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French Oly official says judge may have been pressured
By Jenifer K. Nii
Deseret News Olympic specialist
The figure skating world was still spinning today from a report that a French judge was pressured to "act in a certain way" in the voting on this week's highly controversial pairs competition.
But no one was saying this morning what would happen next.
"We've decided to leave everything in the hands of Skate Canada. It is now an issue between our national skating federation and the ISU (International Skating Union)," said Helene Lapointe of the Canadian Olympic Association.
Skate Canada press officer Brenda Gorman said her organization would have no further comment immediately. "Maybe tomorrow. There is just too much happening. We need to step back and see what the further developments are."
The Associated Press on Wednesday reported the following comments from Didier Gailhaguet, head of the French Olympic team, regarding figure skating judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, of France:
"Some people close to the judge have acted badly and have put someone who is honest and upright, but emotionally fragile, under pressure," Gailhaguet said. "She is a fragile person and I think she has been somewhat manipulated. . . . What is true is that Marie-Reine has been put under pressure, which pushed her to act in a certain way."
Questions of improper judging have centered on Le Gougne, one of five judges who favored the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, despite an obvious technical error in their program. The Russians edged Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier 5-4 in the free skate Monday.
Gailhaguet did not specify who had pressured Le Gougne.
Gennady Schvetz, press attache with the Russian Olympic delegation, was emphatic today in saying his group had nothing to do with it. "We don't know about that. But maybe somebody, somebody with sympathies to Russia."
International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta said Wednesday that Ronald Pfenning of the United States, the pairs competition's head referee, contacted him, questioning the judges' voting after the event. Cinquanta would not disclose details of Pfenning's allegations but The Associated Press reported that one member of a Western national Olympic committee and a high-ranking Western figure skating official who spoke to Pfenning said Wednesday that he was prompted to file the report after he was told about conversations regarding possible collusion on the nine-judge panel. They said Pfenning told them he was concerned that the French judge might have scored the Russian pair ahead of the Canadians in order to pick up first-place votes for France in the ice dancing competition later this week.
On Wednesday, before Gailhaguet's comments were made public, Canada's figure skating association announced it would appeal the results of the competition to the ISU.
Marilyn Chidlow, president of Skate Canada, said the association was drafting an appeal of Monday's competition results for consideration at the ISU's meeting Monday. The intent of the appeal was clear.
"I can assure you Skate Canada is not launching this appeal as an academic exercise," Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Association, said during a press conference. "Skate Canada launched this appeal because they wish to have in the end, if at all possible, a beneficial result for their athletes."
Chambers and Chidlow said they had no desire to strip Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of their gold medal. But, if misconduct is found to have occurred, they said they would support a decision to jointly award the top prize to Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
Also Wednesday, International Olympic Committee leaders expressed confidence the ISU would handle the matter capably. But in a letter from IOC President Jacques Rogge to ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta, Rogge urged the ISU to act swiftly. "Whilst the IOC trusts the ISU will take all appropriate decisions, we would like to emphasize the high urgency of the matter and the need to take adequate action as quickly as possible."
In the wake of allegations and the enormous public outcry over the outcome of the pairs competition, the ISU began an internal assessment of the event's judging.
The results were to be discussed at Monday's ISU council meeting. But whether things may move more quickly now, given the IOC's urging for speed and the revelations about Le Gougne, remained to be seen.
Cinquanta on Wednesday said it was unlikely the results of the competition would change, but he did not rule out the possibility; and again, that was before the new information on Le Gougne was made public.
Only the entire 11-member ISU council can make such a ruling, Cinquanta said.
Cinquanta rejected the notion that the ISU should bring in a third party to resolve the matter. But he did say he planned to submit a proposal to the ISU council suggesting changes to the current judging system.
At minimum, Cinquanta said, "I think we are on the eve of a possible revision of our judging system. We must limit the possibility of misunderstandings."
Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche
E-MAIL: jnii@desnews.com
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February 14, 2002
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