# Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics – Ladies' singles

The ladies' single skating competition of the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia. The short program took place on 19 February 2014, and the free skating took place on 20 February. Adelina Sotnikova of Russia won the gold medal, generating much controversy over the partiality of the judges and the new scoring system.

## Result and subsequent debate

With an overall score of 224.59 points, seventeen-year-old Adelina Sotnikova became one of the youngest figure-skating Olympic champions, edging out silver-medalist and defending-champion Yuna Kim and bronze-medalist Carolina Kostner.
After the short program, Kim was in first place, .28 points ahead of Sotnikova. In the free-skate program, Sotnikova performed, in terms of base points, a more challenging routine than Kim, giving her more opportunities for points. In addition to more triple jumps and more difficult footwork (as determined by the caller), Sotnikova performed a double Axel-triple toe loop, challenging combination that Kim did not attempt. However, Sotnikova's routine also featured a relatively significant error—she stepped out of a jumping combination— while Kim's program was executed without any glaring missteps. The judges assessed Kim's free-skate program as having demonstrated greater artistry; her component score was .09 points higher than Sotnikova's. But Sotnikova's base technical score (a measurement of the difficulty of executed moves) was 3.94 points higher than Kim's, and her grade of execution score (based on the average technical evaluation of each element, examining whether the proper edge was used, the speed carried into and out of a jump, jump positioning, and more) was scored 1.91 points higher.
The result sparked a debate over the judges' objectivity, spurred in part by the composition of the judging panel, which included judges from four former Soviet bloc nations, including Russia. The Russian judge, Alla Shekhovtsova, was one of several people Sotnikova embraced prior to the flower ceremony. Over 1.7 million people signed a Change.org petition calling for an investigation into the outcome. That petition attracted a million signatures faster than any previous Change.org petition; at one point, it was attracting 100,000 new signatures every 15 minutes, with 90% of signatures coming from inside Korea.
Several commentators attributed the result to the revised scoring system that had been adopted in 2006, a system generally thought to "favor mathematics at the expense of artistry": Alice Park, writing for Time, suggested that, contrary to popular belief, Sotnikova's surprising win was a consequence of objectivity rather than subjectivity: specifically, she argued, the redesigned scoring system heavily rewarded technical difficulty, giving a substantial advantage to those with more challenging starting programs, while de-emphasizing the judge's impression of performers. Bryan Armen Graham, writing for The Atlantic, contended that the polarized reaction to the result was due to a generational gap brought about by the changed scoring system, saying, "Those who came up watching figure skating under the old 6.0 system are probably accustomed to more leeway in the judging." Some in the skating community also seemed to take this view: While noting that she "personally enjoyed Yuna Kim's performance more," Michelle Kwan, two-time Olympic medalist and five-time World champion, stated, "Under the scoring system, hands down, Adelina won." Four-time men's champion Kurt Browning said that "Yuna Kim outskated [Sotnikova], but it's not just a skating competition anymore—it's math." And Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion, said that, while Sotnikova's skating was not as aesthetically pleasing as Kim's, her athletic style "check[ed] off every box" and "d[id] everything the judges are looking for."
Beyond the scoring system, the results seemed to divide former professional skaters: Katarina Witt, a two-time Olympic champion, said, "I am stunned by this result, I don't understand the scoring." Two-time bronze medalist Michael Weiss attributed Sotnikova's scores to "home-field inflation." But three-time world champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko said that the result "was totally fair," as "Kim didn't have enough technical ammunition." And Alexei Mishin, the Russian 1969 world medalist and coach to three Olympic champions, said that "Sotnikova's victory [was] absolutely natural and objective," and claimed that "some are [simply] jealous of Sotnikova's success."

### 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 declared confidence "in the high quality and integrity of the ISU judging system", noting "judges were selected by random drawing from a pool of 13 potential judges" and that all nine judges on the free skating panel were from different nations.
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.
On 30 April, the KOC and KSU filed a second official complaint with the DC. This time the complaint was against Russian judge Alla Shekhovtsova and the 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.

