Canadian Pairs Skaters Robbed by Judges!

[coleslaw]

It's a conspiracy, I tell you! The Russian pair had a few errors in their routine, but the Canadians skated perfectly. How could the judges possibly award first place to a faulty routine? :angry:

[Nanotech9]

yeah, i saw all that :(

[xsiled2]

russian and frence :angry: :angry: :angry: EVIL i tell ya

[sbp]

Yes, they sure were robbed.

[nomoney]

WOW! Canadians and figure skating....a double dont care. ;)

[CornMonkey]

Originally posted by PsillyPyro
WOW! Canadians and figure skating....a double dont care. ;)

ahaahahh

[chrissy]

Dudes, wait till I watch to say something... you spoiled the ending!

LOL

nah, I will just have to stay away from the forums in the evenings.

[eSDee]

Originally posted by PsillyPyro
WOW! Canadians and figure skating....a double dont care. ;)

Hehe good one PP. :thumb:

[penguintrix]

i found out that the russians won just in headline news,... and then waited to see (expectedly) a flawless performance. i was double robbed. :(

canadians did an awesome job and the russians surprised me. did you see the emotions??

so sad,... :bawl:

[NuTs62]

Maybe they should do something like give the judges an instant replay, or contest the results. But considering its the Olympics, and it would be considered unsportsmanship, I doubt that'll ever happen.

Watchin them on the podium, I was wondering what was going through the Canadian skating pair's minds. "YOU PUNK! I BELONG ON THAT TOP STEP!".. blah blah blah.. just a bit delusional, must get some sleep

[Jenny]

I missed the performance but saw them award the medals and she looked so emotional. I just assumed she was happy, but I guess not! lol

I wonder if any of the reason the Russians got the gold was because the Russian female is 16 years old...

[whitak24]

i thought that the medal decision was completely inappropriate.

figure skating isn't like most sports that i follow, where you have definitive measures of who won and who lost (ie one team got the ball in the basket more times than the other team, therefore they won the game). in my understanding, there are two objectives: to perform your moves accurately and to present a moving show to the audience.
the canadians beat the russians on both of these counts. they performed a flawless show, and the russians didn't. in addition, it is OBVIOUS from seeing and hearing the reaction of the crowd that the canadians put on a MUCH more pleasing show than the russians.
because of this, they should have won the medal. they were robbed.

[Ladogaboy]

How much weight did they give to the artistic performance? The Russians performed their artistic routine perfectly, so that might have counted for something. :shrug:

[whitak24]

Originally posted by Ladogaboy
How much weight did they give to the artistic performance? The Russians performed their artistic routine perfectly, so that might have counted for something. :shrug:
you may be right. i'm a figure skating ignoramus. it's just not a sport that i follow at all. however, i do find it amazing to watch what those athletes can do......
i always assumed that the "artistic" score encompassed how good of a "show" the skaters put on. in my opinion, that's what it's mostly about: the show. and so i just assumed that whoever put on the better show should get higher artistic scores.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by whitak24

you may be right. i'm a figure skating ignoramus. it's just not a sport that i follow at all. however, i do find it amazing to watch what those athletes can do......
i always assumed that the "artistic" score encompassed how good of a "show" the skaters put on. in my opinion, that's what it's mostly about: the show. and so i just assumed that whoever put on the better show should get higher artistic scores.

Well, there were two competitions: the artistic and technical. The artistic was held Saturday night, and the Russian pair won that one fair and square. I didn't get to watch the technical competition, so I don't know what happened there.

All I remember was that the announcer said, "If they don't finish in the top four in the artistic portion, they don't really have a chance at getting a medal." The Russians were first in the artistic competition; the Canadians were second.

[chrissy]

Originally posted by Ladogaboy
How much weight did they give to the artistic performance? The Russians performed their artistic routine perfectly, so that might have counted for something. :shrug:

While that is true, tech scores also weigh in. And when you mess up on a jump (which happened) and a lift or throw, your artistic will/should go down too. One always affects the other.

The Canadians lost by just a couple tenths. The POL judge was one that placed them in 2nd. There was another also (either China or someone else.. can't remember).

