Russia’s women’s figure skating win causes major controversy

South Korean Yuna Kim was considered a shoe in by most in the sport of women’s singles figure skating. After her dominant victory in the 2010 Toronto Winter Olympics with a record number of 228.56 points, 23.06 higher than the silver medallist, she came to the games looking to be the third person to ever defend their own figure skating medal. Seemingly out of the blue, however, Russian teenager Adelina Sotnikova performed well enough to beat Kim and take the gold.

Immediately, there was a wave of discontentment from the spectators all over the world. Some blamed the anonymous judges, elected without the knowledge of the people. Some pointed out Sotnikova’s misstep after one of her tripple jumps and the fact it was not acknowledged. American skater Ashley Wagner professed her anger over finishing seventh behind several skated who had not only tripped, but fallen multiple times. A petition by Change.org, a popular petition site, had reached over two million signatures for an open investigation into the reasonings of the judges for awarding Sotnikova the gold over Kim.

Some, however, were not as swayed. Chris Chase of USA Today wrote thatIt’s debatable, but not a robbery. Sotnikova skated well enough to win gold. She had a carefully constructed program with seven triples, five of which were in a combo. Kim had six and three, respectively. Thus, Sotnikova was going in with a higher total and made more margin for error, which she took advantage of with a minor hop after one exchange.”

Either way, however, unless there is an open investigation into the reasons of the judges for choosing the gold medallist, there can be no certainty over why Sotnikova won over Kim, who stated that the Sochi Winter Olympics would be her last.