The competition exists out of two separate rounds. The first round allows the competitors to perform a routine of a maximum of 2:40 minutes, after which the athletes with the twenty-four best scores perform another routine of around 4:00 minutes. The scores are based on the individual rankings of the judges, with each position earning one point. In each round, athletes are ranked based on these ordinal points. The athlete with the fewest classification points after two rounds wins the competition.
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Twenty-seven athletes qualified for the event with Oksana Baiul as the reigning world champion after edging out defending bronze medalist Nancy Kerrigan in the free skate, with the latter dropping back to fifth place. The remaining medalists of the world championships were Surya Bonaly and Chen Lu, but with the previous Olympic competition only having been two years prior, Tonya Harding, Yuka Sato, and Josee Chouinard, who had finished in the top 10, were in the running as well. Other medal contenders included Tanja Szewczenko and Lenka Kulovana.
