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At the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, allegations arose that the pairs' figure skating competition had been fixed. The controversy led to two pairs teams receiving gold medals: the original winners Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia and original silver-medalists Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada. The scandal was one of the causes for the revamp of scoring in figure skating to the new ISU Judging System.
In the figure skating pairs competition, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia won the short program over Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada. During the short program, Salé and Pelletier had tripped and fallen on their closing pose. Because the fall was not on an element, it did not receive a deduction, but it marred the program enough to land the pair in second place behind Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. [1]
In the free skate, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze made a minor, yet obvious, technical error when Sikharulidze stepped out of a double Axel. Salé and Pelletier performed a free skate program to "Love Story" which they had used in previous seasons and that had been well received at the Grand Prix Final before the Olympics. They skated a flawless program, albeit one that some experts considered to be of lesser difficulty than that of the Russians. [2]
Based on the 6.0 system of scoring in use, Salé and Pelletier received 5.9s and 5.8s for technical merit, while the Russians had received mostly 5.8s and 5.7s. However, the Canadians received only four 5.9s for presentation, versus the Russians' seven. Presentation was weighted in the total score more strongly than technical merit, so the Canadians had needed at least five 5.9s in presentation to overtake the Russians for first. Since they did not receive that many, the Canadians were ranked second, and Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze took the gold.
| Judges and officials for the pairs event at the 2002 Winter Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Function | Name | Nation |
| Referee | Ronald Pfenning | ISU |
| Assistant Referee | Alexander Lakernik | ISU |
| Judge No.1 | Marina Sanaya | Russia |
| Judge No.2 | Jiasheng Yang | China |
| Judge No.3 | Lucy Brennan | USA |
| Judge No.4 | Marie-Reine Le Gougne | France |
| Judge No.5 | Anna Sierocka | Poland |
| Judge No.6 | Benoit Lavoie | Canada |
| Judge No.7 | Vladislav Petukhov | Ukraine |
| Judge No.8 | Sissy Krick | Germany |
| Judge No.9 | Hideo Sugita | Japan |
| Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze | RUS | CHN | USA | FRA | POL | CAN | UKR | GER | JPN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical merit | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.7 |
| Presentation | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
| Placement | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Salé & Pelletier | RUS | CHN | USA | FRA | POL | CAN | UKR | GER | JPN |
| Technical merit | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 |
| Presentation | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 |
| Placement | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
During the live broadcast, both the American and Canadian television commentators (NBC Sports' Tom Hammond, Scott Hamilton, and Sandra Bezic and CBC Sports' Chris Cuthbert, Paul Martini, and Barbara Underhill) proclaimed that Salé and Pelletier had won the gold as they finished their program, believing their performances to be superior to the Russians. Subsequently, they expressed outrage when the judges' marks were announced. [3] [4] [5] [6] Suspicions were rapidly raised of cheating in the scoring. Judges from Russia, the People's Republic of China, Poland, Ukraine, and France had placed the Russians first; judges from the United States, Canada, Germany, and Japan chose the Canadians. [7]
The French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, quickly attracted suspicion. When Le Gougne returned to the officials' hotel, Sally Stapleford, chair of the International Skating Union's Technical Committee, confronted her. Le Gougne was upset and allegedly said that she had been pressured by Didier Gailhaguet, the head of the French national skating federation, to vote for the Russian pair regardless of how the others performed. [8] She reportedly repeated this at the post-event judges' meeting the next day. [8] It was alleged that this was part of a deal to get an advantage for the French team of Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat in the ice dance competition that was to follow a few days later. [9] Le Gougne later submitted a signed statement in which she denied taking part in such a deal, and also said that she had truly believed the Russian pair deserved to win the gold. [10]
The Canadian press and public were outraged by the result. [11] The American press were also quick to support the Canadian pair. [12] [13] NBC, in particular, continued to report on the story and support the Canadians' cause. [3] Some in the United States and many in Russia, however, felt that Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had deserved their win, and that it should not be marred by the alleged dishonesty of a single judge. [14] [15] [16] Sikharulidze contrasted these events to the reactions to Salé and Pelletier's win at the 2001 World Championships, held in Canada. [16] The Canadians were awarded gold despite Salé falling on the triple toe loop in the short program and changing her planned double Axel to a single Axel in the long program. Points were deducted for both errors. [17]
In response to Canadian and American outcry, International Skating Union (ISU) President Ottavio Cinquanta announced in a press conference a day after the competition that the ISU would conduct an "internal assessment" into the judging decision at its next scheduled council meeting. After many hostile questions from the press, Cinquanta acknowledged that the event referee, Ronald Pfenning, had filed an official complaint about the judging. [18] Later, on February 13, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Director-General François Carrard held a press conference in which he publicly urged the ISU to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. [19]
On February 15, Cinquanta and IOC President Jacques Rogge, in a joint press conference, announced that Salé and Pelletier's silver medals would be upgraded to gold. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were to keep their gold medals as well, since there was no evidence of wrongdoing on their part. Four of the nine judges on the panel felt they deserved it. Both pairs' point totals were thrown out. For the first time in history, the awards ceremony was repeated. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze attended, but the bronze medalists, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China, refused.
