When Silver Shines Brighter

Written By Buddy! Magazine
9251608178228_.pic.jpg

Olivia Xiao (ISB 10)

Olivia Xiao has been an avid figure skating fan since the beginning of quarantine. Her favorite skaters include Nathan Chen, Yuna Kim, Yuzuru Hanyu, Mao Asada, and many more.

Though she was very late to the Sochi scandal, she was quickly infuriated by the injustice and decided to write an article to roast the ISU as any true figure skating fan would.

Yuna Kim at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Yuna Kim at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Adelina Sotnikova at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Adelina Sotnikova at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

“She’s in the loneliest place she could be at the moment- the last performer in the figure skating event in the Sochi Olympic Winter Games, defending her gold medal,”

says the commentator as Yuna Kim glides onto the ice. She skates a perfect free program, and combined with her flawless short, everyone expects her to win the gold. But when the scores are announced, she is in second place. Fans, commentators, and even other famous figure skaters were furious at this injustice. How did this occur?

In the short program, Kim skated to “Send in the Clowns,” a perfect representation of the clownery that was the judges’ scoring. Her program was subjectively the best short program in figure skating history, and objectively technically perfect. She landed a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, one of the hardest combinations attempted by women figure skaters during that time. In addition, she also had a perfect double axel and triple flip, both with textbook technique. This put her in first place with a score of 74.92. However, to everyone’s surprise, Adelina Sotnikova (who would eventually beat Kim in the free and in the competition) received a score of 74.64.

“That is very very generous from the judging panel,”

stated a commentator, and one could hear the raised eyebrow in his voice. The difference of 0.28 points was nonsensically minuscule after comparing the two performances. Sotnikova completed a triple toe-triple toe combination, the easiest triple-triple combination in figure skating. The jump was relatively well-executed, covering great distance, but it had a lean on the axis of the first toe. This jump was given a higher Grade of Execution (GOE) by the judges compared to Kim’s triple Lutz-triple toe, which not only has a much higher difficulty but was also executed slightly better. Additionally, Sotnikova’s flip had a problematic edge. The textbook technique requires a slight inside edge for this flip (which Kim had), but Sotnikova transitioned to a deep inside edge before picking, which is an incorrect technique. Astoundingly, she was not penalized at all and even received a GOE higher than Kim’s by 0.10.

A graphic depicting outside, inside, and flat edges in figure skates.

A graphic depicting outside, inside, and flat edges in figure skates.

Kim’s (left) correct Lutz with a deep outside edge, compared to Sotnikova’s (right) “Flutz” (informal term for a problematic Lutz that is like a flip because of its incorrect inside edge).

Kim’s (left) correct Lutz with a deep outside edge, compared to Sotnikova’s (right) “Flutz” (informal term for a problematic Lutz that is like a flip because of its incorrect inside edge).

The next day in Sochi, it was time for the free skate, which is longer than the short program and also has more required elements. Sotnikova skated a decent program, one that someone at her young age of 17 should be proud of, but it was definitely not a gold medal-winning program. Afterwards, Kim skated a flawless free program. Her biggest “mistake” was a little bit of a tight landing on her triple Lutz — when that is your biggest mistake, you usually win. In stark contrast, Sotnikova had a flip with incorrect edges and a simple Lutz, neither of which were called out by the judges. She also had a two-footed landing on the last jump of her triple flip-double toe-double loop, which was only given a minimal deduction. Immediately after her huge score of 149.95 was released, the commentators once again expressed their surprise.

“Not sure if I agree with [the component score],”

one said. If the live commentators saw something so off that they spoke about it right then and there, then there was definitely a problem with the scoring.


Kim received a score of only 144.19.


“No! No! No!”
shouted the Italian commentators.
“Why are they ruining it? Why are they ruining our sport? I like Adelina, but this...this is robbery!”
The only element in which Sotnikova was superior to Kim was spins, but you cannot win Olympic gold with just some cool turns.

