But the only 15-year-old could not withstand the pressure this time, made many mistakes, fell several times – and ended the competition with tears in her eyes and waved her hand in disappointment. This performance was only enough for fourth place.
Olympic champion was world champion Anna Shcherbakowa ahead of her compatriot Alexandra Trussow. Bronze went to Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto.
Scott turns 17.
After the short program, Nicole Schott was 14th in the freestyle. The six-time German champion was not able to show the same performance in the final as she did in the short program, which she ended with a best performance of the season. The 25-year-old started the freestyle with difficult jumps, but then she fell and dropped points.
Schott, who had to take a four-week break last summer because of shingles, was still satisfied with her performance at the Olympics: “I fought my way through and didn’t give up. It could have gone a little better, but I’m still satisfied with it, like the competitions have expired,” said Schott in an interview with the sports show. She received 114.52 points for her freestyle. With a total of 177.65 points, the figure skater finished in 17th place.
The appearance of the European champion Kamila Valiewa was eagerly awaited in the short program of the figure skaters, who was allowed to start with reservations despite suspicion of doping. During the warm-up, Valiyeva was greeted with great applause from the Russian team and from the hall.
The only 15-year-old made a mistake in the triple Axel at the beginning, then she unwound her program – as in the team event – with confidence and showed the best performance of the day. At the end of her short program she had to fight back tears for a moment. Despite the small mistake, she got 82.16 points – that was enough for the top spot.
As the leader after the short program, after gold with the Russian team, she can once again hope for a medal. Should Valiyeva win precious metal, there would be neither a flower ceremony nor a medal presentation.