I was just glad to see the crowd not taking it out on the skaters (RUS) because it wasn't their fault that the judges upped their scores... that we know of :hmm:

Jenny, the story behind the RUS female skater is this, 6 years ago she was rushed to an ER because of a collision in a warm up where a skate hit her in her head. She underwent emergency surgery where they had to open her skull. Her partner last night wasn't her partner then, but he sat by her bed side the whole time she was in the hosptial and then took her home. They skated in 98 and I can't remember what they placed.

[Cantacuzene]

I felt the Canadians deserved to win but I didn't like how the canadian chick cried because she lost. Even if you get screwed lose with dignity. She embarrassed her country by behaving like a bitch.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by chrissy
While that is true, tech scores also weigh in. And when you mess up on a jump (which happened) and a lift or throw, your artistic will/should go down too. One always affects the other.


Yeah, like I said though, I wasn't able to watch the techincal performance. :shrug: But I know what you are saying, especially since the artistic performances were close. The Russain pair won the artistic phase deservedly, but it was still close.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by Ladogaboy


Yeah, like I said though, I wasn't able to watch the techincal performance. :shrug: But I know what you are saying, especially since the artistic performances were close. The Russain pair won the artistic phase deservedly, but it was still close.
ok, i think you're getting a little confused here. like i've said, i'm not an expert on this stuff, but let me explain what i know.
there are two portions of all figure skating competitions: the required part, or short program (i don't know the technical name) and the free skate, or long program. the short program was saturday, the long program was last night.
now the short program contains required elements, or "figures". that is actually where the term figure skating came from - the required patterns and moves that each skater is supposed to complete. my understanding is that years ago, the short program was VERY structured (ie, everyone did the exact same thing). however, now skaters have a lot more flexibility, and as long as they include certain elements (jumps, etc), the can structure the program however they choose.
the long program, on the other hand, is pretty much free-form. the skaters can do whatever they want, and basically have the opportunity to use their special strenghts (good jumps, lifts, etc) to try to stand out and impress the judges.
within each program, contestants are scored in two categories: technical merit and artistic performance (or something like that). these scores are averaged and combined to provide a final score. i think the artistic scores have more weight toward the final score than the technical scores.
also, the long program carries more weight in the final rankings than the short program. because of this, of the top three after the short program, whichever of the top three wins the long program will win the gold. so although the canadians were in second place after the short program, going into the long program, it was still wide open. whoever won got the gold.

so that's a figure skating lesson from someone who doesn't really know about figure skating. i tried to search and see if i could find the rules anywhere, but didn't turn up anything.

btw, for whoever was asking above, the russian pair got the silver in 1998.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by Cantacuzene
I felt the Canadians deserved to win but I didn't like how the canadian chick cried because she lost. Even if you get screwed lose with dignity. She embarrassed her country by behaving like a bitch.
lay off on her. she was disappointed. she's spent the last 4 years of her life trying to reach the pinnacle of her sport and she didn't make it. even if you didn't feel like you were robbed, that would be a big disappointment. and when some people are disappointed, they cry. imo, she wasn't "behaving like a bitch"

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by whitak24

ok, i think you're getting a little confused here. like i've said, i'm not an expert on this stuff, but let me explain what i know.
there are two portions of all figure skating competitions: the required part, or short program (i don't know the technical name) and the free skate, or long program. the short program was saturday, the long program was last night.
now the short program contains required elements, or "figures". that is actually where the term figure skating came from - the required patterns and moves that each skater is supposed to complete. my understanding is that years ago, the short program was VERY structured (ie, everyone did the exact same thing). however, now skaters have a lot more flexibility, and as long as they include certain elements (jumps, etc), the can structure the program however they choose.
the long program, on the other hand, is pretty much free-form. the skaters can do whatever they want, and basically have the opportunity to use their special strenghts (good jumps, lifts, etc) to try to stand out and impress the judges.
within each program, contestants are scored in two categories: technical merit and artistic performance (or something like that). these scores are averaged and combined to provide a final score. i think the artistic scores have more weight toward the final score than the technical scores.
also, the long program carries more weight in the final rankings than the short program. because of this, of the top three after the short program, whichever of the top three wins the long program will win the gold. so although the canadians were in second place after the short program, going into the long program, it was still wide open. whoever won got the gold.

so that's a figure skating lesson from someone who doesn't really know about figure skating. i tried to search and see if i could find the rules anywhere, but didn't turn up anything.

btw, for whoever was asking above, the russian pair got the silver in 1998.

