The pairs' figure skating competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held on 11 and 12 February 2014 at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia, and featured 20 teams from 12 nations. Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medals, while Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, also of Russia, won the silver, and Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the bronze. Having been part of the team that earlier won the team event, Volosozhar and Trankov became the first figure skaters to win two gold medals at the same Olympics. In addition to their gold medals, they also set a new world record score in the short program. Savchenko and Szolkowy had also finished in third place at the 2010 Winter Olympics, giving them back-to-back bronze medals.

Background The pair skating event was one of five figure skating competitions contested at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. It was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace over two days: the short program took place on 11 February and the free skating on 12 February. The competition featured 20 teams representing 12 nations. Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia, and Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, were the leading candidates projected to win the pairs' event. Volosozhar and Trankov had won the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships and the 2012–13 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, and were three-time European champions and two-time Russian national champions. With her previous partner Stanislav Morozov, Volosozhar had competed for Ukraine at both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics; they finished eighth in 2010. Savchenko and Szolkowy had won the bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics and were four-time world champions, four-time European champions, four-time Grand Prix Final champions, and eight-time German national champions. This was Savchenko's fourth appearance at the Olympics: she had competed for Ukraine in 2002 with Stanislav Morozov, and for Germany in 2006 and 2010 with Szolkowy.

Qualification

Sixteen quota spots in the pairs' event were awarded based on the results at the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships. An additional four quota spots were earned at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy.

Estonia had originally qualified one quota spot at the 2013 World Championships; however, they relinquished that spot when Alexandr Zaboev was unable to secure Estonian citizenship. Likewise, France had originally qualified two quota spots. However, when Daria Popova was unable to secure French citizenship, France relinquished one of their spots. Those vacated spots were re-allocated to Japan and Austria.

+Qualifying nations in pairs Event Teamsper Qualifying NOCs Totalteams 2013 World Championships 3 15 2 1 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy 1 5 Total 20

Required performance elements Couples competing in pair skating performed their short programs on 11 February. Lasting at most 2 minutes 50 seconds, it had to include the following elements: one lasso lift, one double or triple twist lift, one double or triple throw jump, one double or triple solo jump, one pair spin combination with a change of foot, one death spiral, and a step sequence using the full ice surface.

The top sixteen couples after completion of the short program moved on to the free skating, which was performed on 12 February. The free skate could last no more than 4 minutes 30 seconds (+/− 10 seconds), and had to include the following: three pair lifts, one twist lift, two different throw jumps, one solo jump, one jump combination or sequence, one solo spin combination, one pair spin combination, one death spiral, and a choreographic sequence.

Judging

Skaters were judged according to the required technical elements of their program (such as jumps and spins), as well as the overall presentation of their program, based on five program components (skating skills, transitions, performance/execution, composition/choreography, and musical interpretation). Each technical element in a figure skating performance was assigned a predetermined base point value and scored by a panel of nine judges on a scale from −3 to +3 based on the quality of its execution. Each Grade of Execution (GOE) from –3 to +3 was assigned a value as indicated on the Scale of Values. For example, a triple Axel was worth a base value of 8.50 points, and a GOE of +3 was worth 3.00 points, so a triple Axel with a GOE of +3 earned 11.50 points. The judging panel's GOE for each element was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (the average after discarding the highest and lowest scores). The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a Total Elements Score. At the same time, the judges evaluated each performance based on the five aforementioned program components and assigned each a score from 0.25 to 10 in 0.25-point increments. The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the chart below; the results were added together to generate a total Program Component Score.

+Program component factoring Component Short program Free skating Pairs 0.80 1.60 Deductions were applied for certain violations, such as time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls. The Total Elements Score and Program Component Score were then added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.

Results

Code key

Short program The pairs' short program was held on 11 February. Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia finished in first place. Performing to Masquerade by Aram Khachaturian, their score of 84.17 was a new world record, beating the previous world record, which had been set by them at the 2014 European Figure Skating Championships. Lyudmilla and Oleg Protopopov, two-time Olympic gold medalists in pair skating from the Soviet Union, were in attendance at the competition. A Soviet or Russian team had won the Olympic pairs' event twelve times in a row beginning with the Protopopovs' first championship in 1964, until Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the pairs' event in 2010. Volosozhar and Trankov were anxious to return the pairs' championship to Russia. "It is very important to give Russia back this tradition," Trankov said, while also acknowledging that the Protopopovs had made the trip back to Russia especially to watch the pairs' event. In 1964, the Protopopovs defeated Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler, the West German team who competed as part of the United Team of Germany, to begin a legacy of Russian dominance in pair skating. In 2014, Volosozhar and Trankov's strongest challengers were Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, who finished in second place, while Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia finished in third.

