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Canadian Figure Skaters Get Gold, Russians Furious
Yahoo ^ | 2/15/02 | Adrian Warner

Posted on 02/15/2002 11:42:28 AM PST by The_Victor

Snip of redundant material

...

"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 (news - web sites)," Nezvegsky added.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: olympicslist
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To: CedarDave
At the end of the short program, when the music ended, they made a move where Sale sits on Peltiers knee. I guess he wasn't paying attention because the next thing they knew, Sale was on the ice. It was even during the program. And the only criticism I have of the Canadians is that I feel they didn't quite take the short program seriously enough. They skated well, but the Russians were brilliant in the short program.
161 posted on 02/15/2002 3:06:40 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Snuffington
Of course the Russians are furious. Regardless of the spin they try to put on it, this action will be seen by the rest of the world as an admission by the Olympic Comittee that the Russians didn't earn their gold.

I agree. I don't like this at all. I think it would have been better for Sale and Pelletier to be the Gold Medalists of Public Opinion than to subsequently issue duplicate Golds.

It's not like the Russians cheated, as did the East German women's swim team was proved to have done in Montreal.

162 posted on 02/15/2002 3:16:55 PM PST by L.N. Smithee
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To: The_Victor
The Russians are just mad because the mean little Canadians exposed their little scam.
163 posted on 02/15/2002 3:46:19 PM PST by Thane_Banquo
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To: Utah Girl
My theory on this is that while the Russian female skater's skirt fluttered demurely about her hips, Sele seemed to have a significant hinder-binder going on. Clearly this took away from artistic impression scores (but did not seem to effect her technique).
164 posted on 02/15/2002 3:49:16 PM PST by Randjuke
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To: Randjuke
I was kinda thinking along the same lines last night. The third Russian male skater came out in a fluttery shirt, I wonder if the ruffly stuff makes them look more graceful. I remember Ilia Kulik winning the 1998 gold medal for the men, and he had a white ruffled shirt on. And I mean there were major ruffles.
165 posted on 02/15/2002 3:52:32 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: buickmackane
David Pelletier has a mischievous sense of humor

Yes he does! His remarks during the press conference were very funny....quite an accomplishment coming from someone who just 4 days later was screwed out of a gold medal by a corrupt judge(s).

I especially liked his remark about "...maybe getting the bronze as well and then we'll have all 3"....very funny!

I imagine David will be invited by David Letterman and Jay Leno very soon....he not only has Olympic talent, he has a personality.

Not to take anything away from Jamie Sale, but she was a bit more timid during the press conference....but she also has exhibited maturity and class during this whole ordeal.

I always take pot shots at "Socialist Canadians" on this forum, but it is all in jest. In all honesty, I have never met a Canuck I didn't like.

166 posted on 02/15/2002 4:13:40 PM PST by HennepinPrisoner
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To: mickie
What a presendence this sets for others who don't win as big as they think they should!

The French judge ADMITTED that the French Skaing organization put pressure on her to vote for the Russians.

Do you think the French Skating assocaition just did that for the hell of it?

The judge cheated. IMO, the Russians should have had their medal taken away.

167 posted on 02/15/2002 4:21:44 PM PST by Howlin
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Comment #168 Removed by Moderator

To: Serge
Hey, you Russkies need all the help you can get but when you get caught cheating.....like when your heroes were stripped of their European title after Berezhnaya tested positive for a banned substance. Remember that little charade?
169 posted on 02/15/2002 4:42:37 PM PST by Lent
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Comment #170 Removed by Moderator

To: ET(end tyranny)
I thought the Rusian skating team was stripped of the gold and the Candians received it. I also heard the judges involved were under investigation.
171 posted on 02/15/2002 4:56:11 PM PST by ZULU
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Comment #172 Removed by Moderator

To: Serge
LOL! You didn't know your hero couple was stripped of their European title because your Russkie girl tested positive for a banned substance?LOL!
173 posted on 02/15/2002 5:02:34 PM PST by Lent
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To: The_Victor
This Russian couple is being a bit melodramatic saying they cannot enjoy their life now with the way things are. He keeps saying it is very bad for them.
174 posted on 02/15/2002 5:05:43 PM PST by sweetliberty
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To: ET(end tyranny)
Check out: http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=020215&cat=news&st=newsolympicsfigureskatingdc.html
175 posted on 02/15/2002 7:09:56 PM PST by ZULU
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To: The_Victor
Some points

1. I wonder if the American press would be making as much fuss about this if the positions of the Russians and Canadians were reversed. I doubt it.

2. Did you ever notice what appears to be "block" voting on the part of what could be loosly described as "west-allied" countries? (hard to believe were still locked into this dichotomy). The U.S., Germans, Japanese and some other like-positioned country all voted for the Canadians. This breakdown seems to occur a lot, if you stop to look.

3. I wonder if Americans would be as sympathetic toward the Canadians in this issue, "outraged" in fact, if they truly knew the amount of contempt the average Canadian has for America, and Americans generally.
176 posted on 02/15/2002 7:22:12 PM PST by ProbableCause
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To: Serge
Later they may replay it.

Serge, pal, I guarentee you they won't be changing the medal colors again now -- pressure or no pressure.

They did what they did because they had evidence. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have rushed to get this done *instead* of letting it go to the sports arbitration court. No one confident of winning fears an arbitrator.

177 posted on 02/15/2002 8:03:29 PM PST by Exigence
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To: Colonel_Flagg
The judged "sports" like snowboarding, hot dog skiing and now figure skating really don't do anything for me in the first place. I for one wouldn't miss them if they were gone

And my point was, to some extent, all sports are "judged." Even a race has an official to rule on bumps, faulty starts, etc. Human judgement is and always has been a part of sports.

As to boxing, the operative word is "can." And, there is still an official in the ring making judgements moment to moment that influences whether or not a KO may occur.

178 posted on 02/15/2002 8:06:34 PM PST by Exigence
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To: ET(end tyranny)
LOL! Dave Barry is the cat's meow.
179 posted on 02/15/2002 8:09:06 PM PST by Exigence
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To: Serge
BTW discard her votes completely from russian and canadian score and see what happens.

Ummm... that's what they *did.* That gave four first place ordinals to each pair.

Now, what was the point again?

180 posted on 02/15/2002 8:11:13 PM PST by Exigence
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