Oh my. Here is what's crazy:
So, in the SP, Adelina had the lower BV, and the easiest jump combo, yet she received the highest GOE? How is this possible?
That's very common, actually. More common than the reverse. Easier elements are easier to earn high GOE on.
So skaters have to choose their strategy. Go for the highest base value and risk giving up some GOE to lower quality, or stick with a lower base value and make up the difference in GOE.
3T+3T is not an easy element, but it is easier than 3Lz+3T.
I have always said that one could make the argument for any of the top 3 winning. I would have had Adelina in first, but had Yuna or Carolina won I would not have agreed but I would see the logic
I could also make an argument for any of the top three. I judged along at home just for fun, gave Sotnikova lower total PCS than Kostner (except for transitions) or Kim, and thought that Kim had done enough to win. But I haven't added up my scores with the tech panel calls to see what order my scores would have them in. I knew they were close.
I think any of the three would make a worthy Olympic champion, and it really kills the mood from that great night of skating to have to read all these conspiracy theories.
Instead of looking at past competitions or nationalities of the officials, what if we just looked at all the elements and all the components from all three of these skaters at this event and analyzed how we think they should be scored if we approach it without bias?
Or is it too late now that everyone has an axe to grind? At least when I was scoring live, I could just score what I saw without trying to prove anything about who should win, except whether I could come up with meaningful scores in real time. And unlike the real judges I couldn't affect the real results.
Should we come back to this in a few weeks or months when it may be easier to find videos of the whole programs online?