Today at 10:00 a.m. ET in Sochi, Russia, the ladies singles figure skating short program will move forward as the top figure skaters in the world try to take their place on the medal podium. Live stream the action for free by clicking this link.
The favorite heading into the competition, Kim Yu-Na, lived up to her billing in the early stages, as she leads the pack with a score of 74.92. 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia, the darling of figure skating leading into yesterday's performances, was hot on Yu-Na's tail but unfortunately fell on an attempted triple flip.
Her score was damaged, and she's currently sitting fifth with a score of 65.23. Another Russian, who came in with less hype than Lipnitskaya, was Adelina Sotnikova who ranks second right now after putting up a 74.64. "I'm very happy I managed to concentrate and show a good performance," Sotnikova said after receiving a higher technical score than Yu-Na.
Italian Carolina Kostner is third at the moment, and like Sotnikova is within striking distance of the Korean marvel. Kostner received higher marks than Kim in several categories, but the sheer difficulty of Kim's routine paired with her high-level execution kept her in front of her competitors.
Those three have a rather comfortable lead over fourth place Gracie Gold, the American who skated cleanest on Wednesday. Gold may still be facing a tough climb to the podium, but she was able to stave off embarrassment by averting two falls.
"I just wanted to skate like I belong on the podium," Gold said. "It's a point game. So looking at points, a 68 is not just respectable, it's a really good short score." Fellow American Ashley Wagner, who scored a 65.21, said she and her teammates are determined to medal.
"This sounds so, like, 'PC athlete,' but honestly, I worked my butt off every single day since nationals and I've been way too tired, way too sweaty, way too exhausted and angry with training to not go out there and do it," Wagner said.
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