## Records

For complete list of figure skating records, see list of highest scores in figure skating.
The following ISU season best scores (2013–2014) were set during this competition:
| Component | Skaters | Score | Date |
| Short program | Yuna Kim (KOR) | 74.92 | 19 February 2014 |
| Free skating | Adelina Sotnikova (RUS) | 149.95 | 20 February 2014 |
| Total score | Adelina Sotnikova (RUS) | 224.59 | 20 February 2014 |

## Schedule

All dates and times are (UTC+4).
| Date | Time | Round |
| 19 February 2014 | 19:00 | Short program |
| 20 February 2014 | 19:00 | Free skating |

## Results
### Short program

The short program (SP) took place on 19 February 2014.
| Pl. | Name | Nation | TSS | TES | PCS | SS | TR | PE | CH | IN | Ded | StN |
| 1 | Yuna Kim | South Korea | 74.92 | 39.03 | 35.89 | 9.04 | 8.61 | 9.11 | 8.89 | 9.21 | 0.00 | 17 |
| 2 | Adelina Sotnikova | Russia | 74.64 | 39.09 | 35.55 | 8.82 | 8.57 | 9.11 | 8.89 | 9.04 | 0.00 | 29 |
| 3 | Carolina Kostner | Italy | 74.12 | 37.49 | 36.63 | 9.00 | 8.79 | 9.36 | 9.25 | 9.39 | 0.00 | 26 |
| 4 | Gracie Gold | United States | 68.63 | 36.55 | 32.08 | 8.04 | 7.71 | 8.14 | 8.04 | 8.18 | 0.00 | 22 |
| 5 | Yulia Lipnitskaya | Russia | 65.23 | 33.15 | 33.08 | 8.43 | 8.07 | 8.14 | 8.43 | 8.29 | –1.00 | 25 |
| 6 | Ashley Wagner | United States | 65.21 | 31.43 | 33.78 | 8.39 | 8.11 | 8.61 | 8.50 | 8.61 | 0.00 | 27 |
| 7 | Polina Edmunds | United States | 61.04 | 32.98 | 28.06 | 7.11 | 6.71 | 7.21 | 6.93 | 7.11 | 0.00 | 12 |
| 8 | Akiko Suzuki | Japan | 60.97 | 28.71 | 32.26 | 8.18 | 7.79 | 8.00 | 8.11 | 8.25 | 0.00 | 24 |
| 9 | Maé-Bérénice Méité | France | 58.63 | 30.83 | 27.80 | 7.07 | 6.64 | 7.04 | 6.93 | 7.07 | 0.00 | 28 |
| 10 | Nathalie Weinzierl | Germany | 57.63 | 31.94 | 25.69 | 6.50 | 6.14 | 6.57 | 6.36 | 6.54 | 0.00 | 18 |
| 11 | Li Zijun | China | 57.55 | 30.01 | 27.54 | 7.07 | 6.57 | 6.96 | 6.89 | 6.93 | 0.00 | 23 |
| 12 | Valentina Marchei | Italy | 57.02 | 27.52 | 29.50 | 7.32 | 7.04 | 7.54 | 7.36 | 7.61 | 0.00 | 21 |
| 13 | Kaetlyn Osmond | Canada | 56.18 | 27.51 | 28.67 | 7.18 | 6.96 | 7.18 | 7.14 | 7.39 | 0.00 | 8 |
