice dance couples.
Countries could qualify entries to the 2010 Winter Olympics in two different ways. The host country was guaranteed one spot in each event, if it had not already qualified an entry in that event. Every discipline qualified separately.
The majority of the country qualification took place at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, where countries qualified up to three entries in each discipline. The number of multiple entries was the same as usual for the World Championships; countries who earned multiple spots to the Olympics also earned multiple spots to the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships.
The multiple spots qualification to the Olympics from the World Championships was as follows:
| Number of skaters/teams entered at Worlds | To earn 3 entries to the Olympics | To earn 2 entries to the Olympics |
| 1 | Place in the top 2 | Place in the top 10 |
| 2 | Total placement score is equal to or less than 13 | Total placement score is equal to or less than 28 |
| 3 | Top two placement score is equal to or less than 13 | Top two placement score is equal to or less than 28 |
The placement score did not directly correlate to the placement rank. In ice dance, if a couple did not qualify for the original dance from the compulsories, they were assigned 20 points. If an ice dance couple did not qualify for the free dance, or if a singles skater or pairs team did not qualify for the free skate, they were assigned 18 points. If a skater or team competed in the free skate or free dance and placed lower than 16, they were assigned 16 points. For those placing above 16th, the placement rank was the same as the placement score.
The results of the 2009 World Championships determined 83 total spots: 24 entries in each singles discipline, 16 in pairs, and 19 in ice dance. The available spots were awarded consecutively on moving down the results list, with the multiple spots being awarded first.
The remainder of the spots were filled at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy, held in the fall of 2009. Countries who had already earned an entry to the Olympics were not allowed to qualify more entries at this final qualifying competition.
If a country declined to use one or more of its spots, the vacated spot was awarded based on the results of the Nebelhorn Trophy.

## Competition schedule

All times are Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8).
| Day | Date | Start time | End time | Event | Segment |
| Day 3 | Sunday, February 14 | 16:30 | 19:55 | Pairs | Short program |
| Day 4 | Monday, February 15 | 17:00 | 20:55 | Pairs | Free skating |
| Day 5 | Tuesday, February 16 | 16:15 | 20:45 | Men | Short program |
| Day 7 | Thursday, February 18 | 17:00 | 21:05 | Men | Free skating |
| Day 8 | Friday, February 19 | 16:45 | 20:05 | Ice dance | Compulsory dance |
| Day 10 | Sunday, February 21 | 16:15 | 19:45 | Ice dance | Original dance |
| Day 11 | Monday, February 22 | 16:45 | 20:55 | Ice dance | Free dance |
| Day 12 | Tuesday, February 23 | 16:30 | 21:00 | Ladies | Short program |
| Day 14 | Thursday, February 25 | 17:00 | 20:55 | Ladies | Free skating |
| Day 16 | Saturday, February 27 | 16:30 | 19:00 | Exhibition gala | Exhibition gala |

## Medal summary
### Events

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's singles details | Evan Lysacek United States | Evgeni Plushenko Russia | Daisuke Takahashi Japan |
| Ladies' singles details | Kim Yuna South Korea | Mao Asada Japan | Joannie Rochette Canada |
| Pair skating details | Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo (CHN) | Pang Qing and Tong Jian (CHN) | Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (GER) |
| Ice dance details | Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (CAN) | Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA) | Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (RUS) |

### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China (CHN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | South Korea (KOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |

