Figure Skating at the 1984 Winter Games: Previous Winter Games ▪ Next Winter Games
Host City: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Venue(s): Skenderija II Hall, Sarajevo; Zetra Hall, Sarajevo
Date Started: February 15, 1984
Date Finished: February 18, 1984
Format: Skaters were ranked on Ordinal Placement, based on judges' points, with final placement for each section determined by Majority Placements. The tiebreaker for the Short Program was the Required Elements score, while the tiebreaker for the Free Skating was the Artistic Impression score. Thus, if a skater was ranked first by a majority of the judges, that skater was placed first overall for that section. Ties were broken by a Subsequent Majority rule, i.e., if the skaters were ranked for the same position by the same number of judges, Majority Placement for the next higher position for each skater determined who was ranked higher. Final placement was determined by factored placements. The tiebreakers were then 1) Number of Majority Placements, 2) Total Ordinals of Majority, 3) Total Ordinals. The placement for the Compulsory Figures was factored by 0.6 (30%), the placement for the short program was factored by 0.4 (20%), and the placement for Free Skating was factored by 1.0 (50%). The sums of the factored placements were then used to determine final placement, with the Free Skating being the tiebreaker.
| Gold: | Katarina Witt |
| Silver: | Rosalyn Sumners |
| Bronze: | Kira Ivanova |
The last two World Champions had been Elaine Zayak (USA-1982) and Rosalyn Sumners (USA-1983), and they were in Sarajevo, looking for gold. Zayak lost her chance in the compulsories when she placed 13th. Sumners won the compulsories over West Germany’s Claudia Leistner, with East German Katarina Witt, who hadplaced second to Zayak at the 1982 Worlds, third. Witt, who had been 1983 and 1984 European Champion, then won the short program, while Sumners placed only fifth, falling to second overall. The gold medal would come down to whichever of them could win the free skate. The free skate was very close. Sumners looked to have the better of it for most of her routine. But near the end she doubled a planned triple toe loop and singled a double axel. Witt was voted first in the free skate by five judges to four for Sumners, giving Witt the gold medal. Witt would return in 1988 to win a second gold medal. Her beauty and skating artistry and athleticism would eventually make her a very wealthy woman. She was the first East German athlete who was allowed to skate professionally and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991, she made millions.
| Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | Medal | TFP | CFFP | SPFP | FSFP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katarina Witt | 18 | East Germany | GDR | Gold | 3.2 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| 2 | Rosalyn Sumners | 19 | United States | USA | Silver | 4.6 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.0 | |
| 3 | Kira Ivanova | 21 | Soviet Union | URS | Bronze | 9.2 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 5.0 | |
| 4 | Tiffany Chin | 16 | United States | USA | 11.0 | 7.2 | 0.8 | 3.0 | ||
| 5 | Anna Kondrashova | 18 | Soviet Union | URS | 11.8 | 4.2 | 1.6 | 6.0 | ||
| 6 | Elaine Zayak | 18 | United States | USA | 14.2 | 7.8 | 2.4 | 4.0 | ||
| 7 | Manuela Ruben | 20 | West Germany | FRG | 15.0 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 7.0 | ||
| 8 | Yelena Vodorezova | 20 | Soviet Union | URS | 15.4 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 11.0 | ||
| 9 | Claudia Leistner | 19 | West Germany | FRG | 17.4 | 5.4 | 4.0 | 8.0 | ||
| 10 | Sanda Dubravčić | 19 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 17.4 | 4.8 | 3.6 | 9.0 | ||
| 11 | Sandra Cariboni | 20 | Switzerland | SUI | 20.0 | 2.4 | 5.6 | 12.0 | ||
| 12 | Kay Thomson | 19 | Canada | CAN | 20.8 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 10.0 | ||
| 13 | Elizabeth Manley | 18 | Canada | CAN | 25.4 | 9.6 | 2.8 | 13.0 | ||
| 14 | Myriam Oberwiler | 21 | Switzerland | SUI | 28.2 | 9.0 | 5.2 | 14.0 | ||
| 15 | Karin Telser | 17 | Italy | ITA | 28.6 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 16.0 | ||
| 16 | Katrien Pauwels | 18 | Belgium | BEL | 32.8 | 8.4 | 6.4 | 18.0 | ||
| 17 | Susan Jackson | 18 | Great Britain | GBR | 33.2 | 11.4 | 6.8 | 15.0 | ||
| 18 | Agnès Gosselin | 16 | France | FRA | 35.4 | 10.8 | 7.6 | 17.0 | ||
| 19 | Masako Kato | 18 | Japan | JPN | 38.8 | 12.6 | 7.2 | 19.0 | ||
| 20 | Catharina Lindgren | 20 | Sweden | SWE | 39.0 | 10.2 | 8.8 | 20.0 | ||
| 21 | Vicki Holland | 21 | Australia | AUS | 41.0 | 12.0 | 8.0 | 21.0 | ||
| 22 | Bao Zhenghua | 18 | China | CHN | 44.2 | 13.8 | 8.4 | 22.0 | ||
| 23 | Kim Hae-Sung | 17 | South Korea | KOR | 45.4 | 13.2 | 9.2 | 23.0 |