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Tag: Kim Yuna

  • Carolina Kostner Wins Bronze, Atones for Vancouver

    Italy’s Carolina Kostner won the bronze medal in women’s figure skating in Sochi on Thursday.

    The 27-year-old native of Bolzano, Italy scored 74.12 points in the short program and 142.61 in the free skate for a total of 216.73. That put her in third place behind Russia’s surprise gold-medal winner Adelina Sotnikova (224.59 points) and South Korea’s Kim Yu-na (219.11 points.)

    On her personal website, Kostner called Wednesday’s short program performance “a very touching moment,” but it was Thursday’s free skate that gave her a personal best score.

    It was a redeeming accomplishment after a fairly disastrous free skate in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She fell three times and managed only one clean triple jump, finishing in a disappointing 19th place.

    The Turin 2006 Winter Olympics were marginally better, but discouraging nonetheless, considering she was performing on her home turf. She placed ninth.

    Post by Carolina Kostner.

    At one point, Kostner considered quitting:

    “After Vancouver I thought that was it,” she said recently. “I thought I would stop skating. I thought that was my end.”

    But she realized that she enjoyed the sport too much to quit.

    “It was really hard times,” she said. “So I told myself, no results any more, just skating. And that’s what I started skating for, right? Not to be known or anything.”

    She went on to win the prestigious 2011 Grand Prix final. Then, in 2012, she won the world championships in Nice, France. She took second place in the same competition in 2013 in London. She also won the European championships in 2012 and 2013.

    Post by Carolina Kostner.

    “I wanted to skate because I love it,” she said of why she decided to continue after Vancouver. “The hard times make you understand what you really want and I’m really glad that I continued and honored to have experienced everything that I have in the past years.”

    Today’s Kostner has been praised for her poise and lyricism, called mature and aware.

    “So long we have been thinking of Carolina as the artist,” said 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski, “but her technique; she took everything down a grade and then built it back up these last four years. That was the whole package. ”

    Kostner’s competitor, American figure skater Ashley Wagner, also had words of praise:

    “Her lows are definitely low … We have all seen her have some really rough skates. It is impressive she doesn’t let that become entirely the skater she is. To come back so strong and put it together mentally and physically is impressive.”

    Kostner could easily have called it quits after winning the world championship, but instead decided to stay in the game.

    “When an artist becomes a master, it’s his best time,” Kostner said. “I love to do it. I’m not ready to give that up yet.”


    With an Olympic bronze medal to mitigate the pain of Turin and Vancouver, it looks like Kostner made the right decision.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Adelina Sotnikova Wins Women’s Figure Skating Gold

    Russian figure skater Adelina Sotnikova won the gold medal in women’s figure skating in Sochi on Thursday.

    The win was a minor upset for South Korea, and a record setter for Russia.

    Sotnikova scored an overall 224.59 points, with 149.95 of those coming from Thursday’s free skate win. Sotnikova came in a close second to South Korea’s Kim Yu-na in the women’s short program on Wednesday.

    However, Kim finished well behind Sotnikova in the free skate on Thursday, earning 144.19 points for a total of 219.11. Kim, who won the gold at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, won the silver in Sochi.

    Although Kim skated a flawless routine, she landed only six triple jumps for Sotnikova’s seven, and trailed in her technical component score.

    Italy’s Carolina Kostner won the bronze, scoring a personal best of 142.61 in the free skate. It was a sweet victory for Kostner, who failed most of her jumps in the free skate in Vancouver in 2010.

    “After Vancouver I thought that was it,” she said recently. “I thought I would stop skating. I thought that was my end.”

    Sotnikova’s win makes her the first Russian to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s singles figure skating.

    “This is the happiest day in my life,” Sotnikova said. “I simply stepped on the ice today and realized how much I like what I’m doing and skated really good.”

    Even within her own country, few expected Sotnikova to take home the gold medal. Instead, all hopes were focused on Yulia Lipnitskaya. Lipnitskaya won first place in both the team women’s short and free skate, contributing to Russia’s gold medal in the inaugural team figure skating event.

    She was expected to challenge Kim for the gold in the individual competition.

    But Lipnitskaya came in a disappointing fifth place in the individual short skate on Wednesday, after falling on her triple flip.

    “I wanted to skate my best today, but it didn’t work,” she said. “I’ve lost control over my jumps — tiredness and emotions.”

    Lipnitskaya ended up in fifth place overall in the individual competition.

    American figure skating favorite Gracie Gold took fourth place.

    Although she didn’t end up on the podium, American Ashley Wagner defied her detractors by winning a respectable seventh place overall.

    America’s Polina Edmunds came in ninth.

    Sotnikova’s was the host country’s third figure skating gold medal, following first place wins in pairs and team skating. The victories have served as a comeback from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, where Russia failed to win a single figure skating gold medal.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons