Day 13 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

The Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Anna Shcherbakova has placed first in the women's singles skating.

The 17-year-old dazzled with a spectacular free skate performance to top the field with a score of 255.95, guaranteeing a one-two finish for the ROC.

"I still haven’t realised that my Olympic Games have ended. I just know that I skated clean. I am so happy that I still haven’t realised the result," Shcherbakova said after the competition.

Asked if the emotions of the evening and of her ROC teammates got to her, she said, "No, I am just happy. I am only happy. I still haven’t realised what happened. I can’t believe the Olympics are already over for me.”

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva fell numerous times during her free skate routine, causing her to drop out of contention for a place in the top three.

The 15-year-old was favorite to finish in first place after coming out on top of Tuesday's short program, but multiple mistakes in the free skate saw her drop down to fourth with a total score of 224.09.

There are loud chants of "Kamila, Kamila, Kamila" coming from the stands as a tearful Valieva is consoled as she makes her way off the rink.

The Russian Olympic Committee still made a 1-2 finish with figure skaters Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto finished in third.

Kamila Valieva is now performing her routine at the free skate program.

The 15-year-old took to the rink earlier to warm up, and showed no signs of any nerves ahead of her much-anticipated free skate routine.

The Russian Olympic Committee figure skater will perform last after posting the highest score in Tuesday's individual short program, yet there will be no medal ceremony should she finish in the top three amidst an ongoing doping scandal involving the 15-year-old.

Valieva has looked steady in practice, according to CNN reporters at the Capital Indoor Stadium, executing all of her jumps perfectly.

Her name was announced to cheers from the ROC side of the crowd, with coach Eteri Tutberidze watching on from rink-side.

A 2002 Olympic figure skating scandal — with allegations of score-fixing — upended the sport and led to a complete overhaul of the scoring system — one that awards more points for stamina and strenuous athletic feats.

This matters because gold-medal favorite Kamila Valieva, 15, tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, which is said to increase stamina and make "your heart work more efficiently," said Dr. Elizabeth Murray, pediatric emergency medicine physician at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Here's how the sport has evolved in recent years to reward increased athleticism and stamina:

More difficult jumps = more points

In 2004, the International Skating Union ditched the subjective "6.0" scoring system for the more rubric-based International Judging System that gives certain base points for jumps depending on their degree of difficulty and how many times the skater rotates in the air.

For example, a quadruple Lutz — in which a skater makes four revolutions in the air — carries more base points than a triple Lutz.

But a triple Lutz carries more base points than less difficult triples, such as a triple loop or a triple Salchow.

After each jump, skaters can gain or lose points from the base value depending on the grade of execution — how well or poorly they executed the jump.

All those numbers are part of the technical score. There's also the presentation score, which rewards artistry and skating skills between jumps.

But in recent years, skaters have been able to win competitions largely due to points racked up from jumping — with quadruple jumps playing a larger role in men's and women's skating.

Why better stamina can win skaters more points

In women's figure skating, athletes perform two routines: the short program, which is about 2 minutes and 40 seconds long, and the free skate, which is about 4 minutes long.

Russian skater Alina Zagitova was 15 when she won Olympic gold after performing all her free skate jumps in the second half of the routine.

With the current scoring system, jumps performed in the second half of the free skate can get a 10% bonus because it's more difficult to perform them on tired legs.

Read the full story here.

CNN's Simone McCarthy, Hannah Ritchie and George Ramsay contributed to this report.

Finland's Jenni Saarinen competes in the women's single skating free skating of the figure skating event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Feb. 17, 2022.

Norway extended their lead at the top of the Beijing medal table with a 14th gold after a comfortable victory in the Nordic combined 4x5km team event at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre.

Anchor leg Jørgen Graabak crossed the finish line almost a full minute ahead of Germany's Vinzenz Geiger in silver, completing Norway's total time of 50:45.1.