## Entries

| Country | Men | Ladies | Pairs | Ice dance |
| Australia | | Cheltzie Lee | | |
| Austria | Viktor Pfeifer | Miriam Ziegler | | |
| Belgium | Kevin van der Perren | Isabelle Pieman | | |
| Canada | Patrick Chan Vaughn Chipeur | Cynthia Phaneuf Joannie Rochette | Jessica Dube / Bryce Davison Anabelle Langlois / Cody Hay | Vanessa Crone / Paul Poirier Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir |
| China | | Yan Liu | Qing Pang / Jian Tong Xue Shen / Hongbo Zhao Dan Zhang / Hao Zhang | Xintong Huang / Xun Zheng |
| Czech Republic | Michal Brezina Tomas Verner | | | Kamila Hajkova / David Vincour |
| Estonia | | Elena Glebova | Maria Sergejeva / Ilja Glebov | Irina Shtork / Taavi Rand |
| Finland | Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari | Kiira Korpi Laura Lepisto | | |
| France | Florent Amodio Brian Joubert | | Vanessa James / Yannick Bonheur | Isabelle Delobel / Olivier Schoenfelder Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat |
| Georgia | | Elene Gedevanishvili | | Allison Reed / Otar Japaridze |
| Germany | Stefan Lindemann | Sarah Hecken | Maylin Hausch / Daniel Wende Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy | Christina Beier / William Beier |
| Great Britain | | Jenna McCorkell | Stacey Kemp / David King | Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland Sinead Kerr / John Kerr |
| Hungary | | Júlia Sebestyén | | Nóra Hoffmann / Maxim Zavozin |
| Israel | | | | Alexandra Zaretsky / Roman Zaretsky |
| Italy | Paolo Bacchini Samuel Contesti | Carolina Kostner | Nicole Della Monica / Yannick Kocon | Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte Federica Faiella / Massimo Scali |
| Japan | Takahiko Kozuka Nobunari Oda Daisuke Takahashi | Miki Ando Mao Asada Akiko Suzuki | | Cathy Reed / Chris Reed |
| Kazakhstan | Abzal Rakimgaliev Denis Ten | | | |
| North Korea | Song Chol Ri | | | |
| Poland | Przemyslaw Domanski | Anna Jurkiewicz | Joanna Sulej / Mateusz Chruscinski | |
| Romania | Zoltan Kelemen | | | |
| Russia | Artem Borodulin Evgeni Plushenko | Alena Leonova Ksenia Makarova | Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov Maria Mukhortova / Maxim Trankov | Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev Oksana Domnina / Maxim Shabalin Jana Khokhlova / Sergei Novitski |
| Slovakia | | Ivana Reitmayerova | | |
| Slovenia | Gregor Urbas | Teodora Postic | | |
| South Korea | | Yuna Kim Kwak Min-jeong | | |
| Spain | Javier Fernandez | Sonia Lafuente | | |
| Sweden | Adrian Schultheiss | | | |
| Switzerland | Stephane Lambiel | Sarah Meier | Anais Morand / Antoine Dorsaz | |
| Turkey | | Tugba Karademir | | |
| Ukraine | Anton Kovalevski | | Ekaterina Kostenko / Roman Talan Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morozov | Anna Zadorozhniuk / Sergei Verbillo |
| United States | Jeremy Abbott Evan Lysacek Johnny Weir | Rachael Flatt Mirai Nagasu | Caydee Denney / Jeremy Barrett Amanda Evora / Mark Ladwig | Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto Meryl Davis / Charlie White Emily Samuelson / Evan Bates |
| Uzbekistan | | Anastasia Gimazetdinova | | |

## Records and firsts

The following new ISU best scores were set during this competition:
| Event | Component | Skaters | Score | Date |
| Pairs | Short program | Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN) | 76.66 | 14 February 2010 |
| Pairs | Free skating | Pang Qing / Tong Jian (CHN) | 141.81 | 15 February 2010 |
| Pairs | Total score | Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN) | 216.57 | 15 February 2010 |
| Ladies | Short program | Kim Yuna (KOR) | 78.50 | 23 February 2010 |
| Ladies | Free skating | Kim Yuna (KOR) | 150.06 | 25 February 2010 |
| Ladies | Total score | Kim Yuna (KOR) | 228.56 | 25 February 2010 |
Other records and firsts:
* Kim Yuna's gold medal was South Korea's first Olympic medal in figure skating.
* Daisuke Takahashi's bronze medal was Japan's first Olympic medal in the men's event.
* The pairs team of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won China's first gold medal in figure skating, ending the twelve Olympics winning streak by Soviet and Russian pairs.
* Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the first North American couple to win the ice dance title, ending Europe's 34-year streak. They were the youngest skaters ever to win the ice dance title (aged 20 and 22 years, respectively). They were also the first former World Junior Champion ice dance couple to win the Olympic gold medal, the first ice dance couple to win gold in an Olympic debut, and the first to win an Olympic gold medal on home ice.
* Mao Asada (JPN) set a number of triple Axel firsts and records for the ladies' competition:
** first to land a triple Axel during an Olympic short program;
** first to perform a triple Axel as part of a jump combination in any Olympic figure skating program;
** first to land multiple triple Axels during an Olympic competition;
** first to land multiple triple Axels during a single program in any competition;
** first to land three triple Axels in any competition;
** set an Olympic record (and tied world record) for one triple Axel for short program;
** set a world record for two triple Axels for free program;
** set a world record for three triple Axels in the same competition.

## Participating NOCs

Thirty-one nations contributed figure skaters to the events at Vancouver.
* Australia (1)
* Austria (2)
* Belgium (2)
* Canada (12)
* China (9)
* Czech Republic (4)
* Estonia (5)
* Finland (3)
* France (8)
* Georgia (3)
* Germany (8)
* Great Britain (7)
* Hungary (3)
* Israel (2)
* Italy (9)
* Japan (8)
* Kazakhstan (2)
* North Korea (1)
* Poland (4)
* Romania (1)
* Russia (16)
* Slovakia (1)
* Slovenia (2)
* South Korea (2)
* Spain (2)
* Sweden (1)
* Switzerland (4)
* Turkey (1)
* Ukraine (7)
* United States (15)
* Uzbekistan (1)