Ice dancing medals haven't been awarded yet, I think. Here is the order, though.
Italians - gold
Russians - silver
That is the deal the Russians got from the French. And just because everyone knows about it, is no reason to renege on it.
I think. It's all so complicated. and disgusting.
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POSTED AT 2:57 AM EST Wednesday, February 13
Pairs finish was predetermined
By BEVERLEY SMITH
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Salt Lake City — The outcome of Monday's Olympic pairs skating competition was predetermined, sources have told The Globe and Mail.
Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, the reigning world champions, skated a flawless performance in the long program. They acknowledged Tuesday they thought they had won Canada's first figure skating gold medal in 42 years. Virtually everyone else watching agreed.
But the gold went to Russians Elena Berezhnaia and Anton Sikharulidze. Sources say a deal had been struck last week that tied the pairs gold to the outcome of the ice-dancing competition, which begins Friday. As reported Tuesday in The Globe, the order of the finish in ice dancing has also been pre-set with Canadians Victor Kraatz and Shae-Lynn Bourne finishing fifth.
"We've seen this deal-making in dance a lot," said Jan Ullmark, the coach for Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier. "And now it seems to have spread to the other events and that's sad. The other events are a lot easier to determine. Dance is harder."
There was widespread outrage throughout Canada and the sports world yesterday over the decision. Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier enjoyed instant celebrity, appearing on the NBC Today show and Tuesday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Sympathy for the pair was universal.
The International Skating Union announced Tuesday after a postmortem between the pairs judges and referee — a regular routine in skating competitions — there would be an "internal assessment" of the judging. ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta is scheduled to make his first public comments on the controversy Wednesday morning at a news conference. But this is not figure skating's first judging controversy, and few expect any substantial action.
Former IOC vice-president Richard Pound, who has called for banning ice dancing from Olympic competition unless the ISU cleans up its judging act, was part of the sellout crowd Monday night.
"I was there and watched a gold medal performance that resulted in a silver medal," the Montreal lawyer said. "It's a real shame for the kids. I've met them. On the door to their room [in the athletes village], there are five or six 6.0s stuck to it.
"They skated a flawless program and the Russians did not. I saw that; we all did."
Asked about the ISU changing the judges' decision, Mr. Pound replied, "They've created an opportunity to do so if they want."
Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier, who were seen in tears after the competition Monday night but were gracious in post-competition interviews and in a news conference yesterday, began to show some frustration last night in an interview on CBC.
Mr. Pelletier said the duo might turn professional after suggesting that they weren't sure they could receive a fair shake from judges when they defend their world championship in Nagano, Japan, next month.
"What's the deal at worlds? Are we going to win if we skate a perfect program? Has it [the outcome] been set up yet?" he asked. "'You just hope it's [competing] not a waste of time."
A well-placed figure skating source told The Globe before the Olympics began to watch judging patterns in the pairs program for evidence that the outcome would be tied to the ice-dance competition. Several sources have confirmed that deals were made for Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio to win gold in ice dancing ahead of Russians Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh.
Among the judges opting for the Russian pair Monday was Marie Reine Le Gougne of France. Insiders insist this was part of the deal. French skaters Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat are apparently slated for a bronze medal in ice dancing. There isn't a French judge on the ice-dancing panel.
Judges from Russia, China, Poland and Ukraine also voted for the Russians on Monday night while those from the United States, Canada, Germany and Japan gave Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier their first-place votes.
During their broadcast Monday, British Broadcasting Corp. commentators Barry Davis and Robin Cousins, the 1980 Olympic men's champion, said Ms. Le Gougne's decision to place the Russians ahead of Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier was almost certainly connected with the ice-dance event.
Sally Rehorick, chef de mission for the Canadian team and a respected figure-skating judge, said she had no evidence of predetermined results in the dance event, but "we are asking questions."
Sources also say Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier weren't the only skaters not judged fairly in the pairs. Yang Jiasheng, the judge from China, went with the Russians ahead of the Canadians too. Sources are suggesting that the Chinese judge gave the first-place vote to Ms. Berezhnaia and Mr. Sikharulidze, hoping that the judges from the former Eastern Bloc countries would help in giving the Chinese pairs team the country's first medal in the event. All nine judges ranked Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo third, despite a shaky performance in the long program.
"This is the worst thing that's happened in a long time in figure skating," Frank Carroll, a long-time U.S. skating coach, told Associated Press. Mr. Carroll also pointed to the French judge as a key player in what he also believes is a deal-making group.
Pairs should be easier to judge because there are specific technical tricks, such as throws, lifts, spins and twists that judges may use to determine placements. Dance is much more difficult, because it doesn't have these elements, although the International Skating Union has brought in rules since the scandal-marred 1998 Nagano Olympics that have introduced dance spins and lines of footwork upon which judges are supposed to base their opinions.
Even so, some dance judges have still been basing their decisions not on performances but on predetermined deals.
"The ISU has been preaching for the last couple of years that the performance is the object, but that did not happen [Monday night]," Mr. Ullmark said, adding he could see no case for the Russians winning. "They [the judges] can, but I obviously can't. My kids skated clean."
Ms. Rehorick said Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier "made the decision for the judges easy.
"It was clear Jamie and David skated better."
"There are five judges I'd like an answer from on why, just tell me why," said a distraught Lori Nichol, a Canadian who choreographed Ms. Salé's and Mr. Pelletier's programs, and who has designed a total of 11 Olympic routines here. "I want a detailed explanation of why [the judges voted this way]."
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