The figure skating events at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place from 14 to 27 February at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Evan Lysacek of the United States won the men's event; Yuna Kim of South Korea won the women's event; Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the pairs' event; and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada won the ice dance event. In addition to her gold medal, Kim set new world record scores in the women's short program, free skating, and overall total. Likewise, Shen and Zhao set new world records in the pairs' short program and overall total, while silver medalists Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China set a new world record in the pairs' free skating. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia drew criticism for their use of Australian Aboriginal music and costume in the ice dance event, which many found offensive.

Qualification

A total of 148 quota spots were available to athletes to compete in figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The results of the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships determined 83 total spots: 24 entries each in men's and women's singles, 16 in pair skating, and 19 in ice dance. The remaining quota spots were allocated based on the results of the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy.

+Number of qualified skaters or teams per nation Nations Men's singles Women's singles Pairs Ice dance Total skaters 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 12 0 1 3 1 9 2 0 0 1 4 0 1 1 1 5 1 2 0 0 3 2 0 1 2 8 0 1 0 1 3 1 1 2 1 8 0 1 1 2 7 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 1 1 2 9 3 3 0 1 8 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 3 16 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 7 3 2 2 3 15 0 1 0 0 1 Total: 32 s 30 30 20 teams 23 teams 146

Entries A total of four figure skating events were contested: men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. All events were held from 14 to 27 February at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. + Nation Men Women Pairs Ice dance Cheltzie Lee colspan="2" Viktor Pfeifer Miriam Ziegler colspan="2" Kevin van der Perren Isabelle Pieman colspan="2" Patrick Chan Cynthia Phaneuf Vaughn Chipeur Joannie Rochette rowspan="3" Yan Liu rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Michal Březina colspan="2" rowspan="2" Tomáš Verner Jelena Glebova Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari Kiira Korpi colspan="2" rowspan="2" Laura Lepistö Florent Amodio rowspan="2" Brian Joubert Elene Gedevanishvili Stefan Lindemann Sarah Hecken colspan="2" rowspan="2" Jenna McCorkell colspan="2" Júlia Sebestyén colspan="3" Paolo Bacchini Carolina Kostner Samuel Contesti colspan="2" Takahiko Kozuka Miki Ando rowspan="3" Nobunari Oda Mao Asada rowspan="2" Daisuke Takahashi Akiko Suzuki Abzal Rakimgaliev colspan="3" rowspan="2" Denis Ten Ri Song-chol colspan="3" Przemysław Domański Anna Jurkiewicz Zoltán Kelemen colspan="3" Artem Borodulin Alena Leonova Evgeni Plushenko Ksenia Makarova colspan="2" Ivana Reitmayerová colspan="2" Gregor Urbas Teodora Poštič colspan="2" rowspan="2" Yuna Kim colspan="2" rowspan="2" Kwak Min-jeong Javier Fernández Sonia Lafuente colspan="2" Adrian Schultheiss colspan="3" Stéphane Lambiel Sarah Meier Tuğba Karademir colspan="2" Anton Kovalevski rowspan="2" Jeremy Abbott Rachael Flatt Evan Lysacek Mirai Nagasu Johnny Weir colspan="2" Anastasia Gimazetdinova colspan="2"

Competition schedule All times are in local time (UTC-8).

+Figure skating events schedule Date Time Event 14 February 16:30 Pairs' short program 15 February 17:00 Pairs' free skating 16 February 16:15 Men's short program 18 February 17:00 Men's free skating 19 February 16:45 Compulsory dance 21 February 16:15 Original dance 22 February 16:45 Free dance 23 February 16:30 Women's short program 25 February 17:00 Women's free skating 27 February 16:30 Exhibition gala

Medal summary

Medalists Yuna Kim became the first skater from South Korea to win an Olympic medal in figure skating and the first athlete from South Korea to win any medal at the Winter Olympics outside of speed skating. Daisuke Takahashi became the first skater from Japan to win an Olympic medal in the men's individual event. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the first ever gold medal in figure skating for China and also ended the streak of Russian and Soviet Olympic victories in pair skating that stretched back to 1960. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the first team from Canada, as well as all of North America, to win gold in the Olympic ice dance event.

+2010 Winter Olympic medalists Discipline Gold Silver Bronze Men's singles Women's singles Pairs Ice dance

Medal table

Records

The following new record high scores were set during this competition.

+ Date Skater(s) Event Segment Score 14 February Pairs Short program 76.66 15 February Free skating 141.81 Total score 216.57 23 February Women Short program 78.50 25 February Free skating 150.06 Total score 228.56

Reactions to Russian team's original dance

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia provoked some controversy with their original dance – set to what they described as Australian Aboriginal music – and their costume design, which many found garish. The theme of the original dance was folk or country, and while it was recommended that couples should use traditional folk or country music and dance styles native to their own nations, this was not a requirement. Domnina and Shabalin's choice of music featured heavy drums, a didgeridoo, and vocal chanting; and their costumes consisted of dark flesh-toned bodysuits with red loincloths, decorated with white markings and faux green leaves, as well as face paint. Bev Manton, chairwoman of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, found their depiction of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture offensive, citing the brown bodysuits as problematic. Just as the designs were not from the Australian First Nations community, neither was the music, as she explained, since it was composed by Sheila Chandra, a Briton of Indian descent. Shabalin said that he had done research on the internet for their routine, but claimed that their dance was "not specifically an Australian Aboriginal dance", but "an aboriginal dance", and that they had created the routine because they "wanted to be different".

Upon hearing that Domnina and Shabalin intended to perform the same routine at the 2010 Winter Olympics, representatives of the First Nations, in whose traditional land the 2010 Winter Olympics were being held and who were recognized as partners in the planning of the Olympics by the Vancouver Organizing Committee, offered to meet with them. They recommended that Domnina and Shabalin contact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia for feedback before coming to the Olympics. Ultimately, Domnina and Shabalin's costumes were slightly modified for the Olympics; Shabalin's bodysuit was a lighter color tan and neither he nor Domnina wore any face paint.

References

External links

Official website Results