Russian Is Upset Winner in Women's Figure Skating

SOCHI, Russia - Many expected a Russian to contend for a gold medal in women's figure skating at the Sochi Games, but hardly anyone expected that it would be Adelina Sotnikova.

Overlooked by her own country earlier at the Olympic team event, Sotnikova, 17, waited patiently and calmly for the singles competition and delivered a sophisticated performance on Thursday to win the long program in a major upset over the 2010 champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea.

Sotnikova landed seven triple jumps to six for Kim and scored more than five points higher in the mark for technical elements, winning the long program with 149.95 points. She finished with 224.59 overall points.

Kim skated a calm and poised tango routine and finished with 144.19 points in the long program, but she did not attempt a triple loop or a double axel, triple toe loop combination as did Sotnikova. Also Kim did not receive the highest level for her step sequence or her layback spin. She took the silver medal with 219.11 collective points.

Despite all that, a debate will likely roil the sport again, with Kim's legions of fans contending that she deserved another gold.

'It was totally fair,' said Elvis Stojko, the two-time Olympic silver medalist from Canada. 'Adelina was ready. Kim didn't have enough technical ammunition.'

Carolina Kostner, 27, of Italy, overcame collapses at the past two Olympics to win the bronze medal in an encouraging story of perseverance. She was calm and joyous Thursday after falling three times in the long program at the 2010 Vancouver Games and finishing 16th after completing only one triple jump.

Gracie Gold, 18, the American champion, fell on a triple flip but took fourth place.

After Wednesday's short program, Sotnikova and Kostner trailed Kim by less than a point. On Thursday, Sotnikova's only obvious mistake was a two-footed landing at the end of a triple-flip, double-toe loop, double loop combination.

When she finished her four-minute routine, she put her hands to her face in realization that she might win the gold medal.

Russia has a prominent, even dominant, place in international skating, but until Thursday no Russian woman had won an Olympic gold medal in singles competition.

Sotnikova's victory also confirmed Russia's re-emergence in international figure skating after it failed to win a single gold medal for the first time in five decades at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

It is the only country to have won every discipline in Olympic figure skating: the team event, pairs, men's and women's singles and ice dancing.

Earlier at the Sochi Games, Russia won the team and pairs events, but those triumphs came with the expectation of being a favorite. It was a different story for Sotnikova.

Even though she is a four-time Russian champion, having won her first national title at age 12, Sotnikova had been overshadowed lately by a teammate, Yulia Lipnitskaya, 15, whose unexpectedly quick ascent brought her the European championship last month.

Given a choice, Lipnitskaya performed the short and long program of the women's portion of the Olympic team event. She became an international sensation with her flexibility and wondrous spins as Russia won the gold medal.

Meanwhile, Sotnikova kept training out of the glare of publicity. On Wednesday, in the traditional women's short program, Lipnitskaya fell on a triple flip and crashed into fifth place. She later said that she found it hot in the Iceberg Skating Palace and difficult to breathe. She fell again in the long program and finished fifth over all.

Sotnikova, meanwhile, buzzed around the ice during the short program with strength and energy in a performance to 'Carmen.' She received a higher technical score than Kim and found herself in second place by less than a point.

It may not have been a familiarly artistic performance to 'Carmen.' But it was a routine adapted perfectly to today's scoring system, which is a kind of scavenger hunt for accumulated points, where every jump, spin and change of edge is given a numerical value like a cholesterol count.

In Thursday's long program, Sotnikova performed in a more refined style to a violin piece called 'Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.' She is a balletic jumper and a terrific spinner, and the home crowd was loudly behind her, particularly in the wake of Russia's premature exit from the Olympic men's hockey competition.

'She's not as aesthetically pleasing to watch as Yu-na Kim or Carolina Kostner, but looking through all the criteria, she answers every one of them,' said Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion. 'It has truly become a numbers game, and you've got to make sure everything is accounted for.'

In the past, Sotnikova has sometimes had trouble keeping her emotion under control in the long program. But she performed here with a blinkered determination that hid any sense of nervousness.

'It's a shock, but I think it reminds everyone that the Olympics, you can't predict,' said Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic champion. 'Everyone is dealing with this pressure and the way that makes you skate and react, no one can know for sure.'

At age 4, Sotnikova began skating in Moscow. Eight years later, in 2008, she became Russia's national champion. That a 12-year-old would be the best female skater in Russia was a sign that it was still struggling athletically after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Rinks closed, government financing dried up, many coaches left the country and many parents did not have the disposable income to pay for skating lessons.

But Sotnikova's emergence also confirmed that, as the standard of living rose in Russia, a new group of top-flight young skaters had begun emerging.

'Figure skating is not a hobby,' Sotnikova told a Russian sports website last year. 'It's my work, which I want to do and do well.'

Among her inspirations is a younger sister, Maria, who is said to have a rare syndrome that affects the development of bones and tissue of the face and has required surgery.

'Adelina from a young age has felt the responsibility because she is the only person in the family who can gain such big money,' said Elena Vaytsekhovskaya, a columnist for Sport Express, a sports newspaper, who was the 1976 Olympic champion in platform diving for the Soviet Union. 'She is very serious, very smart.'