Oh, the way the announcers made it sound, the score from the first section (the short one) was also counted. They also said that anyone in the top four had a chance at a medal. :shrug: Oh well. Not much that anyone can do now.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by Ladogaboy


Oh, the way the announcers made it sound, the score from the first section (the short one) was also counted. They also said that anyone in the top four had a chance at a medal. :shrug: Oh well. Not much that anyone can do now.
it does. it just doesn't count as much (i think).
going into the long program, everyone "in theory" has a chance at a medal of some color. it's just that if one of the top three finishers in the short program WINS the long program, then they will win the GOLD medal. however, if someone outside the top three (from the short program) won the long program, it would throw everything into chaos :heh:
seriously, they would probably win some medal, but what color depends on how well the people ahead of them did in the long program.

i really wish that there was an expert on figure skating out there. i'm thinking kb0wwp. he seems to be an expert on almost everything....... i just want to hear an explaination from someone who really knows what they're talking about (i don't qualify :D ).

[Kenas]

Just want to put my 5c into this discussion, I felt really bad for the Canadians (especially for the female partner). Though I want to say that Russian pair was much much better artistically, there were both natural, and so was the Canadian female skater, but her partner ... I did not buy it, he seemed a little too fake. Either way I was really upset when that Chinese skater fell down, because they looked awesome and she made a quite a jump, before she went down.

Another thing, I totally hated how the media presented this pair figure skating, I felt like the cold war is not over. They were showing bad Russians with the Kremlin, Lenin and Red Flags. And these nice Canadians and so on. And suddenly we should all be proud of the Canadian team and root for the North America ... what's up with that? How come that is not such propaganda for other Canadians??? Just those who had chance to win

And on the last note, that's what I found on CNN site:

"Four of the judges who voted for the Russians are from former Soviet or communist countries; the four who voted for the Canadians are from countries in the Western bloc. The French judge was the exception, going with the Russians -- somewhat ironic, considering that Pelletier is French-Canadian".

[chrissy]

Marks //

Determining the winner of a given discipline is a three-step process. First, judges award each individual or pair two marks for each program. Although the criteria for judging the various disciplines vary, one mark generally is dedicated to the difficulty of a program's individual elements and another for the artistic impression of the overall performance.

Marks are awarded a scale from 0-6:

0 = Not skated
1 = Very poor
2 = Poor
3 = Mediocre
4 = Good
5 = Very good
6 = Perfect and faultless

Decimals to one tenth (example: 5.5) are used to further separate performances.

Ordinals //

Marks are a tool for judges to use to rank individuals or pairs against each other. A skater or pair can win a competition with relatively poor marks if everyone else in the field performs worse in the eyes of the judges.

It's ordinals -- numbers that represent how each judge thinks an individual or pair performed in relation to the other performers he or she evaluates in a given competition -- that ultimately decide who wins and who loses.

Ordinals are derived from marks. Once each judge has issued both marks, the values are added and ranked. A place number, or ordinal, is assigned to each skater or pair based on their total marks vs. the rest of the field in the eyes of that judge (first place for the skater that received the highest combined marks, second for the next highest, etc.).

Placement //

Ordinals for each individual or pair in a given event are compared to those of each other competitor in the field. Points are accumulated for "wins," or lower ordinals, and the individual or pair with the greatest number of judges "in favor" is the winner of that competition.

If two individuals or pairs have the same number of wins, the tiebreaker is the total number of judges in each skater's favor.

All four Olympic figure skating disciplines comprise more than one competition. The final step in determining the overall winner is to multiply each competition's final standings by a factor that reflects the segment's relative importance. The individual or pair with the lowest total score ("factored placement," in skating parlance) is the winner.

The factors for each discipline are as follows:

Men's and ladies' singles and pairs
Short program: 0.5 x place
Free program: 1.0 x place

The lowest possible total is 1.5 (.5 x first place in the short program + 1 x first place in the free skate). The competitor with the better free skate result wins all ties.

