2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Yu-Na Kim wins gold, Asada silver, Rochette bronze

What a ladies final -- I held my breath every time someone took the ice. Yu-Na Kim from South Korea fulfilled her destiny and won the gold with a record 228.56 points. Her free skate to Gershwin's Concerto in F will be studied for generations to come -- the choreography, the jumps, the performance -- no wonder she cried tears of relief afterwards. Yu-Na's been setting world records in the short and long at these Games so what a fitting way to cap her season. She's been noncommittal about the World Championships in late March. I say skip it -- this has been too much of an emotional ride. Enjoy the rest of the season and come back to competition in the fall. Spend time with your family. Learn to cook risotto (ask Jeremy Abbott for some tips). How can we miss if you if you never go away?

With the silver is Japan's Mao Asada who has a lot to be proud of as the first woman at the Olympics to land three clean triple axels in the short and long. She made two jumping errors in the free skate but she also gave the performance of her life out there to Rachmaninoff's Moscow Bells. She has as much artistry as Yu-Na (even better extensions on spirals!) and maybe she realized on the podium that something had to change in the future to compete with Yu-Na. Mao looked serious and a little sad receiving the silver medal and with the weight of Japan on her shoulders for so many years, I think she too should skip Worlds and just chill out for a while. Mao and Yu-Na are both 19-years-old so lots of time to figure out their life paths.

And the bronze medal, but really the gold medal for exemplifying the Olympics Games, went to Canada's Joannie Rochette (see right). Her mother died suddenly on Sunday from a massive heart attack and Joannie chose to continue competing. She nailed the short and we were uncertain how she would do in her free skate to C. St. Saen's Samson and Delilah, but we didn't have to worry. Even with her bobbles on her jumps, she went after everything and we saw her strength on the ice clear as day. Her energy was also different last night  than it was for the short program. After her successful short program on Tuesday, there was overwhelming sadness about her and everyone in the audience and in TV Land (including myself) were in tears. Last night after the free skate, I didn't sense sadness really -- more triumph. And every single person was with her on the podium. What a podium finish.

The U.S. ladies Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt finished fourth and seventh, respectively. I just love Mirai and she is going to look so much more polished in a matter of months. I just love Rachael and I hope she can continue to balance school and skating in the future. Miki Ando from Japan finished fifth overall and she did her best to rack up points with her jumps. At one point, commentator Sandra Bezic noted that Miki doesn't care about choreography, and Sandra wasn't kidding! It was a jumping clinic and I don't know what Miki will do in the future. She has my vote for favorite costume of the ladies (see right).

The exhibition gala is tomorrow evening and I hope officials have invited a lot of the ladies to skate even if they didn't medal. NBC didn't show Finland's Laura Lepisto who must have had the skate of her life to finish sixth overall! There's been some mini-controversy over the gala. Apparently, crowd favorite Johnny Weir was not invited to skate -- he finished sixth overall and consensus is that he was underscored a bit. Tune in to NBC at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday to watch the exhibition.

Final results for the ladies are as follows: (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)

FPl	Name	Country	Score	SP	FS
1	Yu-Na Kim	South Korea	228.56	1	1
2	Mao Asada	Japan	205.50	2	2
3	Joannie Rochette	Canada	202.64	3	3
4	Mirai Nagasu	USA	190.15	6	5
5	Miki Ando	Japan	188.86	4	6
6	Laura Lepisto	Finland	187.97	10	4
7	Rachael Flatt	USA	182.49	5	8
8	Akiko Suzuki	Japan	181.44	11	7
9	Alena Leonova	Russia	172.46	8	10
10	Ksenia Makarova	Russia	171.91	12	9
11	Kiira Korpi	Finland	161.57	17	11
12	Cynthia Phaneuf	Canada	156.62	14	13
13	Min-Jung Kwak	South Korea	155.53	16	12
14	Elene Gedevanishvili	Georgia	155.24	9	17
15	Sarah Meier	Switzerland	152.81	15	14
16	Carolina Kostner	Italy	151.90	7	19
17	Julia Sebestyen	Hungary	151.26	13	16
18	Sarah Hecken	Germany	143.94	23	15
19	Yan Liu	China	143.47	19	18
20	Cheltzie Lee	Australia	138.16	18	20
21	Elena Glebova	Russia	134.19	20	22
22	Sonia Lafuente	Spain	133.51	22	21
23	Anastasia Gimazetdinova	Uzbekistan	131.65	24	23
24	Tugba Karademir	Turkey	129.54	21	24

