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http://bentleyvanguard.com/2014/02/27/4688046/
Fixing scandal befalls Sochi Women’s Figure Skating
By Meagan Lieu
The 2014 Women’s Figure Skating Competition for the Sochi Winter Olympics was held in the Iceberg Skating Palace where, as people all around the world already know, displeasure has been amplified even more with the results of the competition. Gold medal favorite, 23 year-old South Korean Yuna Kim, has been repeatedly reported to have been robbed of a gold medal by Russia’s own Adelina Sotnikova.
Sotnikova, 17, was originally behind Kim at the end of the short program, but came out on top after the free skate. Many believed that since Kim completed her program without any major blunders, she would ultimately come out on top. Sotnikova, however, surprised the world by winning gold even after almost falling during one of her programs.
Sotnikova, winning by a mere 5.48 points, was not even on the radar before entering the Olympics. Kim was already highly anticipated to be the top star with Russia’s 15 year-old wunderkind Julia Lipnitskaia being her biggest competitor. However, Lipnitskaia’s fall during her short program proved to be the fatal blow in her chances for a medal. She managed to place 5th after the short program, beating out American Ashley Wagner. Wagner, who placed 6th after the short program, is noted for speaking out against the ridiculousness that a skater who fell could somehow manage to be ranked higher than a skater with a clean program.
Aside from the judges being possibly too generous to Lipnitskaia, popular opinion is heavily focused on the surprising victory of Adelina Sotnikova. As South Korean outlets first reported, two of the judges who scored the ice skating events have possible conflicts of interest.
Alla Shekhovtseva, wife of the general director of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, is one of the judges caught up in the storm of complaints stemming from the results. Footage from the event shows Shekhovtseva as being one of the first to congratulate Sotnikova. The two shared a warm embrace after Sotnikova’s program; their apparently close relationship has caused onlookers to cry foul.
Another judge causing the public to question the results is Ukraine’s Yury Balkov. During the 1998 Winter Olympics hosted in Nagano, Japan, Balkov was caught attempting to rig the ice skating competition. This led to him being suspended from the International Skating Union for a year. Viewers wonder whether both Shekhovtseva and Balkov should have been able to judge the competition, with Shekhovtseva’s conflict of interest and Balkov’s problematic history.
The judges, as well as the generous scoring of the home ladies, have caused many to wonder if the legitimacy and integrity of the Olympics is being upheld. In fact, there is currently a Change.org petition, with over 2 million signatures, asking the International Skating Union to investigate the judgment of the competition.
With the end of the Olympics, Kim has also ended her career with the announcement that she is retiring. Although she was only able to receive silver, she is definitely ending her career on a high note. She was able to almost flawlessly complete all her programs but was unfortunately beat out by Sotnikova. Yuna Kim’s gracefulness and talent will not be soon forgotten and everyone will highly anticipate Sotnikova’s program in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
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