I watched the ladies’ figure skating short program until the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t go to bed until Mao Asada had skated. And as much as she is Kim Yuna’s rival, I feel bad for her getting such a low score. She fell on her triple axel, but I admire her for being the lone female figure skater who attempts that difficult jump. When other skaters played safe, she didn’t.
In the morning, I saw the judges’ tally on a Korean portal site. It shows that one judge gave Kim Yuna a GOE of 0 on her triple flip jump. She got the same base value as the Russian skater, but a lower GOE on a jump she that she has always executed correctly.
Was Kim Yuna underscored and Adelina Sotnikova overscored? That is what sports analysts are saying…
Liz Clarke of the Washington Post wrote: “Skating to “Send in the Clowns,†Kim followed the basic technical script she executed so masterfully en route to gold in Vancouver. But unlike so many rivals aspiring to her throne, she didn’t perform the difficult jumps — triple Lutz-triple toe combination, triple flip and double Axel — as a sequence of points-based elements. Instead, she wove them into a seamless dance on ice, its technical rigor masked by the confidence behind it.
No jump seemed beyond Kim’s reach; there were no errant takeoffs, no shaky landings to put the audience on edge. She was a skater in full command. And she was awarded 74.92 points to take the lead heading into Thursday’s free skate, which will crown the 2014 Olympic champion.
Read the full story here.”
For Adelina Sotnikova’s performance, Tony Manfred of the Business Insider wrote “Despite a slightly less difficult program than Kim’s, Sotnikova outscored the South Korean in the technical score area, and stayed within 0.3 points in the subjective component score area.” (Read the full text.) Slightly hinting that the Russian skater was over scored.
And more… “”That was very, very, very generous by the judges,” Weir said after Sotnikova’s score of 74.64 was announced, suggesting that perhaps the home crowd and raucous reaction to her skate influenced the judges.” (Read the full article)
From Chicago Tribune: “There was no way to explain how Sotnikova is so close to Kim. Her jumps were of substantially lower difficulty, and she must have thought “Carmen†was a 100-meter runner, given an interpretation of Bizet’s music that consisted of racing pell-mell around the rink.” (Full article)
In USA Today: ” How in the world Sotnikova ended up ahead of Kostner, whose poise and lyricism is light years ahead of the Russian’s, is anyone’s guess.” (Full article)
And from the LA Times: “With Sotnikova, appreciative recipient of some home-cooked judging that provided her the highest technical score of the night?” (Full article)
Anyway, the ladies free skate program is only a few minutes away. Kim Yuna is the last skater at number 24. This is going to be another long night for us here in Korea. Three free channels are broadcasting live from Sochi: SBS, KBS2 and MBC.
I hope Mao Asada recovers. I want to see her on the podium with Kim Yuna ;p
Fighting!