送交者: FZ 于 February 15, 2002 13:22:06:
February 15, 2002
The International Olympic Committee announced Canada's Jamie
Sale and David Pelletier will be awarded a gold medal in pairs
figure skating.
Filed at 12:44 p.m. ET
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Canadian figure skating pair was awarded a gold
medal Friday in an attempt to resolve a judging controversy that has dominated
the Winter Games, two Olympic sources told The Associated Press.
The highly unusual decision by top Olympic and skating officials also allows the
Russian pair to keep their gold medal, which was narrowly won during Monday night's
free skate program.
The move came just hours before the case was to be heard by an international arbitration panel for sport.
The controversy began Monday when Sale and Pelletier were beaten by Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia after a 5-4 vote that surprised many observers. The Canadians skated a flawless program after the Russians had a couple of technical errors.
The decision allowed the Russians to extend their streak of winning gold in the pairs in every Olympics since 1964.
"It is clear that Marie-Reine was approached by certain people who had an interest to see their couple win -- coaches, left and right. It is a classic thing in figure skating," said Didier Gailhaguet, head of the French Olympic committee and skating federation.
He denied that the French federation pressured Le Gougne or that there was any collusion with other judges. He said that Le Gougne had written to the ISU "that her vote was not influenced and that she voted in honesty and with good conscience."
The Canadian Broadcast Corp. reported Thursday that Britain's Sally-Ann Stapleford, who is on the ISU's technical committee, said Le Gougne approached her after the event and "expressed some concern" that there had been an impropriety before the event. She would not elaborate.
Le Gougne favored the Russians despite an obvious technical error, joining judges from former Eastern bloc members Russia, Poland, Ukraine and China. ISU rules prevent judges from commenting publicly about decisions and Le Gougne refused to accept calls to her hotel.
Valentin Piseyev, president of the Russian Skating Federation, said the organization had not pressured any judges.
"That's absolutely silly," Piseyev told the Russian daily Trud. "You have to be able to honorably accept defeat. And if you haven't learned it yet, then learn it."
In Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko called the controversy "a disgraceful fuss," and said she was going to Salt Lake City to support the Russian team.
The developments came on the eve of the ice dancing competition, an event with the reputation of very subjective scoring.
The ISU began the news conference by saying that the French judge had been suspended.
The awarding of a second gold medal is not unprecedented, though the circumstances were significantly different.
In 1993, the IOC awarded a second gold medal in synchronized swimming from the Barcelona Games to Canada's Sylvie Frechette. The IOC's executive board agreed that Frechette was placed second because of a judging error and should be awarded a gold.
The decision came after the Canadian swimming federation protested because a Brazilian judge was not allowed to correct the 8.7 score she mistyped into her computer. The intended 9.7 would have given Frechette the gold. The IOC's decision did not affect Kristen Babb-Sprague of the United States, who was originally awarded the gold and kept her medal.