| 14 | Zhang Kexin | China | 55.80 | 32.68 | 23.12 | 6.11 | 5.61 | 5.79 | 5.75 | 5.64 | 0.00 | 7 |
| 15 | Kanako Murakami | Japan | 55.60 | 26.72 | 28.88 | 7.39 | 6.93 | 7.25 | 7.21 | 7.32 | 0.00 | 20 |
| 16 | Mao Asada | Japan | 55.51 | 22.63 | 33.88 | 8.57 | 8.29 | 8.14 | 8.64 | 8.71 | –1.00 | 30 |
| 17 | Elene Gedevanishvili | Georgia | 54.70 | 27.51 | 27.19 | 6.89 | 6.50 | 6.89 | 6.71 | 7.00 | 0.00 | 16 |
| 18 | Kim Hae-jin | South Korea | 54.37 | 29.23 | 25.14 | 6.54 | 5.89 | 6.39 | 6.11 | 6.50 | 0.00 | 11 |
| 19 | Gabrielle Daleman | Canada | 52.61 | 28.07 | 24.54 | 6.32 | 5.93 | 6.11 | 6.14 | 6.18 | 0.00 | 3 |
| 20 | Elizaveta Ukolova | Czech Republic | 51.87 | 29.72 | 22.15 | 5.64 | 5.32 | 5.61 | 5.61 | 5.50 | 0.00 | 14 |
| 21 | Nicole Rajičová | Slovakia | 49.80 | 26.63 | 23.17 | 5.89 | 5.50 | 5.93 | 5.79 | 5.86 | 0.00 | 13 |
| 22 | Brooklee Han | Australia | 49.32 | 26.37 | 22.95 | 5.82 | 5.54 | 5.86 | 5.68 | 5.79 | 0.00 | 9 |
| 23 | Park So-youn | South Korea | 49.14 | 25.35 | 23.79 | 6.14 | 5.68 | 6.00 | 5.89 | 6.04 | 0.00 | 2 |
| 24 | Anne Line Gjersem | Norway | 48.56 | 26.13 | 22.43 | 5.68 | 5.36 | 5.71 | 5.50 | 5.79 | 0.00 | 15 |
| Did not advance to free skating |||||||||||||
| 25 | Jenna McCorkell | Great Britain | 48.34 | 25.34 | 23.00 | 5.89 | 5.36 | 6.04 | 5.71 | 5.75 | 0.00 | 5 |
| 26 | Kerstin Frank | Austria | 48.00 | 26.64 | 21.36 | 5.61 | 5.14 | 5.39 | 5.39 | 5.18 | 0.00 | 6 |
| 27 | Viktoria Helgesson | Sweden | 47.84 | 21.83 | 27.01 | 7.11 | 6.57 | 6.50 | 6.82 | 6.75 | –1.00 | 19 |
| 28 | Natalia Popova | Ukraine | 47.42 | 24.30 | 23.12 | 6.00 | 5.54 | 5.82 | 5.82 | 5.71 | 0.00 | 4 |
| 29 | Jelena Glebova | Estonia | 46.19 | 22.59 | 23.60 | 6.11 | 5.75 | 5.89 | 5.89 | 5.86 | 0.00 | 1 |
| 30 | Isadora Williams | Brazil | 40.37 | 18.93 | 21.44 | 5.39 | 5.14 | 5.39 | 5.39 | 5.50 | 0.00 | 10 |
* TSS - Total Segment Score; TES - Technical Element Score; PCS - Program Component Score; SS - Skating Skills; TR - Transitions; PE - Performance/Execution
* CH - Choreography; IN - Interpretation; Ded - Deduction; StN - Starting Number

