SOCHI, Russia — Rarely does a Winter Olympics pass without something happening that invites intense scrutiny of the figure skating judges. On Thursday night, the latest issue emerged — this time at the most high-profile moment, after the reigning gold medalist, Kim Yu-na of South Korea, performed the final free skate of the competition.

Kim was given a lower score (144.19) in the long program than Adelina Sotnikova (149.95) of Russia. Sotnikova finished with 224.59 overall points to Kim’s 219.11, a result that gave Sotnikova the gold medal and provoked international debate.

After a vote-trading scandal by judges discredited the pairs and ice-dancing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, skating officials overhauled their scoring and judging systems, trying to make the sport more objective and less susceptible to corruption. But the sport’s credibility remains a source of great dispute.

Individual scores by judges are given anonymously. The votes by each judge are kept in a safe at the headquarters of the international skating federation in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to Sonia Bianchetti of Italy, who has judged at seven Olympics.