[coleslaw]

Skating federation to investigate judging (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/news/2002/02/12/skating_judging/index.html)

[NuTs62]

Originally posted by Cantacuzene
I felt the Canadians deserved to win but I didn't like how the canadian chick cried because she lost. Even if you get screwed lose with dignity. She embarrassed her country by behaving like a bitch.

If thats your opinion of how she acted, everyone should respect it. But realize the time and effort she put into it. The Canadian team is the first team in decades that everyone believed would beat the Russian's reign of gold medals. They worked their butts off. Perhaps she is being a poor sport. I believe she has every right to cry! Many of these individuals work all their lives to the Olympic moment, and what for? They don't shoot for the Silver medals, they shoot for Gold, to be #1. The 2 knew, as well as the crowds at Salt Lake City, as did the announcers, as did all the millions of television viewers, all knew that they deserved the Gold medal for their efforts. To be denied it, you think she should just smile and act all peachy? I'm sure if something meant so much to you, you'd be crying too. I don't believe she embarassed her country one bit. The couple skated with dignity, and I believe they honored their country that day with a great show for the world to see.

And although I respect your opinion, your choice of words are a tad bit harsh. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY should be referred to as a "bitch".

[IrishSS]

Originally posted by coleslaw
Skating federation to investigate judging (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/news/2002/02/12/skating_judging/index.html)

was just gonna mention that...

[whitak24]

chrissy
thanks for all that information. where did you find that?

[chrissy]

Originally posted by whitak24
chrissy
thanks for all that information. where did you find that?

I got it here (http://www.olympics.com/x/f/frame.htm?u=http%3A//www.olympics.com/ats/fs/fs_competition_advance.html&s=sloc)

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by cpugeek04

lol, imagine that, olympics.com

Ahhh, shuddaup before I borrow DF's burner!!! :angry:


:heh:

Thanks, crissy, for the info!

[Thunder]

what a big mess...

[NuTs62]

This article can be found here (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/figure_skating/news/2002/02/13/isu_decision/)


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An Olympic referee raised questions about the scores that narrowly gave the gold medal to the Russians in pairs figure skating, the head of the skating union said Wednesday

It was the latest development in what has quickly become the biggest story of the Winter Games- - and could lead to changes in the way the sport is judged.

Ottavio Cinquanta, International Skating Union president, said he had received "certain allegations" from American referee Ronald Pfenning, who oversaw the nine judges scoring the competition.

In responding to questions about reports that a judge might have been pressured to vote for the Russians, Cinquanta said the judge denied it.

"I have an allegation and a denial," he said, refusing to identify the judge.

Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze edged Canada"s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier 5-4 in the free skate Monday night.

Cinquanta said he was embarrassed by the furor over the Russians winning despite an obvious technical error. Canada's Olympic delegation has demanded an independent investigation, and the federation said it would conduct a rare "internal assessment."

Pfenning, the only one who could present the allegations, could have been relaying a complaint from himself or any of the judges. ISU rules prevent Pfenning or anyone else on the judging panel from commenting publicly about decisions.

Cinquanta did not provide details of the allegations. Others also had questioned the results, "but the most important is the one of the referee," he said.

"He is the coordinator of the competition."

Cinquanta made it clear the integrity of judging -- and the sport itself -- is at stake.

"We are on the eve of possible revision of the judging system and it could limit the possibility of misunderstandings," he said.

Skate Canada, which filed an appeal of the pairs outcome with the ISU on Wednesday, also recognized the significance of the controversy.

"We are on the eve of changes in the judging system," said Marilyn Chidlow, president of Skate Canada.

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't think this was a crucial time for our beautiful sport."

And an ugly time. The infighting over whether Berezhnaya- Sikharulidze deserved the gold medal has overshadowed the event - and called the entire sport into question. Not only is suspicious decision-making being spotlighted, but accusations of dealmaking and vote-rigging on the panel are being made.

Skate Canada went so far as to call for the independent investigation even though it had no proof of any irregularities.

"We will look for that firsthand information," Chidlow said, "and be very very careful of our work in the process."

Canadian officials said they do not want the Russians stripped of the gold medal, but they believe Sale and Pelletier should be rewarded if any evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered.