### Free skating

The Free skating took place on 20 February 2014.
| Pl. | Name | Nation | TSS | TES | PCS | SS | TR | PE | CH | IN | Ded | StN |
| 1 | Adelina Sotnikova | Russia | 149.95 | 75.54 | 74.41 | 9.18 | 8.96 | 9.43 | 9.50 | 9.43 | 0.00 | 21 |
| 2 | Yuna Kim | South Korea | 144.19 | 69.69 | 74.50 | 9.21 | 8.96 | 9.43 | 9.39 | 9.57 | 0.00 | 24 |
| 3 | Mao Asada | Japan | 142.71 | 73.03 | 69.68 | 8.75 | 8.36 | 8.79 | 8.79 | 8.86 | 0.00 | 12 |
| 4 | Carolina Kostner | Italy | 142.61 | 68.84 | 73.77 | 9.14 | 8.71 | 9.43 | 9.21 | 9.61 | 0.00 | 20 |
| 5 | Gracie Gold | United States | 136.90 | 69.57 | 68.33 | 8.57 | 8.25 | 8.61 | 8.64 | 8.64 | –1.00 | 22 |
| 6 | Yulia Lipnitskaya | Russia | 135.34 | 66.28 | 70.06 | 8.68 | 8.46 | 8.68 | 9.00 | 8.96 | –1.00 | 19 |
| 7 | Ashley Wagner | United States | 127.99 | 61.07 | 66.92 | 8.46 | 8.07 | 8.50 | 8.36 | 8.43 | 0.00 | 23 |
| 8 | Akiko Suzuki | Japan | 125.35 | 60.57 | 65.78 | 8.36 | 7.82 | 8.21 | 8.29 | 8.43 | –1.00 | 15 |
| 9 | Polina Edmunds | United States | 122.21 | 63.02 | 60.19 | 7.54 | 7.29 | 7.57 | 7.61 | 7.61 | –1.00 | 17 |
| 10 | Valentina Marchei | Italy | 116.31 | 55.56 | 60.75 | 7.46 | 7.18 | 7.75 | 7.71 | 7.86 | 0.00 | 16 |
| 11 | Maé-Bérénice Méité | France | 115.90 | 60.86 | 56.04 | 7.11 | 6.57 | 7.14 | 7.07 | 7.14 | –1.00 | 14 |
| 12 | Kanako Murakami | Japan | 115.38 | 56.96 | 58.42 | 7.54 | 6.93 | 7.36 | 7.32 | 7.36 | 0.00 | 10 |
| 13 | Kaetlyn Osmond | Canada | 112.80 | 55.97 | 57.83 | 7.25 | 6.96 | 7.32 | 7.25 | 7.36 | –1.00 | 7 |
| 14 | Li Zijun | China | 110.75 | 55.79 | 54.96 | 7.04 | 6.57 | 6.82 | 6.96 | 6.96 | 0.00 | 13 |
| 15 | Zhang Kexin | China | 98.41 | 49.84 | 48.57 | 6.43 | 5.71 | 6.11 | 6.14 | 5.96 | 0.00 | 11 |
| 16 | Gabrielle Daleman | Canada | 95.83 | 48.40 | 47.43 | 6.11 | 5.75 | 5.82 | 6.00 | 5.96 | 0.00 | 3 |
| 17 | Kim Hae-jin | South Korea | 95.11 | 45.25 | 50.86 | 6.61 | 6.07 | 6.29 | 6.50 | 6.32 | –1.00 | 9 |
| 18 | Brooklee Han | Australia | 94.52 | 48.71 | 46.81 | 6.00 | 5.43 | 5.96 | 5.86 | 6.00 | –1.00 | 2 |
| 19 | Park So-youn | South Korea | 93.83 | 48.72 | 46.11 | 6.04 | 5.50 | 5.82 | 5.75 | 5.71 | –1.00 | 1 |
| 20 | Elene Gedevanishvili | Georgia | 92.45 | 39.85 | 53.60 | 6.93 | 6.32 | 6.75 | 6.75 | 6.75 | –1.00 | 8 |
| 21 | Nathalie Weinzierl | Germany | 89.73 | 38.47 | 52.26 | 6.71 | 6.39 | 6.46 | 6.64 | 6.46 | –1.00 | 18 |
| 22 | Anne Line Gjersem | Norway | 85.98 | 41.24 | 44.74 | 5.64 | 5.32 | 5.61 | 5.71 | 5.68 | 0.00 | 5 |
| 23 | Elizaveta Ukolova | Czech Republic | 84.55 | 42.94 | 43.61 | 5.61 | 5.29 | 5.29 | 5.68 | 5.39 | –2.00 | 4 |
| 24 | Nicole Rajičová | Slovakia | 75.20 | 30.39 | 45.81 | 5.82 | 5.54 | 5.50 | 5.89 | 5.89 | –1.00 | 6 |
* TSS - Total Segment Score; TES - Technical Element Score; PCS - Program Component Score; SS - Skating Skills; TR - Transitions; PE - Performance/Execution
* CH - Choreography; IN - Interpretation; Ded - Deduction; StN - Starting Number
* Skaters perform in groups of six. After the first two groups (12 skaters), the rink is re-iced.

