Canadian Figure Skaters Get Gold, Judge Banned

Yahoo ^ | 2/15/02 | Adrian Warner

[The_Victor]

Canadian Figure Skaters Get Gold, Judge Banned
Fri Feb 15, 2:30 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.

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"The gold medal will be awarded to the Canadian pair," International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) (IOC) 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 (news - web sites) (ISU) 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.

"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."

Monday's decision sparked outrage in Canada and most neutral observers thought the title should have been awarded to the Canadian pair. The Canadian Olympic Association has appealed to the ISU to overturn the decision.

"This is truly a proud moment for all Canadians and a significant milestone in the sport of figure skating," said Skate Canada president Marilyn Chidlow.

[The_Victor]

I know most of this is old news, bu I haven't heard that the judge was banned for misconduct.

[Maedhros]

Previous thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/628766/posts

[TC Rider]

Is it just me, or do others feel that the French judge was singled out for spilling the beans? There were obviously more than one corrupt judge, yet the one that came clean, gets sanctioned.

Somehow, my faith is not restored.

[NittanyLion]

But I tell you this, my friend, if ANY collusion was involved, I'll be changing my tune, right here, publicly.

Well, let's hear it.

[Utah Girl]

I'm with you. I think this is going to be swept under the rug, and the corruption will go on in the skating world.

[blam]

"Is it just me, or do others feel that the French judge was singled out for spilling the beans? There were obviously more than one corrupt judge, yet the one that came clean, gets sanctioned.

Somehow, my faith is not restored.

DITTO. All involved should be punished.

[carmody]

Now both gold medals are meaningless. True justice would be to throw out all the scores cast by the French judge and recalculating all totals. Have another ceremony and award one gold, one silver, one bronze. If I were the Canadian team I would refuse to share the gold.

[staytrue]

apparently, the american referee saw intimidation of the french judge and did not see what happened with the other judges who may or may not be corrupt. They probably are, but you still need evidence. In the men's skate last night, I was flaberghasted by the marks the 3rd russian received. He received ordinals that ranged from 2 to 10. He finished 4th. The judges for the russian pair could be corrupt or simply incompetent. In the men's, the guy who voted with a 2 was australian and Scott Hamilton remarked "the australian judge is why we have nine judges". The judge who gave the guy a 10 (tenth place) was the judge from finland. I don't think there was corruption here, just incompetence.

[cajungirl]

Right you are. And what about the four other judges that awarded higher points just like the French one. And the Western judges who gave artificially low marks to some non western skaters. The whole thing is a joke and doing this one thing will not clean it up. The bloc voting is so obvious and always has been. The french just loused it up for everyone, per usual.

[randog]

Hey, let's just give out Participation Ribbons to everyone and avoid messy situations like this.
;>)

[Great_Dame]

randog is right. Everyone is special, they all worked hard to get here and everyone participated. How about we give 'em all medals! Nice shiney gold ones so no one gets their feelings hurt...

[Mr. Lucky]

Can't we all be winners?

Or is that weiners....

[grania]

Is it just me, or do others feel that the French judge was singled out for spilling the beans? There were obviously more than one corrupt judge, yet the one that came clean, gets sanctioned.

Somehow, my faith is not restored.

In a previous Winter Olympics, the French were represented by a female singles skates (Sonia B...., help me with the name someone, a black woman who was athletic enough to play for the NHL). She was an incredible skater, doing unbelievable maneuvers with grace, accuracy, and perfection...but what do I know, I'm not a judge.

Anyway, one of the announcers explained that she couldn't take the gold because she was too athletic to appeal to the judges. That's when I lost interest. How can someone be too athletic to win a sports award?

The only way to stop this judging nonsense is to stick to sports. Who can do the most or most complicated turns, jumps, etc., who can skate the fastest, the farthest, whatever...things that are measured or scored. Forget style points in skating, and skiing, gymnastics...let these events evolve and let people be as ugly as they want at achieving the goal. (The NFL doesn't award extra points for graceful touchdowns.)

Then, I'll be interested again; when it's a sport. And that French judge...blaming someone else for throwing a vote...geesh...did they have a gun to her head; JUST SAY NO!!!

[gunnedah]

Any event in the Olympics that can not be won with everyone observing and seeing a clearcut winner is subject to politics. This decision really boils down to politics and can do nothing more than hurt events that are judged by individuals.No events like these should be held in the political climate of today and not expected to be partisian. It just cant be pulled off and not be questioned.