Scoring inflation by the judges was also a large part of why the scores of Kim and Sotnikova were unjust. Because the Olympics were held in Russia, they wanted a Russian champion. That was possible in ladies figure skating with Yulia Lipnitskaya, a talented young Russian skater. However, she had an unfortunate short program that put her out of running for the gold medal. The judges then turned to Sotnikova. In order for her to win, they heavily inflated her scores. Compared to her identical short program at a previous competition, Sotnikova received 4.70 more points in the program component score. All the GOEs for her technical elements score were also inflated, even though her execution at Sochi and the previous competition were identical. In comparison, Kim only had a 0.89 point increase in her program component score compared to a previous competition with the same program. The reason for this inflation was to close the gap between Sotnikova and Kim in the short program and to make some room for possible mistakes in the free skate. This way, Sotnikova could “beat” Kim in the free, and overall, securing her “gold medal.”

In the free skate, Sotnikova’s scores were once again inflated by the judges. Compared to the same previous competition, Sotnikova’s step sequence was upgraded from a level 3 to a 4. The skating was identical, so there was no reason for this bonus. In addition, the GOEs for other elements were also inflated. In total, Sotnikova received 10.89 more points for technical elements at Sochi, even though her program and execution were almost identical, with actually more mistakes made at Sochi. Her program component score was increased by 9.76, while Kim’s increased by only 2.98. This selective inflation is absolutely cheating and shows that the judges altered the scores to favor their preferred athlete at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

In addition to the technical component, I believe Kim was also superior to Sotnikova in terms of interpretation and artistry. For starters, Kim’s short program was graceful and emotional, filled with detail and perfectly placed jumps. Sotnikova’s wasn’t terrible, but I just really hated her version of “Carmen” with the harsh piano. In the free skate, Sotnikova’s music was much better, but Kim still possessed more artistry. And in her skate to “Adios Nonino,” Kim expressed a wide range of emotions flawlessly, with perfect interpretation of the music. While I watched her, I could feel a sense of nostalgia and finality as she skated the final program of her career. The program is one of my favorites, and Kim truly gave the performance of her life. On the other hand, I did not feel much when watching Sotnikova’s step and choreo sequences. This cannot be blamed on the skater completely; it is expected for Kim to be more mature, as she was 23 years old while Sotnikova was only 17. However, Kim’s perfect artistry was not rewarded by the judges. Many famous figure skaters including Katarina Witt, a double Olympic gold medalist, were angry at the scores and thought they were extremely unfair.

After the scandal, Sotnikova received a great amount of hate. I even experienced this myself, 6 years after the event. A few months ago when the Olympic channel on YouTube boldly decided to stream the ladies short program in Sochi, the premiere chat was filled with hateful messages when Sotnikova skated. Although I do believe Sotnikova was over-scored and did not deserve to win Olympic gold, I also think that she does not deserve all this hate. She was only a teen when she won, and regardless of the bribery and cheating she may or may not have been a part of, she did not deserve the disgusting messages aimed at her. This anger should be directed at the judges and the International Skating Union (ISU) as a whole. Figure skating judging is extremely problematic, and you aren’t a real fan unless you hate the ISU. Even today, it is clear that the judges favor some skaters over others, which causes over-scoring and under-scoring. This is unfair to all the skaters, whether they’re underscored, which causes them to miss out on medals, or if they’re over-scored, which makes skating fans hate them even though it’s the ISU’s fault.

Overall, it is clear that Adelina Sotnikova’s victory at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics was unjust and Yuna Kim deserved to win. However, Sotnikova does not deserve all the hate that she received, as she was not at fault for the scandal. Instead, the judges and ISU as a whole should be held accountable for their bias for and against certain skaters. Figure skating is a great sport that combines athleticism and artistry, but the corrupt judging system is ruining it. This problem must be solved in order to better the sport for both athletes and fans.

Buddy! Magazine
Previous

How to “Draw Well”, By Someone Who Can’t
Next

Perfect Korean Ramyun 101