Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Figure Skating at the XXI Olympic Winter Games
Venue	Pacific Coliseum Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Dates	14–27 February 2010
Competitors	146 from 31 nations

Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Qualification
Singles	men	ladies
Pairs	mixed
Ice dancing	mixed

Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The events took place between 14–27 February 2010.

Records and firsts

ISU best scores:

Event	Component	Skaters	Score	Date	Ref
Pairs	Short program	Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN)	76.66	14 February 2010	[1]
	Free skating	Pang Qing / Tong Jian (CHN)	141.81	15 February 2010	[2]
	Total score	Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN)	216.57	15 February 2010	[3]
Ladies	Short program	Kim Yuna (KOR)	78.50	23 February 2010	[4]
	Free skating		150.06	25 February 2010	[5]
	Total score		228.56		[6]

National firsts:

• Pair team of Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo won Chinese first gold medal in figure skating. Their gold medal ended 12 Olympics winning streak by Russian, Soviet or Unified Team (CIS) flagged pairs.^[7]
• Canadians Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir became the first North American team to win the ice dancing title, ending Europe's 34-year streak.^[8]
• Kim Yuna's gold medal is South Korea's first Olympics medal in figure skating.^[9]
• Daisuke Takahashi's bronze medal is Japan's first Olympic medal in the men's event.^[10]

Other firsts & records:

• Canadians Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir were the youngest skaters (aged 20 and 22 years, respectively) to win the ice dancing title.^[11] The pair was also the first former World Junior Champion dance team to win the Olympic gold medal, the first pair to win the gold in an Olympic debut, and the first team to win the Olympic gold on home ice.^[11]
• Mao Asada (JPN) set a number of triple axel firsts and records for the ladies' competition:
  • first to land a triple axel during an Olympic short program^[12][13]
  • first to do a triple axel as part of a jump combination in any Olympic program^[12]
  • first to land multiple triple axels during an Olympic competition^[14]
  • first to land multiple triple axels during a single program in any competition^[15]
  • first to land three triple axels in any competition^[16]
  • set Olympic record (and tied world record) for one triple axel for short program^[12][13]
  • set world record for two triple axels for free program^[15]
  • set world record for three triple axels in the same competition^[16]

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China (CHN)	1	1	0	2
	United States (USA)	1	1	0	2
3	Canada (CAN)	1	0	1	2
4	South Korea (KOR)	1	0	0	1
5	Japan (JPN)	0	1	1	2
	Russia (RUS)	0	1	1	2
7	Germany (GER)	0	0	1	1
	Total	4	4	4	12

Events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men's singles	Evan Lysacek  United States	Evgeni Plushenko  Russia	Daisuke Takahashi  Japan
Ladies' singles	Kim Yuna  South Korea	Mao Asada  Japan	Joannie Rochette  Canada
Pair skating	Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo  China	Pang Qing and Tong Jian  China	Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy  Germany
Ice dancing	Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir  Canada	Meryl Davis and Charlie White  United States	Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin  Russia

Competition schedule

All times are Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8).

Qualification

Skater eligibility

Skaters must be older than fifteen as of July 1, 2009 and must be a citizen of the country they represent to be eligible for the Olympic Games. Unlike qualification rules for International Skating Union events, in the case of a pair or ice dancing team, both skaters must be citizens of the country they represent in competition. In addition, International Olympic Committee rules requires that at least three years have passed since the competitor last represented another country in competition.^[17]

Skater qualification

There is no individual athlete qualification to the Olympics; the choice of which athlete(s) to send to the Games is at the discretion of each country's National Olympic Committee.

Country qualification

The number of entries for the figure skating events at the Olympic Games was limited by a quota set by the International Olympic Committee. There will be 30 skaters in the disciplines of ladies and men's singles, 20 pair teams, and 24 ice dancing teams.

Countries may qualify entries to the 2010 Winter Olympics in two ways. The host country, if it has not already qualified an entry in an event, is given one entry.

The majority of the country qualification occurred at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships. At the World Championships, countries qualified up to 3 entries in each discipline. The number of multiple entries was the same as usual for the World Championships and countries who earned multiple spots to the Olympics also earned multiple spots to the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships.

Every discipline qualified separately.

The multiple spots qualification to the Olympics from the World Championships was as follows:

Placement score did not directly correlate to the placement rank. In ice dancing, if a couple did not qualify to the original dance from the compulsories, they were assigned 20 points. If an ice dance couple did not qualify to the free dance, or if a singles skater or pair team did not qualify for the free skate, they were assigned 18 points. If a skater or team competed in the free skate or free dance and placed lower than 16, they were assigned 16 points. For those placing above 16th, the placement rank is the same as the placement score.

The results of the 2009 World Championships determined 83 total spots: 24 entries in each singles discipline, 16 in pairs, and 19 in ice dancing. The available spots were awarded going down the results list, with the multiple spots being awarded first.

The remainder of the spots were filled at the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy, held in the fall of 2009. Countries who have already earned an entry to the Olympics were not allowed to qualify more entries at this final qualifying competition.

If a country declined to use one or more of its spots, the vacated spot was awarded based on the results of the Nebelhorn Trophy.

Participating NOCs

See also

• Quadruple jump controversy

References

• "International Skating Union Special Regulations & Technical Rules Single & Pair Skating And Ice Dance 2008" (PDF).  (See Rule 378 on p. 31 and Rule 400 on p. 36.)
• Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Competition Schedule v12
• 2010 Winter Olympics at the International Skating Union

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

• Vancouver 2010: Figure Skating

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