Opening legs from Espen Bjørnstad and Espen Andersen had seen the Norwegians narrowly trailing Austria at the halfway stage, but an impressive third relay from Jens Lurås Oftebro paved the way for Graabak's final flourish.

With Graabak afforded the opportunity to bask in his victory as he entered the final straight, the thrills followed in a frantic push for the podium positions which saw Japan's Ryota Yamamoto hunt down Austria's Martin Fritz to take a stunning bronze.

Having been fourth heading into the final 1.5km, Yamamoto finished just 0.3 seconds away from silver and celebrated wildly with his teammates at the line.

It is the first time since 1998 that Austria have failed to make the podium in the event.

The president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Stanislav Pozdnyakov, said Thursday that the result of the figure skating team event at the Beijing Games should not be revised, regardless of Kamila Valieva’s "supposed antidoping violation."

Valieva played a pivotal role in guiding the ROC to gold after she became the first woman to land a quad at the Winter Games.

The medal ceremony for the event was due to take place last week but was postponed after a positive test, now known to be that of Valieva, was returned by a member of the ROC figure skating team.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams said Wednesday that any result involving the 15-year-old in the women’s individual event would carry an "asterisk" until her case has been concluded.

There, too, will be no flower or medal ceremony should Valieva finish on the podium.

In a statement released on the ROC’s website, Pozdnyakov said the organization "categorically" disagreed with the IOC’s position that the results should be considered "preliminary."

"In relation to the result of team tournament, Russia’s Olympic Committee already sent a letter to ISU [International Skating Union] where we detailed our argument and position that the results of the team tournament cannot be revised under any circumstances, irrespective of the results of disciplinary investigation regarding the athlete," read the statement.

"Antidoping rules are formulated in a way that the results revision of the team tournament can only take place in case of the supposed antidoping violation taking place during the Olympic Games.

"We will continue to uphold our position successively as part of any proceedings, including with CAS if required," the statement concluded.

Alcohol and Olympic-level skiing may not seem like the best combination, but newly crowned women's alpine combined gold medalist Michelle Gisin is something of a trendsetter.

Placed 12th after the downhill course, the Swiss skier blitzed through the deciding slalom to finish over a second ahead of her compatriot Wendy Holdener, who won silver.

The key to her success? A midnight strategy session with an intoxicated giant slalom gold medalist.

Reveling in his dramatic giant slalom triumph on Sunday, Swiss teammate Marco Odermatt's celebrations in the room next door to Gisin had woken her up in the early hours before her final day of downhill training.

Unable to get back to sleep, Gisin decided to go and congratulate her compatriot, and so ensued the most unlikely of strategic briefings.

"There's a very funny picture," Gisin said. "But you will not see that ever because we look both horrible.

"Me with my blanket and my cushion and everything, my plushie, and him still in the racing suit.

"Then we started to discuss the downhill at one in the morning. He was drunk, I was very tired, but it was very funny."

The other weapon in her arsenal? A glass of wine the day before an event.

Gisin said that she had shared a drink with teammates Loïc Meillard and Luca Aerni before the super-G on Thursday.

Having gone on to take bronze in the event the following day, Gisin was not about to break a new medal-winning tradition.

"After the super-G, they wrote on my door: 'Drink wine: Ski fast.' So I drank a glass of wine with them again yesterday, of course.

"And look at that, it seems to work for me very well."

While most people are aware of the perils that come with being an athlete in some of the Winter Olympics' most daring sports, they may not know about the camera operators out there risking it all for the perfect shot.

The danger of being behind the lens was certainly on display during the men's freeski halfpipe qualifiers on Thursday, with the camera operators standing right on the edge of the pipe to get close-up shots of the skiers as they performed their tricks mid-air.

And one unfortunate cameraman was on the receiving end of a whack from one of the skis of Finnish competitor Jon Sallinen, who lost control as he began a jump halfway through his routine.

Fortunately, both Sallinen and the cameraman — as well as the video footage — were fine.

However, as a result of the crash, Sallinen ended up in last place.