"We are not here to pull someone down, we are here to pull somebody up," said Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Association. "We see no reason why the council of the ISU should not consider awarding a second gold medal."

The ISU executive council will meet Feb. 18 to discuss judging and consider any revisions to the rules. But Cinquanta reiterated that the competition was over, meaning the Russians would keep their gold medal.

Sale and Pelletier skated cleanly and the crowd was chanting "Six! Six!" by the time they finished, begging the judges to award the Canadians a perfect score.

The Canadians got only four 5.9s for artistry compared with seven 5.9s for the Russians, even though Sikharulidze stepped out of a jump. Boos rained down from the crowd as the marks were flashed.

Chambers said the COA was filing the appeal right away because, "There is no time to wait, we're at the Olympic Games now and we must file the appeal now for any hope of a decision before the end of the games."

Reaction differed on opposite sides of the world.

U.S. coach Frank Carroll suggested that a French judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne, voted for the Russians in a deal to avenge a loss by the French dance team to the Canadians at the Grand Prix finals in Canada in December.

"Does that mean now the Russian judge possibly is going to give the French dance team first" in these Olympics? Carroll asked.

The ice dancing competition begins Friday.

"This is the worst thing that's happened to figure skating in a long time," Carroll said. "I can understand where, watching that, if the International Olympic Committee said, 'We don't want figure skating in the Olympics anymore,' who's going to argue with that?"

The IOC isn't giving figure skaters the boot yet, but it is "concerned," said Francois Carrard, its director general.

"The ultimate responsibility for the results," he said, "lies with the ISU."

[NuTs62]

This article can be found here. (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/figure_skating/news/2002/02/12/pelletier_future/)


SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) -- Canadian figure skater David Pelletier is considering quitting the sport after he and sweetheart Jamie Sale missed out on the pairs gold at the Winter Olympics following a judging controversy.

"It is getting to an end," Pelletier told French-Canadian reporters as Salt Lake City awoke on Tuesday to the first big row of the Winter Games.

Tuesday morning's edition of U.S. newspapers splashed the story of Pelletier and Sale's defeat on their front pages.

Atlanta-based CNN reported that the nine judges would have to justify their decision to top Olympic officials later on Tuesday.

"After a night like tonight, you badly want to cut your figure skating career short," the Canadian figure skater said.

The Canadian duo --the reigning world champions -- were edged out by Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze on Monday as Russia maintained their grip on the discipline which dates back 11 Olympics.

But the judges' marking was greeted with boos and whistles, most of the crowd at the Olympic Ice Centre believing the Canadians' romantic free skate, performed to music from Love Story, should have landed them on top of the podium.

The outcome also sparked anger from the Canadian silver medallists, their choreographer Lori Nichol describing the result as an "embarrassment" for figure skating.

The judges from Russia, China, France, Poland and Ukraine voted for the Russian pair, while the U.S., Canada, Germany and Japan sided with the Canadians.

Pelletier, though, said he would delay a final decision, adding: "It is not the time to take a decision. I will sleep over that but it is clear that [Monday night's results] will be taken into account when it will be time for a decision."

Pelletier was set to hold a news conference at Canada's Olympic Lodge in Salt Lake City at 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

[NuTs62]

Originally posted by DarkFury
This is part of the reason why I don't "dig" the Olympics anymore...

My feelings in this aspect go all the way back to the 1988 Summer Olympics where my friend, Roy Jones Jr got robbed by Si-Hun Park in Seoul, Korea.

He had OBVIOUSLY beaten the guy, but yet the "judges" gave the decision to Park (the "hometown boy"). Roy was very distraught over the decision and everyone back home felt so bad for him cause we KNEW he was the best in his weight class.

Pretty much over time, Roy has proven time and time again that he is the BEST "pound for pound". Has anyone heard anything from that "Park" dude? Yeah... thought so.

So basically, corrupt judges are one of the reasons I just don't get into the "Olympic spirit" anymore.

So thats why they have to change the system. Although I'm not sure how they would be able to judge such an event. I was thinking for a sec, crowd applause and enthusiasm, but that would give the hometown advantage. At least they're trying to do something about it now!

[chrissy]

Yeah, but the thing is, this has been going on for decades. Not only at olympic level but at world level too.

