Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond during her Olympic short program Feb. 19. (AP/Bernat Armangue)
There were some head-shaking moments Wednesday as the judges' scores went up during the ladies' short program although, in the end, the best skaters will be fighting for medals in the long program Thursday.
Defending Olympic champion Yuna Kim of Korea, who competes every once in awhile when the mood strikes her, was unsurprisingly great in winning it, if perhaps lacking a little in the fire department. Italian veteran Carolina Kostner, 27, had the skate of the night and stands second.
The third skater in the triumvirate, all within a point of each other, who will skate off for gold Thursday is a Russian.
But it's not skating's new darling, Yulia Lipnitskaya, who fell on her triple flip as she got far too close to the boards. Instead, it was Adelina Sotnikova, a 17-year-old consecrated to the remainder bin when Lipnitskaya arrived on the scene this season.
Somehow, Sotnikova finished marginally ahead of Kostner, as if the judges re-purposed some Russian-dedicated points they couldn't give to Lipnitskaya.
Kostner deserved better. Her combination is listed as triple toe/triple toe, and that's what she did in the short program. But she came out in this one and perfectly landed a triple flip/triple toe, a much more difficult proposition.
Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond, who has competed sparingly this year because of injuries, will be a long way from a medal when the women finish up with the long program Thursday, as she stands 13th after the short program. A inexplicable stumble on the relatively simple double axel, after it appeared she had landed it well, hurt her. A failure to complete her triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination, already a weaker combination but made weaker by popping the second one into a double, hurt her more.
Yuna Kim has to be wondering how she does it, competing so little yet delivering every time. (AP/Bernat Armang ...
'I learned that even if my jumps aren't there, I can still do a strong program,' said Osmond, who was happy with all of the other elements, especially the spins. 'For the long program, I need to focus a little more, need to let the natural side of things happen.'
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Canadian Gabrielle Daleman posted 52.61 and stands 18th. Considering how early she skated - third out of 30 - she punched way above her skating weight in her first Olympic appearance. Both Canadians easily made the top-24 cut for the long program.
Canadian Gabrielle Daleman, 16, performed well in her Olympic debut (AP/Darron Cummings)
Kim, skating in the middle of the pack, received 74.92 for her program. It was the best short-program score in skating this season. But it probably wasn't her best effort.
'In the warmup I was nervous, I didn't do my jumps at all,' Kim said afterwards. 'This is my last competition as a figure skater, I'm just going to finish my figure skating career, so I will just try to enjoy it a little, try my best.'
The disappointment on the night was Japanese veteran Mao Asada - yes, in figure skating these days, 23-year-olds are considered veterans.
In her final Olympic skate, Asada decided to throw a Hail Mary pass, the triple axel no other woman has, a jump that she lands regularly in practice but struggles with in competition.
It's far more than a calculated risk; it's a crazy risk. Asada either gets full props for trying to push the envelope technically in the ladies' game. Or perhaps she figured that the top skaters were so strong, she had absolutely no shot at beating them without it.
Either way, it backfired so badly on Asada that she received marks she probably hasn't seen since novice, and stands 16th. She almost landed it. But she didn't. And then her triple loop-double loop combination turned into ... a double loop. Period.
As for Lipnitskaya, it was only the second time she has fallen on a jump all season. She looked as bemused and confused, and ticked off, as anyone in the arena. She also, for one of those rare times, looked very much the 15-year-old she actually is when she steps off the ice and takes off her Superwoman cape. It wasn't just that missed the jump - she completely butchered it.
Russia's Yulia Lipnitskaya practically face plants during the women's short program Wednesday. (AP/Darron Cumm ...
Nearly 10 points behind the leaders, she has virtually no shot at a medal but sits fifth, in a de facto battle for fourth place with Americans Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold.
Wagner ended up .02 behind Lipnitskaya after a strong program marred by a two-foot landing on the second jump of her combination. And that's where another of those head-shaking judges' decisions came in. Wagner may have two-footed a jump. But Lipnitskaya went face first, butt in the air, practically into the boards. The short program is supposed to be merciless whan an element is missed. Here, not so much, apparently.
All three will have to skate their best and hope that the second Russian, Sotnikova - who along with her coaches was as stunned as anyone by the impressive marks bestowed upon her - drops down enough to give them a shot.
As Wagner said to her coach after her skate, 'Tomorrow's gonna be fun!'
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