Canada Immigration focus on Life in Canada: On the 20th, 17-year-old Russian skater Adelina Sotnikova caused an upset in the Sochi Winter Olympics women's singles figure skating free skate final, defeating the defending champion, South Korean star Kim Yuna, to win Russia's first-ever gold medal in this event.
Sotnikova, who trailed Kim Yuna by a narrow margin after the short program, successfully completed seven triple jumps during the free skate that day. Aside from one minor error, her other movements were flawless. The judges awarded her a career-high score of 149.95, bringing her total to a competition-leading 224.59 points.
"I didn't expect to skate this well, and I didn't expect to win the gold medal," she said. She knew she would be on the podium after finishing, but she wasn't sure which medal it would be. When she saw that she had won on technical points, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Kim Yuna's performance that day was impeccable, with no errors in her six triple jumps and flawless artistic expression. However, her final free skate score was 144.19, and she took the silver medal with a total score of 219.11.
After the competition, some questioned the judges' scoring. Kim Yuna stated that the scores were determined by the judges, and it was not appropriate for her to comment; furthermore, saying anything now would not change the outcome. "For me, the most important thing was participating in these Olympic Games. This is my last Olympics, and I have been very happy here."
The previous runner-up, Japanese star Mao Asada, also delivered a near-perfect performance that day, receiving the third-highest free skate score of 142.71, which saw her ranking jump from 16th after the short program to 6th. She wept with joy after finishing, saying, "The pressure at the Olympics is something you cannot feel in other competitions." She added that this was her true strength, "I am really happy with my performance."
Chinese athletes Li Zijun and Zhang Kexin finished 14th and 15th, respectively. Li Zijun expressed satisfaction with her final score but was dissatisfied with her performance, particularly regarding her artistic expression. Zhang Kexin expressed satisfaction with her first Winter Olympic journey, feeling that her performance exceeded expectations.
The Canadian women's ice hockey team, which had not lost a game in the Winter Olympics since the Nagano Winter Olympics final, nearly stumbled in the final against the United States on the 20th. The two teams were scoreless in the first period, but Canada conceded goals at 11:57 in the second period and 2:01 in the third, falling behind 0-2.
It wasn't until three and a half minutes before the end of the game that Canada pulled one back. They were fortunate enough to dramatically force the game into overtime with only 55 seconds remaining, and they seized the opportunity 8:10 into the overtime period to score the winning goal.
22-year-old Marie-Philip Poulin was the biggest hero in Canada's victory, scoring the team's final two decisive goals. "I don't know what to say. We made our dreams come true once again," Poulin said after the game. The coach had great confidence in them, "He just told us to stay calm and play our game. He completely believed in us."
The Canadian delegation had a double celebration on the 20th. In another event's final, the Canadian women's curling team defeated the two-time Winter Olympic champion Swedish team 6-3, becoming the first women's curling team in Winter Olympic history to win a gold medal with an undefeated record. In the bronze medal match, Great Britain defeated Switzerland 6-5, winning a Winter Olympic medal for the first time in 12 years.