It sometimes isn't as obvious but sometimes it is. I can't say I know a lot about the little rules but I have been a fan of the sport for a while.

And remember that thread (think it was locked), it stated that during the cold war, we were more apt to watch then because it was "good" against "bad". Judges still vote that way, we saw it the other night and still continue to see it in other sports too (as DF pointed out).

[Markel]

The only way they could really "resolve" this issue would be to get rid of all "subjective" type of judging events (figure skating, gymnastics, snowboarding, etc.) and only give awards for events where there is a clear winner (fastest, most weight lifted, etc.). But I don't see that happening.

[attgig]

The Canadians will share gold with the Russian team.

The IOC has awarded the Canadian pair of Sale and Pelletier the gold medal in the latest twist in the skating controversy which has erupted at the Winter Olympics. In addition, the French skating judge has been suspended.


http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/figure/news?id=1333280

[NuTs62]

Posted: Tuesday April 30, 2002 7:39 AM
Updated: Tuesday April 30, 2002 9:02 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2002/04/30/isu_tuesday_ap/t1_legougne_ap-01.jpg


LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Red-faced and shaking with rage, the French judge at the center of the Olympic figure skating scandal insisted her three-year ban from the sport does little to end the case.

Indeed, Marie-Reine Le Gougne is more defiant than ever.

The International Skating Union sought closure Tuesday by suspending her and French federation chief Didier Gailhaguet until 2005 and barring them from the next Winter Olympics.

But Le Gougne, Gailhaguet and their lawyers said they would fight the case in appeals as long as it takes, and they denounced the ISU ruling as a "farce" and "masquerade."

Le Gougne vowed to clear her name and threatened to reveal corruption in the sport.

"I hoped that tonight would be the end of a nightmare that has lasted 2 1/2 months," said Le Gougne, clearly furious over the ISU decision. "Unfortunately, that's not the case. But I am more determined than ever. So it's no longer a nightmare. Now it's a real battle. I want my dignity and honor restored."

The International Skating Union council held a two-day hearing into accusations Le Gougne was pressured by Gailhaguet into voting for the Russians over the Canadians in the pairs competition at the Salt Lake City Games. The Canadians were awarded duplicate gold medals four days later.

The ISU ruled Le Gougne voted for the Russians "although in her own opinion the pair ... from Canada presented a better performance."

The suspensions go into effect immediately and last until April 30, 2005. They cover the annual world championships, European championships, Grand Prix events and exhibitions. In addition, Le Gougne and Gailhaguet are banned from the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, in 2006.

Some thought Le Gougne deserved a lifetime ban.

"An Olympic gold medal is a very valuable object," said Jon Jackson, a U.S. attorney and skating judge who testified against Le Gougne. "A three-year sentence is a very light sentence. ... She fixed an Olympic Games."

Ron Pfenning agreed. He's the U.S. referee for the pairs event who testified that Le Gougne admitted to him she voted under pressure for the Russians -- which she denies.

"For such a serious violation, I would have hoped for a penalty that is more severe," he said.

The ISU council deliberated for five hours before announcing the rulings.

"We went through the papers, we went through the evidence and then we decided," ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta said. "We are more than confident we took the right decision.

"It was not an easy case. It's a sad moment."

The council cited Le Gougne on two counts: voting for the Russian pair on Gailhaguet's orders, and not reporting Gailhaguet to the ISU for his pressure tactics.

Gailhaguet was sanctioned on a charge of instructing Le Gougne to give first place to Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet contended the ISU stacked the case against them and denied them a fair trial to justify the decision to give additional golds to Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

In Canada, Sale and Pelletier announced Tuesday they are turning pro and giving up their Olympic eligibility. They said the decision had nothing to do with the judging scandal and had no comment on the ISU suspensions.

Skate Canada praised the ISU's decisions, calling it "a great day for international figure skating and for skaters."

The U.S. Figure Skating Association said "serious and permanent international judging reforms [should] be instituted immediately to ensure that this situation does not happen in the future."

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet now will go through the ISU's internal appeals process. If they lose that appeal, they plan to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"It was a masquerade," Le Gougne said. "It is scandalous, unacceptable. The ISU has no shame. My most basic rights of defense were denied. They have decapitated me from the start. I have been a scapegoat from the beginning and it was demonstrated for me during these hearings."

