ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

2014 Olympics: Adelina Sotnikova, Yuna Kim, Carolina Kostner and Mao Asada

Updated on July 29, 2016

The principle of PCS embedded in the COP comes from the fundamentals of modern figure skating. So even though PCS was defined within the current COP, if used correctly, it is possible to evaluate programs done in different times by applying the same principles it represents.

Of course, it may need adjustment depending on the degree of technical disparity and its weight. For example, skaters today tries triples while skaters in the 1970s mainly did only double jumps.

Now, with that in mind, I'd like to revisit the programs in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. But this time, what I am going to do is not scoring, but reexamining skaters in terms of average PCS in comparison with skaters in the 1970s when all basics of skating were rock solid.

This will give you opportunities how to appreciate figure skating itself and what to appreciate and what to depreciate. Ultimately it will help you discern fallacy and fraud from authenticity.

Adelina Sotnikova in 2014

Disgrace! Disgrace!

It is an utter disgrace to hail that as the winning program. Adelina skated very well to her capacity. But her level of skating is just barely over junior.

She is no way near to producing bodily momentum throughout the program. As you see, her momentum and her body moves work separately. They don't mash.

What she did well was landing jumps, but figure skating is a lot more than jump. It is not about jump or spin or spiral. It's not about an array of elements. It's about performance.

Why do you call it performance anyway unless you appreciate performance in figure skating language? Performance is an artistic product in connected, integrated, balanced and completed sequences. It is a sport of balance, accuracy, power, integration, completeness and creativity.

It is not about mimicking a few gestures. Don't be fooled. Jumps are one of many ingredients skaters need to perfect. More importantly Adelina's jumps are not even comparatively excellent in quality at all. Accurately speaking, she barely made it.

Her average PCS can't go beyond 7.25 here. If I compare her with skaters in the 1970s, she will get below 7.0.

Yuna Kim in 2014

Again, Kim here doesn't show the kind of power that once overwhelmed her competitors.

But Kim knows how to skate with momentum. Her body are all in line with her momentum, that is, her arms, legs and upper body are coordinating with her moves.

So the difference is that Adelina may handle jumps, but she is poor at integrating body moves into momentum without betraying disruption. This is a huge gap that exists Sotnikova and Kim.

Kim's technical elements such as power and height are compromised, but not necessarily weak compared to her competitors. However, that makes her appear flat in her execution. Therefore, her PCS is 8.75.

Carolina Kostner in 2014

I like Kostner's power, even better than Kim's. Sometimes she skates even faster than Kim.

She has one up for that, but two down for skating itself. Kostner is a skater who heavily depends on technical elements and some luck. And that's a good strategy for her because she is not a skillful skater.

As far as her moves are concerned, her PCS may be below 8.0, but in this program I think she may earn 8.0 in PCS.

You never feel that she controls her skating. Her nemesis is the degree of her bodily freedom; it is too low. So basically her skating is all about speed and jump.

Mao Asada in 2014

Bravo! This is a great performance by Asada.

I think Asada may not be as great in polishing as Yuna Kim, but her skating in Sochi is vibrant, spirited and strong. Asada's program appears well-paced. While Kostner tops in power and Kim in overall proficiency, Asada in Sochi is slightly ahead of Kim in power, and she also appears excellent in keeping pace with music.

But Asada's problem is her bodily freedom. Asada hardly makes seamless transitions. Her jump are almost always cut off continuity of motion. You can see she either rests upright or prepares takeoff between jumps.

That makes her look as if she is busy with jumps. On the contrary Kim appears busy with stamina. So Asada, despite her brilliant execution, appears less efficient in artistic expressiveness and much desired in polishing.

Her PCS is 8.25.

Obviously Sotnikova is not qualified for bronze here. Do you think Adleina Sotnikova could have won bronze if judged correctly?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)