[Cornjonny]

Down with cheese-eating, surrender-monkey, Euro-trash, skating judges!!

[leilani]

Hey, let's just give out Participation Ribbons to everyone and avoid messy situations like this. Like this? ;-) BUMPARAMA!!!!!Where do I get one of those?

[codebreaker]

Ping

[ST.LOUIE1]

Maybe they'll all stop crying and go home now.

On with the Olympics!

[mewzilla]

FYI, she hasn't been banned, she's been suspended, at least for now. She theoretically could be re-instated. There is a Ukranian judge at the ice dancing tonight who's been suspended before. Great sport, ain't it?

[TC Rider]

Anyway, one of the announcers explained that she couldn't take the gold because she was too athletic to appeal to the judges.

Man, if tennis was judged this way, I guess the Williams sisters would be looking for work.

About the only Olympics we've been watching is the kurling, while we wait for 'Imus in the Morning' on MSNBC. Why Kurling is on a 6AM is beyond me, I'm assuming it's taped and they aren't out there at 3AM in Utah with their little brooms.

[randog]

That'll work!

[Jaded]

Saraya Bonaly... the only female who could do a back flip and land it one-footed. At the worlds that year, she stepped down off the podium (she got bronze) in protest, it upset the judges. Then at the last olympics in Nagano, after she fell during triples in her long program, she knew she had no change to medal so she skated for the crowd. Yes, the backflip, that's not allowed because all those little blonde girls can't do it, and when she finished she faced the audience and the Emperor not the judges. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose. Oh, she had, IMO, weird music very new age-ish, the judges didn't like that either but it suited her skating.

To post #8. Why is that sort of disparity okay in mens?

[SauronOfMordor]

The only way to put an end to it, would be to ban the judge, and also send the judge's country's team home. Do that once, and it won't happen again anytime soon.

[Frohickey]

I want to see some tar and feathers.

[Lumberjack]

Saraya Bonaly... the only female who could do a back flip and land it one-footed. At the worlds that year, she stepped down off the podium (she got bronze) in protest, it upset the judges. Then at the last olympics in Nagano, after she fell during triples in her long program, she knew she had no change to medal so she skated for the crowd. Yes, the backflip, that's not allowed because all those little blonde girls can't do it, and when she finished she faced the audience and the Emperor not the judges. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose. Oh, she had, IMO, weird music very new age-ish, the judges didn't like that either but it suited her skating.

She sounds like a character out of an Ayn Rand novel. I immediately have an instant liking for her after your history in brief of her. :) Thanks for sharing!

[truth_seeker]

Who can do the most or most complicated turns, jumps, etc., who can skate the fastest, the farthest, whatever...things that are measured or scored. Forget style points in skating, and skiing, gymnastics...let these events evolve and let people be as ugly as they want at achieving the goal.

I cannot agree. The standard is known going in, and the standard for ice skating has always been a combination of athleticism, and artistic grace. In no way are they mutually exclusive. In the past, the most artistic and graceful were often also the best at difficult jumps.

I do not equate ice skating pairs with the NFL, in the slightest. Evidence can be found whereby music is played for ice skating, but not for football.

[Redbob]

Sport?
Dancing around to music is a 'sport'?
Entertainment, maybe, but surely never a sport!

[carmody]

Very true. And considering that these scores are subjective as well as political, the original results should be accepted by all. Why bother awarding a meaningless gold medal to the Canadians? It's a consolation prize.

If I were the Canadians I would give both medals back to the IOC and leave immediately to join the Ice-Capades. And my theme song as I entered the rink would be "We Are the Champions" by Queen. I would make sure wherever I went that song was played as I entered the room. I would commission someone to make me a huge gold medal...three times the size of the IOC medal. I would construct my own podium and design my own flag and declare myself the winner of my own personal olympics. That's what I would do if I were the Canadians. But I am not the Canadians.

[TracyPA]

Surya Bonaly skated for France. The judges never liked her. Not artistic enough. She was very good at jumping and of course that famous back-flip. Surya now lives in Las Vegas. She turned pro and tours with Champions on Ice.

[grania]

Thanks for the information. I really enjoyed her performance and spunk. I hope she ended up with a successful career.

[uncle_ebenezer]

Notice the country for which she skated, which country is at the center of this scandal, and the country she got the h*ell out of as fast as possible when her amateur career was over.