Gailhaguet said: "There is not a shadow of proof. It is an attempt at political assassination. This affair is far from over."

The ISU heard testimony from 13 witnesses, almost all of whom had made allegations against Le Gougne or Gailhaguet.

The French pair and their lawyers complained the ISU did not call the other four judges who voted for the Russian pair as witnesses. The only two event judges who testified were Canada's Bernard Lavoie and Germany's Sissy Krik, both of whom voted for the Canadians.

"The only intention of the ISU is to justify at all costs the awarding of the second gold medal," Le Gougne said.

"It was a farce," said Max Miller, one of Le Gougne's American lawyers.

Gailhaguet's lawyer, Alexander Brabant, called the proceedings a "kangaroo court."

Le Gougne threatened to make revelations about the ISU.

"I will explain how things work," she said. "It's a system that is extremely biased, dictatorial and even corrupt. ... They won't stop me now. I have nothing more to lose. I will fight this to the end."

Le Gougne described the verdicts as a "totally political decision" aimed at undermining French influence in the sport. She and Gailhaguet were due to run for top positions at ISU elections in Japan next month. Now they are ineligible.

Le Gougne was suspended indefinitely by the ISU in Salt Lake City after declaring she voted for the Russian pair under pressure from Gailhaguet. Le Gougne later recanted.

Le Gougne has denied ever saying that, insisting she voted for the Russians in good conscience.

She watched replays of the Russians and Canadians 10 days ago for the first time.

"It was clear that I had judged correctly," she said. "Today, if I had to do it again, I would do the same thing. I would put the Russians first for sure."

Linkage (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2002/04/30/isu_tuesday_ap/)

-----------------------------

3 years ban? thats it? bah!

[NuTs62]

Posted: Tuesday April 30, 2002 4:12 PM

TORONTO (AP) -- Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, the Canadian figure skaters awarded a controversial gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics due to a judging scandal, announced their retirement from amateur skating Tuesday.

The couple, 25 and 27 respectively, told a news conference the dispute at the Salt Lake Games, which made them international celebrities, had nothing to do with their decision to focus on professional shows and competition.

Sale said they would give up their amateur eligibility after a career that brought them a world pairs title and the Olympic title they shared with Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, who also were awarded gold at Salt Lake City.

"We're going to miss it and that's obvious," Sale said. "We're so happy with our career and we left with a good skate. We're leaving on a positive note."

Pelletier noted the couple discussed leaving the amateur ranks before the Olympic controversy.

"That didn't really have any impact on it at all," he said of the judging dispute.

They refused to comment on Tuesday's ruling by the International Skating Union to suspend two key figures in the Salt Lake City dispute. Judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French skating head Didier Gailhaguet were suspended for three years and banned from the 2006 Winter Games.

They were accused of manipulating the scoring of the pairs skating competition at the Salt Lake City, a controversy that led to the unprecedented awarding of duplicate gold medals to the Canadians and Russians.

Sale and Pelletier, initially awarded silver medals behind the Russians, got their gold medals in a special ceremony with Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze.

They decided against competing in the world championships in Nagano, Japan, a few weeks after the Olympics, and hinted then they might leave amateur competition.

"I'm very content with what I achieved in amateur skating and I'm ready to move on," Sale said.

Pelletier said a fall tour of Canada was being planned, and the couple looked forward to doing different routines after the limitations of the short and long programs of amateur competition.

He also said the decision would allow the couple more time to pursue personal interests such as fishing and hunting.

"There's other stuff than skating in life," he said. "It's just a great period of our life right now."

Linkage (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2002/04/30/canadians_retire_ap/)

[sbp]

Originally posted by NuTs62
spurious rantings of the french judge removedGet caught with the hand in the cookie jar be prepared to pay the price.

What happened was one of the most flagrant examples of the shady judging and corruption that going on for many years. Marie-Reine Le Gougne is in some ways being the scapegoat for this. She was stupid enough to talk about the underhanded dealing in public. Thing is the whole system needs to be cleaned out otherwise it will be shady business as usual. :dodgy: