Estonian figure skater Niina Petrõkina takes seventh place in her Olympic debut
Competing in the Olympics for the first time, two-time European figure skating champion Niina Petrõkina finished seventh at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games. American skater and reigning world champion Alysa Liu was crowned Olympic champion.
Skating 15th in Thursday's free skate, Petrõkina landed seven triple jumps cleanly and earned 141.19 points for her program, falling just over four points short of the Estonian record she set at the European Championships.
Across both programs, Petrõkina totaled 210.82 points; her personal best of 216.14 points was set a month ago at the European Championships in Sheffield. The combined score secured her seventh place in her Olympic debut.
Reigning world champion Alysa Liu of the United States claimed her second gold medal of these Games, earning 150.20 points in the free skate and raising her personal best to 226.79. Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan took silver with 224.90 points, while her 17-year-old compatriot Ami Nakai won bronze with 219.16.
Also finishing ahead of Petrõkina were Japan's Mone Chiba (217.88), three-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn (214.91) and Adelia Petrosian, competing under a neutral flag (214.53). Thirteen women scored more than 200 points overall.
With her gold medal, Liu also ended a four-Olympic-cycle medal drought for American women. The last U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in singles skating was Sasha Cohen who took silver behind Japan's Shizuka Arakawa at the 2006 Turin Games.
Two-time European champion Niina Petrõkina earned 69.63 points in Tuesday's short program, just 0.98 points shy of her Estonian record. Her routine included a double axel, a triple lutz–triple toe loop combination and a triple flip.
You can watch her routine again by clicking the video player above.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Andrew Whyte
