Olympics: Sotnikova stuns Kim to win dramatic gold
Adelina Sotnikova won Russia's first ever women's Olympic figure skating gold.
SOCHI (AFP) - Adelina Sotnikova won Russia's first ever women's Olympic figure skating gold in dramatic circumstances on Thursday as defending champion Kim Yu-Na was dumped into the silver medal position.
The 17-year-old took her first major title ahead of South Korean superstar Kim with Italy's Carolina Kostner winning the bronze after the free skating final.
"I can't do anything about this. I did all I could," said Kim, 23, who later confirmed it was her final competition.
"The result was good because I made no mistake. The scores are given by the judges so I'm not in the right position to comment and there is nothing that will change with my words. The most important thing for me is to participate in these Games."
Despite an error when she two-footed a double loop in her combination jump Sotnikova improved her free skate score by a massive 18 points from her previous best a month ago at the Europeans.
"Any questions are for the judges, not for me. I did my job. I gave a gift to Russia," said the skater from Moscow.
It was a third title in Sochi for hosts Russia, with shouts of "Spassiba, Spassiba' (thanks) resounding around the Iceberg Skating Palace.
"I didn't see the performance of Yu-Na, but I did see her score. When I saw them, I just ran to my coach. I couldn't believe it," said Sotnikova.
She achieved the second best score ever in the free skate and was just 0.11 off the world record mark Kim achieved on her way to gold in Vancouver four years ago.
In contrast, both Kim and Kostner gave error-free performances.