+Pairs' short program results Team Nation 1 84.17 45.46 38.71 9.61 9.39 9.79 9.71 9.89 0.00 2 79.64 43.46 36.18 8.93 8.79 9.29 9.11 9.11 0.00 3 75.21 41.46 33.75 8.46 8.11 8.61 8.39 8.61 0.00 4 73.30 39.33 33.97 8.54 8.14 8.54 8.54 8.71 0.00 5 72.21 39.70 32.51 8.11 8.18 8.14 8.14 8.07 0.00 6 70.92 38.69 32.23 7.96 7.93 8.07 8.11 8.21 0.00 7 70.59 40.89 29.70 7.64 7.18 7.39 7.43 7.50 0.00 8 69.66 37.49 32.17 8.00 7.75 8.18 8.11 8.18 0.00 9 67.44 37.87 29.57 7.29 7.25 7.50 7.46 7.46 0.00 10 65.36 36.19 29.17 7.36 7.14 7.36 7.21 7.39 0.00 11 63.57 32.90 30.67 7.54 7.57 7.61 7.86 7.75 0.00 12 59.25 33.20 27.05 6.93 6.57 6.68 6.75 6.89 1.00 13 58.97 32.69 26.28 6.39 6.43 6.71 6.61 6.71 0.00 14 56.90 32.07 24.83 6.18 6.07 6.25 6.36 6.18 0.00 15 53.38 30.24 23.14 5.89 5.61 5.82 5.89 5.71 0.00 16 51.64 30.76 21.88 5.57 5.25 5.46 5.64 5.43 1.00 17 49.62 28.36 21.26 5.43 5.04 5.39 5.36 5.36 0.00 18 48.45 27.48 20.97 5.43 4.96 5.29 5.29 5.25 0.00 19 44.98 24.66 21.32 5.36 5.25 5.25 5.50 5.29 1.00 20 44.30 23.33 20.97 5.39 4.93 5.29 5.36 5.25 0.00

Free skating The pairs' free skate was held on 12 February. Performing to music from Jesus Christ Superstar, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov finished in first place, winning the gold medals. Having been part of the Russian team that earlier won the team event, they became the first figure skaters to win two gold medals at the same Olympics. Trankov spoke of the pressure that he and Volosozhar felt to win the gold that had been Russia's provenance until 2010. "We understood we were at home and had no right to make a mistake," he stated afterward. "We had an obligation to bring the gold back to Russia." Volosozhar and Trankov made some errors in their free skate, but Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who had been in second place after the short program, had two significant errors that led them to ultimately finishing in third place. Szolkowy fell on a triple toe loop-triple toe loop jump combination, while Savchenko fell on their throw triple Salchow. Having also won the bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics, this marked back-to-back bronze medals for Savchenko and Szolkowy.

Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, who had been in third place after the short program, finished in second place and won the silver medals. Their routine, set to music from The Addams Family, featured a throw triple Salchow at the very end, which Stolbova landed effortlessly. Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China, who had won the silver medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics, finished in fourth place, while Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir of the United States finished in ninth place. Castelli and Shnapir had been part of the American team that had won the bronze medals in the team event, and improved on their performance here. Castelli landed their throw quadruple Salchow, which allowed them to set a new personal-best score.

+Pairs' free skate results Team Nation 1 152.69 74.86 77.83 9.61 9.46 9.82 9.79 9.96 0.00 2 143.47 72.27 71.20 8.71 8.61 9.00 9.04 9.14 0.00 3 136.58 67.62 68.96 8.57 8.43 8.57 8.71 8.82 0.00 4 136.14 66.95 71.19 8.96 8.79 8.64 9.04 9.07 2.00 5 131.18 64.91 66.27 8.21 8.00 8.32 8.39 8.50 0.00 6 129.94 65.04 64.90 8.07 7.96 8.00 8.32 8.21 0.00 7 127.32 64.25 64.07 8.00 8.11 7.93 8.07 7.93 1.00 8 125.13 64.81 61.32 7.86 7.50 7.57 7.71 7.68 1.00 9 120.38 61.25 59.13 7.39 7.29 7.43 7.46 7.39 0.00 10 115.51 58.68 57.83 7.25 7.18 6.96 7.46 7.29 1.00 11 114.07 57.74 58.33 7.39 7.18 7.21 7.39 7.29 2.00 12 110.31 60.11 50.20 6.36 6.11 6.29 6.36 6.25 0.00 13 107.00 52.12 54.88 6.86 6.79 6.61 7.00 7.04 0.00 14 103.01 53.83 50.18 6.36 6.18 6.11 6.39 6.32 1.00 15 94.35 48.22 47.13 5.96 5.82 5.79 6.07 5.82 1.00 16 86.22 43.38 44.84 5.71 5.64 5.32 5.82 5.54 2.00

Overall +Pairs' results Rank Team Nation Total SP FS 236.86 1 84.17 1 152.69 218.68 3 75.21 2 143.47 215.78 2 79.64 4 136.14 4 209.88 4 73.30 3 136.58 5 202.10 6 70.92 5 131.18 6 199.60 8 69.66 6 129.94 7 199.53 5 72.21 7 127.32 8 195.72 7 70.59 8 125.13 9 187.82 9 67.44 9 120.28 10 179.43 10 65.36 11 114.07 11 179.08 11 63.57 10 115.51 12 167.21 14 56.90 12 110.31 13 166.25 12 59.25 13 107.00 14 161.98 13 58.97 14 103.01 15 147.73 15 53.38 15 94.35 16 137.86 16 51.64 16 86.22 17 49.62 17 49.62 Did not advanceto free skate 18 48.45 18 48.45 19 44.98 19 44.98 20 44.30 20 44.30

Records

The following new record high score was set during this competition. + Date Skater(s) Segment Score 11 February Short program 84.17

References

Works cited