### Overall

The skaters are ranked according to their overall score.
| Rank | Name | Nation | TP | SP | SP | FS | FS |
| | Adelina Sotnikova | Russia | 224.59 | 2 | 74.64 | 1 | 149.95 |
| | Yuna Kim | South Korea | 219.11 | 1 | 74.92 | 2 | 144.19 |
| | Carolina Kostner | Italy | 216.73 | 3 | 74.12 | 4 | 142.61 |
| 4 | Gracie Gold | United States | 205.53 | 4 | 68.63 | 5 | 136.90 |
| 5 | Yulia Lipnitskaya | Russia | 200.57 | 5 | 65.23 | 6 | 135.34 |
| 6 | Mao Asada | Japan | 198.22 | 16 | 55.51 | 3 | 142.71 |
| 7 | Ashley Wagner | United States | 193.20 | 6 | 65.21 | 7 | 127.99 |
| 8 | Akiko Suzuki | Japan | 186.32 | 8 | 60.97 | 8 | 125.35 |
| 9 | Polina Edmunds | United States | 183.25 | 7 | 61.04 | 9 | 122.21 |
| 10 | Maé-Bérénice Méité | France | 174.53 | 9 | 58.63 | 11 | 115.90 |
| 11 | Valentina Marchei | Italy | 173.33 | 12 | 57.02 | 10 | 116.31 |
| 12 | Kanako Murakami | Japan | 170.98 | 15 | 55.60 | 12 | 115.38 |
| 13 | Kaetlyn Osmond | Canada | 168.98 | 13 | 56.18 | 13 | 112.80 |
| 14 | Li Zijun | China | 168.30 | 11 | 57.55 | 14 | 110.75 |
| 15 | Zhang Kexin | China | 154.21 | 14 | 55.80 | 15 | 98.41 |
| 16 | Kim Hae-jin | South Korea | 149.48 | 18 | 54.37 | 17 | 95.11 |
| 17 | Gabrielle Daleman | Canada | 148.44 | 19 | 52.61 | 16 | 95.83 |
| 18 | Nathalie Weinzierl | Germany | 147.36 | 10 | 57.63 | 21 | 89.73 |
| 19 | Elene Gedevanishvili | Georgia | 147.15 | 17 | 54.70 | 20 | 92.45 |
| 20 | Brooklee Han | Australia | 143.84 | 22 | 49.32 | 18 | 94.52 |
| 21 | Park So-youn | South Korea | 142.97 | 23 | 49.14 | 19 | 93.83 |
| 22 | Elizaveta Ukolova | Czech Republic | 136.42 | 20 | 51.87 | 23 | 84.55 |
| 23 | Anne Line Gjersem | Norway | 134.54 | 24 | 48.56 | 22 | 85.98 |
| 24 | Nicole Rajičová | Slovakia | 125.00 | 21 | 49.80 | 24 | 75.20 |
| Did not advance to free skating ||||||||
| 25 | Jenna McCorkell | Great Britain | 48.34 | 25 | 48.34 | — | — |
| 26 | Kerstin Frank | Austria | 48.00 | 26 | 48.00 | — | — |
| 27 | Viktoria Helgesson | Sweden | 47.84 | 27 | 47.84 | — | — |
| 28 | Natalia Popova | Ukraine | 47.42 | 28 | 47.42 | — | — |
| 29 | Jelena Glebova | Estonia | 46.19 | 29 | 46.19 | — | — |
| 30 | Isadora Williams | Brazil | 40.37 | 30 | 40.37 | — | — |

## Judges and officials

Short Program judges
Judge 1: Robert Rosenbluth Judge 2: Karen Howard Judge 3: Franco Benini Judge 4: Birgit Föll Judge 5: Diana Stevens Judge 6: Nobuhiko Yoshioka Judge 7: Katarina Henriksson Judge 8: Adriana Domanska Judge 9: Koh Sung-Hee
Free Skating judges
Judge 1: Birgit Föll Judge 2: Yuri Balkov Judge 3: Franco Benini Judge 4: Zanna Kulik Judge 5: Nobuhiko Yoshioka Judge 6: Alla Shekhovtsova Judge 7: Hélène Cucuphat Judge 8: Karen Howard Judge 9: Adriana Domanska
* Technical controller: Alexander Lakernik
* Technical specialist: Vanessa Gusmeroli
* Assistant technical specialist: Olga Baranova
* Referee: Diana Barbacci Levy
* Data operator: David Santee
* Replay operator: Alexander Kuznetsov