Canadian Figure Skaters Get Gold, Russians Furious
Friday February 15 3:02 PM ET
By Adrian Warner
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Canada's Jamie Sale and
David Pelletier will be awarded a gold medal in the
Olympics pairs figure skating after a French judge in
Monday's final was suspended for misconduct.
``The gold medal will be awarded to the Canadian pair,''
International Olympic Committee
president Jacques Rogge told a news conference on
Friday.
Rogge, seeking to put an end to a furor that has
dominated the first week of the Games, said the Russian
pair who won on Monday would keep their gold medal.
International Skating Union president
Ottavio Cinquanta said French judge Marie-Reine Le
Gougne had been suspended from the Winter Olympics
(news - web sites). Le Gougne voted for Russian duo
Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze in the 5-4
split decision.
``We have suspended with immediate effect the judge of
figure skating Mrs. Marie-Reine Le Gougne,'' Cinquanta
told the joint news conference.
``The council got enough evidence that this individual
was responsible for misconduct. They (the skaters) were
not judged equally.''
Cinquanta said le Gougne had ``practically admitted'' she
had been put under pressure during a meeting at which
the American referee Ron Pfenning had been present.
Earlier this week, Cinquanta said Pfenning had handed
him a letter containing ''certain allegations''.
He added if a judge received pressure at any time the
referee had to be informed.
RUSSIANS FURIOUS
``This did not happen in the case of Mrs. Le Gougne,''
Cinquanta said.
He said a council meeting on Monday would decide how
long the suspension would last.
Pelletier and Sale told Canadian television after the
announcement that justice had been done.
``Everyone knows what we deserve and we know what we deserve and we are
taking that home with us and that's all that matters,'' Sale said.
``This is not about us and the Russians, this is about the sport we love dearly and
justice was done, and that is a good feeling,'' said Pelletier.
``I hope it's not going to stop the cleaning of (figure skating's) house here,'' he
added.
Sale said: ``We just want the truth to come out and I think for the future of our
sport this had to be fixed.''
The Russian team reacted furiously to Friday's decision, describing it as a huge
blow to the Olympic spirit.
Russian Olympic Committee official Rudolf Nezvegsky told Reuters: ``By doing
this, they just struck a huge blow, not only to the Olympic spirit of fair
competition but also to the whole nature of sport.
``It went against any moral and ethical norms that exist in sport where athletes,
not lawyers, compete against each other on the slopes and in the sports arenas
and not in back rooms,'' Nezvegsky said.
``Mr Rogge, who has just become IOC president, probably does not understand
what he has done for the sports movement for future Olympic Games,'' Nezvegsky added.
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