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Starting order for ladies free skate

Thanks to the judging, this is going to be one of the most exciting ladies finals ever! Yu-Na Kim hasn't run away with the gold. Yet. She's in first place by 4.72 points so a fall here, a bobble on a spin there, would open the door for Mao Asada and Joannie Rochette. Here are my thoughts on the top ladies:

Yu-Na Kim from South Korea: She's sitting in first place after the short program. Will the Olympics award the gold to truly the best skater out there today? I sure hope so. Yu-Na is the most well-rounded skater. Period. She's consistent, beautiful to watch, and important to me, takes the time to develop each move, each step, draws us into the story. We're not confused by her costumes, her music, it's comforting! But stranger things have happened, e.g., Sarah Hughes, Tara Lipinski, Shizuka Arakawa, but please let the world order be normal tonight. The gods can toy with us at Worlds in March.

Mao Asada from Japan: (See right) Second after the short, Mao has the triple axel in her arsenal, the only jump Yu-Na Kim doesn't have. Mao has two planned triple axels in her free skate, but let's not forget that she's also a superb artist. Sometimes I'm surprised that she doesn't score the same as Yu-Na in the Program Component marks. Maybe I'm missing a nuance. When I watch Mao it's clear to me this young lady has had balletic training -- very polished in a ballerina kind of way, even down to her fingertips. With Yu-Na, as great an interpreter she is of the music, that's not my immediate thought.

Joannie Rochette from Canada: She's in third place but does anyone care about the scores? Her mother died from a sudden heart attack on Sunday, we don't care what the scores are at this point. She skated a clean short program -- when she's on, she's always been a great technician with the right amount of artistry thrown in. If she keeps it together for the free skate, she could win bronze. Again, does anyone care about her placement anymore? She gave the performance of the Olympics on Thursday and that's what I'll remember from the Games.

Miki Ando from Japan: (See right) In fourth place after the short, Miki desperately needs all her triple-triple combinations tonight. Her free skate to Rome and Marco Polo nicely showcases her artistry and footwork which still pales in comparison to Yu-Na and Mao's. If she starts stumbling on her jumps, no way she has a chance at the podium. Her coach is Russian Nikolai Morozov and hopefully she absorbed some of the Russian flair for dance and high drama and passion for the skate. 

Rachael Flatt from the United States: She's sitting in fifth place and she will hit all her jumps. That much I can be assured of. A lot depends on how the judges feel about her artistry and flow over the ice. She's been criticized for seeming to skate with a checklist of elements in her mind and we're going through the checklist with her. But she may have a breakout performance at the Olympics and move up to the podium.

Mirai Nagasu from the United States: She's a lot more consistent now with coach Frank Carroll. Sitting in sixth place after the short program and skating last tonight in the free skate, I expect her to be aggressive and go all out. She has nothing to lose and her "I'm just here to have experience for 2014" attitude may push her closer to the podium. I hope her nose doesn't start bleeding again in the middle of her free skate. If that happens can she stop and have two minutes to address it?

The starting order for tonight's ladies free skate is as follows. NBC will begin live coverage at 8 p.m. ET. (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)

Starting Order for Free Skate	Name	Country	SP Score	SP Rank
1 (Group 1)	Tugba Karademir	Turkey	50.74	21
2 (Group 1)	Sonia Lafuente	Spain	49.74	22
3 (Group 1)	Yan Liu	China	51.74	19
4 (Group 1)	Elena Glebova	Estonia	50.80	20
5 (Group 1)	Anastasia Gimazetdinova	Uzbekistan	49.02	24
6 (Group 1)	Sarah Hecken	Germany	49.04	23
7 (Group 2)	Cynthia Phaneuf	Canada	57.16	14
8 (Group 2)	Kiira Korpi	Finland	52.96	17
9 (Group 2)	Cheltzie Lee	Australia	52.16	18
10 (Group 2)	Sarah Meier	Switzerland	56.70	15
11 (Group 2)	Julia Sebestyen	Hungary	57.46	13
12 (Group 2)	Min-Jung Kwak	South Korea	53.16	16
13 (Group 3)	Alena Leonova	Russia	62.14	8
14 (Group 3)	Akiko Suzuki	Japan	61.02	11
15 (Group 3)	Carolina Kostner	Italy	63.02	7
16 (Group 3)	Laura Lepisto	Finland	61.36	10
17 (Group 3)	Ksenia Makarova	Russia	59.22	12
18 (Group 3)	Elene Gedevanishvili	Georgia	61.92	9
19 (Group 4)	Rachael Flatt	USA	64.64	5
20 (Group 4)	Miki Ando	Japan	64.76	4
21 (Group 4)	Yu-Na Kim	South Korea	78.50	1
22 (Group 4)	Mao Asada	Japan	73.78	2
23 (Group 4)	Joannie Rochette	Canada	71.36	3
24 (Group 4)	Mirai Nagasu	USA	63.76	6

