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.
Second with 80.20 points is the Russian Anna Scherbakova, third is the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto (79.84 points).
Schott with best performance of the season in the final
Nicole Schott, the only German starter, showed an appealing performance as in the short program at the team event. The six-time German champion achieved a best performance of the season with 63.13 points to the sound of “Adios Nonino” by Astor Piazzolla. At the end of the short program, the 25-year-old took 14th place. At the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, she finished 18th.
The field for the freestyle final was increased from 24 to 25 runners in the event of Valiyeva progressing, so that no runner would be disadvantaged regardless of the further development of sports law in her case. The final will take place on Thursday (February 17) at 11 a.m.