| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
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Amazing! Canadian skaters also to get gold
By Jenifer K. Nii
Deseret News staff writer
Taking an extraordinary action in what has been an extraordinary controversy, the International Olympic Committee today awarded Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier a second gold medal in the event.
The International Skating Union also announced suspension of French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, who ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta said was guilty of "misconduct" in a 5-4 judges' vote that gave the gold Monday night to the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, despite a flawed performance, and the silver to the Canadians.
"We have suspended with immediate effect, the judge of figure skating . . . Marie-Reine Le Gougne, French nationality, since the (ISU) council got enough evidence that this individual was responsible of misconduct," Cinquanta said at a news conference today."
Cinquanta said the ISU council met late Thursday to impose the suspension and also to propose the IOC award a second gold medal to Sale and Pelletier.
IOC President Jacques Rogge said he discussed the issue "in length" with Cinquanta Thursday afternoon. "I convened a meeting of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board this morning and we received a proposal from the International Skating Union to award a gold medal to Sale and Pelletier," Rogge said. "The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee agreed, and gold medal will be awarded to them in pairs."
Cinquanta refused to discuss details of Le Gougne misconduct. "We are duty bound to give you some information and to protect the interests of the athletes but I'm not going to give you details of the discussion and the evidence that we received, etc. It is a very delicate and difficult position for us," he said.
Asked when Sale and Pelletier may receive their gold medals, Cinquanta said nothing has been decided. It's possible their medals presentation could occur on Feb. 21 after the ladies competition at the Delta Center, or possibly before then, he said.
Sale and Pelletier told a Canadian network they were pleased with today's action. "It's been quite a few crazy days and I'm just happy it's off our shoulders and that we have a gold medal," Pelletier said. "This is not about us and the Russians. This is about the sport we love dearly, and that justice was made is a good feeling."
Sale said today's action does not close the matter, that some kind of reform is needed in figure skating. "We think for the future of our sport that this has to be fixed. Obviously this is a big turning point that they've done this for us, but it's not the end."
Monday night's pairs competition outcome touched off a firestorm of controversy that intensified after a French skating official said Le Gougne had been pressured to "act a certain way" prior to her voting on the pairs event.
Asked today about who had pressured Le Gougne, Cinquanta said there was no evidence of Russian involvement. Asked specifically if the French skating federation may have pressured Le Gougne, Cinquanta did not directly answer the question.
Speculation around the controversy has focused on the idea that Le Gougne may have voted favorably for the Russian pairs team in an effort to gain a favorable vote for the French team in the ice dancing competition that starts today.
Rogge said the IOC considers the matter "closed."
But Cinquanta said the ISU will continue its investigation into what happened. Cinquanta has also previously said the ISU will consider changes to prevent a recurrence of such a controversy.
Rogge said he does not believe this week's figure skating controversy has harmed the Olympic movement.
Rogge also noted that today's action to settle the controversy is not unprecedented. "This is not the first time the International Olympic Committee has taken a similar decision. It has happened in the past. We hope it does not happen in the future."
The circumstances surrouding the awarding of a second Olympic gold medal were significantly different from this week's.
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.
Giving a second gold medal to Sale and Pelletier will not affect the rest of the competition's field. The bronze medal still goes to Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China.
Contributing: The Associated Press.
E-MAIL: jnii@desnews.com
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February 15, 2002
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