And if add you add up all the 3s that were given among the first six women, there are 97 of them. Sotnikova (33) and Lipnitskaya account for 61 percent of them (60 3s). The remaining four women only account for 38 percent of the 3s (around 37 of them). Granted, the split shouldn't be equal among all the women, since we have winners and losers. And theoretically, Sotnikova should have the best scores since she finished first. But it is odd that the first place finisher and the sixth place finisher, who are both Russian, dominate in the amount of excellent marks.

Around month ago, judges at the European Championships did not think Lipnitskaya was as worthy of as many 3s:

Same goes for Sotnikova:

There are elements Lipnitskaya does better than Kim and some women, like her spins (that Biellmann in particular). Her jumps, as analysts like Dick Button noted, aren't as impressive — they lack lift, and the amount of ice she covers isn't as impressive. Those facets are supposed to be considered in that GOE scoring.

Not unlike Sotnikova, there was one judge who was very happy doling out 3s, and went against the grain of the other judges. Here's Sotnikova's scoresheet as a quick reference:

Lipnitskaya, like Sotnikova, benefitted from one judge doling out a lot of 3s, who also went against the grain of the other judges:

You'll notice that her first element, a triple lutz-triple toe combination, received 0s from a couple judges on the panel. Yet the judge in the fifth column had it down as exceptional. That judge felt the same about her next combination.

The judge in the seventh column also doled out plenty of 3s, including grading Lipnitskaya's first jumping pass as exceptional. The number of 3s those two judges threw out in Lipnitskaya's is 11 — two less than all the 3s in Kim's routine.

Why were judges so stingy to these exceptional scores when it came to other female skaters, but not so in Lipnitskaya's and Sotnikova's programs? Was Lipnitskaya really that much better in her elements, including some of her jumps, than Kim, Asada, and Kostner?

To a certain extent all these 3s are moot because Lipnitskaya took herself out of the running by falling. But had she not fallen, there would even be more controversy, because she could have likely finished second in the free skate behind Sotnikova.

All these 3s, 2s, and 1s symbolize the amount of bonus points that a judge wants to award a good skater. In skating, jumps have a base value and those -3 to +3s, correspond to a weighted bonus for each jump. For example, a triple lutz's base value is 6.0 points — you land it cleanly, that's what you should be getting. A triple lutz done with a +3 GOE grabs you 2.1 in bonus, bringing that value to 8.1 points. A triple lutz given a -3 GOE (a fall), becomes a lousy 3.9 points.