Russia's Adelina Sotnikova Wins Gold in Ladie's Free Skate; Team USA's Gracie, Ashley & Polina in Top Ten at Sochi Olympics

Russia’s Adeline Sotnikova wraps herself in her country’s flag alongside Korea’s Yuna Kim and Italy’s Carolina Kostner, after winning the gold medal during the ladie’s free skate at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics held at Iceberg Skating Palace on Thursday night (February 20) in Sochi, Russia.

Adelina, 17, was passed over for the team event where Russia won gold with sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya — she ended up 5th, overall.

“I really wanted to participate in the team competition because I understood that we would win a medal because our team is so strong,” Adelina shared with press afterwards. “When I found out I was not in the team, I felt so sorry and I felt offended. I felt so cheated in a way. Anyway, I still had my goal to show this skating, the one that I did today. Maybe it is all for the best that I didn’t compete in the team competition and it was an advantage for me that it made me so mad to win the gold medal.”

Team USA’s Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner and Polina Edmunds were strong on the ice, with only a few falls on jumps between them. They all ended up in the top ten — Gracie, 4th, Ashley, 7th and Polina, 9th.

20+ pics inside…