[Light Speed]

Just off the cuff here..not entirely alligned to the main body of the thread.
A few months ago..a French diplomat was heard to say..."Israel....that Shitty little country".
No appologies or retractions noted by me in followup to this.
The Almighty does tend to exact fair rebuttal to "National Intentions"...clearly France Humiliated Israel publically and did not see fit to redress.
Now France is humiliated publically..and to a far greater extent
The Abrahamic covenant in action..."I will Bless those that Bless you..and Curse those who cursed you"
Enjoy your meal France...you ordered it!

[sissyjane]

I heard a report on TV the other day that the French judge who was just suspended used to be the coach of that French skater.

[grania]

The standard is known going in, and the standard for ice skating has always been a combination of athleticism, and artistic grace. In no way are they mutually exclusive. In the past, the most artistic and graceful were often also the best at difficult jumps.

We disagree. Judging the gracefulness of the moves sets an unnatural boundary on innovation and artistry. Let the skaters do what it takes to complete the maneuvers; a natural beauty will evolve out of the attempt for perfection. And if some of it gets klutzy, it'll be interesting.

As far as your comment that skating can't be equated with the NFL; that's true. But a good NFL game doesn't need music to be interesting.

All that being said, I do enjoy watching ice skating; I'm just not sure the judging is an asset.

[grania]

I heard a report on TV the other day that the French judge who was just suspended used to be the coach of that French skater.

Her name is Saraya Bonaly...Jaded gave her name and a description of her performance in #27.

The plot thickens...I wonder if one of the judges was Canadian when Saraya only got the Bronze?

[Zon]

I'm with you. I think this is going to be swept under the rug, and the corruption will go on in the skating world.

The Russian pair should "defect" to America and swap their gold medal with the American pair's silver. I think that would throw a fix/wrench into the mix.

[ST.LOUIE1]

Maybe they'll all stop crying and go home now.

Who?

Judges, skaters, network news etc.

I'm just tired of the whole story.

The awarding of two medals will never take the tarnish from this event.

The Canadians did win...imo.

Maybe "talking" is a better word than "crying".

[Utah Girl]

I loved watching Saraya Bonaly skate. She was so athletic, and she always wore form fitting bodysuits, as opposed to the other costumes the women wore. And her back flip is astounding. The ISU has said for years that back flips won't ever be allowed because no one could land it one-footed. Wrong.

And I will never forget Bonaly's last program. She was literally flipping the judges off in her long program. When she did the back flip, a gasp went through the audience. It was great.

[StormEye]

"Well if she fixed the scores for the gold she had to fix the other scores to so the bronze medal winner should get the silver."

I agree. The bronze medal winner should get the silver and the fourth place finisher should get the bronze medal. So now you have two gold medal winners, a silver medal winner and a bronze medal winner.

[Pipers]

If I were the Canadian team I would refuse to share the gold. Well said. They won't though. They appeared to me like two whiny kids, although the guy seemed to be rather mature and made intelligent statements. The other thing is that they are to skate for Disney? Smelling cheap publicity here to attract the unwashed masses? Also, the artistic part showed how much superior the Russians were and the two scores are tallied. The whole thing is weird. I am surprised the Canadians went for this ridiculous clintonian tantrum.

[Revolting cat!]

That's what I would do if I were the Canadians. But I am not the Canadians.

Well, unless you're multiple personalities, you can never be "Canadians" in plural. But you could emigrate to Canada and become one Canadian. Would you still do it if you were one Canadian?

(P.S. Forgive me, but this thing has been absolutely ridiculous from beginning to end, in my opinion. Sport or no sport, the rules have been clear from the beginning and we had no reason to complain: a group of snotty nosed experts decides who gets what. Live with it. But now this is becoming a mob democracy isn't it? Progress? From now on, we'll have judges, whatever you think of them, shaking in their panties trying to satisfy the mobs and the media experts. Uhuh, progress... )

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

[carmody]

Luckily, I have been blessed with multiple personalities, so in fact I can imagine myself as the Canadians! And speaking for us all, I'd like to say we refuse to accept this consolation prize.

[carmody]

I hadn't heard they had Disney on Ice plans. How perfect for them that this controversy has been stirred! Great publicity. Disney must be thrilled. Audiences around the country will give them standing ovations now.

This second gold medal is no victory for them. Sharing a gold medal by forcing the IOC to give it to you is no way to win a gold medal. If the Russians are still holding a gold medal then the Canadians are still not considered better than them. It's neither fair, nor square. At this point, they might as well draw straws. In hindsight, they should have refused to mount the podium to accept the silver medal.