The top 24 ladies move onto the free skate so the following six ladies did not make it to the final:

Isabelle Pieman (Belgium): Short program score 46.10

Miriam Ziegler (Austria): Short program score 43.84

Teodora Postic (Slovenia): Short program score 43.80

Ivana Reitmayerova (Slovakia): Short program score 41.94

Jenna McCorkell (Great Britain): Short program score 40.64

Anna Jurkiewicz (Poland): Short program score 36.10

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Yu-Na Kim wins short program, Asada second, Rochette third

Yu-Na Kim (see right) from South Korea set a new world record in the short program tonight with 78.50 points. I just love that James Bond program -- the pacing is sooo perfect and the change in tempo is masterful. Why can't everyone have the perfect music for their short? Mao Asada from Japan, skating to Waltz Masquerade, is in second place with 73.78 points (she landed her triple axel, double toe cleanly).

And the performance of the night goes to Canada's Joannie Rochette, looking saucy skating to La Cumparita, and she is sitting in third place with 71.36 points. Every single person at Pacific Coliseum and every single person watching on television (like me), was pulling for Joannie to do well after her mother's sudden death on Sunday. She delivered -- no deductions, no negative Grade of Execution on anything. She looked sad and teary afterwards. We all did. What can you say?

Japan's Miki Ando, skating to Requiem by Mozart, is in fourth place, followed by the U.S.'s Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu. Miki went for the triple Lutz, triple loop combination and it was downgraded. But she skated very last and must have realized that she needed to go for it 100% to be in the game and I applaud her attempt. The top 24 ladies move onto the free skate which will be held on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. Tune in to NBC at 8 p.m. ET for live coverage.

Results after the ladies short program are as follows: (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)

Rank	Name	Country	Score	SP	FS
1	Yu-Na Kim	South Korea	78.50	1
2	Mao Asada	Japan	73.78	2
3	Joannie Rochette	Canada	71.36	3
4	Miki Ando	Japan	64.76	4
5	Rachael Flatt	USA	64.64	5
6	Mirai Nagasu	USA	63.76	6
7	Carolina Kostner	Italy	63.02	7
8	Alena Leonova	Russia	62.14	8
9	Elene Gedevanishvili	Georgia	61.92	9
10	Laura Lepisto	Finland	61.36	10
11	Akiko Suzuki	Japan	61.02	11
12	Ksenia Makarova	Russia	59.22	12
13	Julia Sebestyen	Hungary	57.46	13
14	Cynthia Phaneuf	Canada	57.16	14
15	Sarah Meier	Switzerland	56.70	15
16	Min-Jung Kwak	South Korea	53.16	16
17	Kiira Korpi	Finland	52.96	17
18	Cheltzie Lee	Australia	52.16	18
19	Yan Liu	China	51.74	19
20	Elena Glebova	Estonia	50.80	20
21	Tugba Karademir	Turkey	50.74	21
22	Sonia Lafuente	Spain	49.74	22
23	Sarah Hecken	Germany	49.04	23
24	Anastasia Gimazetdinova	Uzbekistan	49.02	24
25	Isabelle Pieman	Belgium	46.10	25
26	Miriam Ziegler	Austria	43.84	26
27	Teodora Postic	Slovenia	43.80	27
28	Ivana Reitmayerova	Slovakia	41.94	28
29	Jenna McCorkell	Great Britain	40.64	29
30	Anna Jurkiewicz	Poland	36.10	30