On April 30, 2002, the ISU announced that Le Gougne and Gailhaguet were suspended for three years for their roles in the scandal and also prohibited from attending the 2006 Winter Olympics. [20] [21] Although at least one eye-witness to Le Gougne's outburst in the hotel lobby reported that she had specifically confessed to a deal with the Russians, [8] Cinquanta claimed there was no evidence that the Russians were involved in the incident. The ISU never made any serious investigation of their alleged involvement. On July 31, 2002, Italian authorities in Venice arrested Russian organized crime boss Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov on U.S. charges that he masterminded the fix at the Olympics. He was released from Italian police custody without being charged, amidst attempts to have him extradited to the United States in 2002–2003. [22]
In 2004, the ISU voted to change the 6.0 judging system because it was considered to be too subjective. As a result, the International Judging System (IJS) was created to score a skater based on the technological grade of execution of the elements and gives a true numerical, mathematical score. [23] In addition to disciplining Le Gougne and Gailhaguet, the ISU adopted a policy of secret judging as part of a new system for figure skating. Judges' marks are posted anonymously, as part of the new ISU Judging System for figure skating. While the ISU claimed this secrecy freed judges from pressure from their federations, critics noted that, instead of preventing judges from cheating, secrecy prevented the public and media from being able to identify cheating. Following the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the ISU Congress changed this policy, and ended anonymous judging to "increase transparency" in the process. [24]
In March 2003, a group of skating officials who were unhappy with the ISU's leadership and handling of the crisis in the sport announced the formation of the World Skating Federation. Their attempt to take control of competitive figure skating away from the ISU failed. TSU or their respective national federations banished several of the persons involved with establishing the new federation from the sport of ice skating. Those banned included Ronald Pfenning, referee of the pairs competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics; Sally Stapleford; Jon Jackson; and other witnesses to Le Gougne's outburst. [25] [26]
In 2021, one of the episodes of Netflix documentary series Bad Sport showcases this controversial event. In early 2022, former skater Tara Lipinski and her husband Todd Kapostasy (a producer of sports documentaries) were co-producers of the 4-part docu-series titled Meddling, which studied the 2002 skating controversy at the Salt Lake City Olympics. It was broadcast on NBC subsidiaries. [27] [1]
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002, was an international winter multi-sport event that was held from February 8 to 24, 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
All figure skating events in 2002 Winter Olympics were held at the Salt Lake Ice Center.
Elena Viktorovna Berezhnaya is a Russian former pair skater. With partner Anton Sikharulidze, she is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion.
Jamie Rae Salé is a Canadian former competitive pair skater, and a current motivational speaker and conspiracy theorist. With her former husband David Pelletier, she is the 2002 Olympic Champion and 2001 World Champion. The Olympic gold medals of Salé and Pelletier were shared with the Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal.
David Jacques Pelletier is a Canadian pairs figure skater. With his former wife Jamie Salé, he was the co-gold medal winner at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. They shared the gold medal with the Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal.
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from February 8 to February 24, 2002. A total of 2,399 athletes from 77 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in these Games, competing in 78 events in 15 sports and disciplines.
The figure skating events in 1998 Winter Olympics were held at the White Ring in Nagano. There were no changes in the format or scoring systems from 1994. Professionals were again allowed to compete, although they had to declare that intention and compete in ISU-approved events to do so. Previously, the ISU had been accused of rejecting Western professionals, while allowing Eastern Bloc state-sponsored "amateurs" to compete. Most of the top competitors by 1998 were now openly professional.
Anton Tarielyevich Sikharulidze is a Georgian-Russian former pair skater. With Elena Berezhnaya, he is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion.
Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva is a Russian figure skater. Together with her late husband, Sergei Grinkov, she was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion in pair skating. After Grinkov's death, Gordeeva continued performing as a singles skater.
Marie-Reine Le Gougne is a French figure skating official and competitor. She was a central figure in the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal.
The 6.0 system of judging figure skating was developed during the early days of the sport, when early international competitions consisted of only compulsory figures. Skaters performed each figure three times on each foot, for a total of six, which as writer Ellyn Kestnbaum states, "gave rise to the system of awarding marks based on a standard of 6.0 as perfection". It was used in competitive figure skating until 2004, when it was replaced by the ISU Judging System in international competitions, as a result of the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal. British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean earned the most overall 6.0s in ice dance, Midori Ito from Japan has the most 6.0s in single skating, and Irina Rodnina from Russia, with two different partners, has the most 6.0s in pair skating.
Sally-Anne Martine Stapleford OBE is a British former figure skater and administrator, referee and judge. She is the 1965 European silver medalist. She represented Great Britain at the 1964 Winter Olympics and at the 1968 Winter Olympics, placing 11th both times.
Didier Gailhaguet is a French former figure skater, coach and official. He served as the president of the Fédération française des sports de glace (FFSG) from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2020. He was suspended each time because of related scandals. At the peak of his power, he was one of figure skating's most influential and controversial officials, dubbed the "little Napoleon."
Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The events took place between 14 and 27 February 2010.
Figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia. The five events took place between 6–22 February 2014. For the first time at the Winter Olympics, a figure skating team event was held.
Brandon Michael Frazier is an American pair skater. With his skating partner, Alexa Knierim, he is the 2022 World champion, the 2023 World silver medalist, a 2022 Olympic silver medalist in the figure skating team event, the 2022 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time U.S. National champion, and a three-time Grand Prix gold medalist.
The 2022 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Montpellier, France from March 21–27, 2022. Figure skaters competed for the title of world champion in men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance. The competition was used to determine the entry quotas for each federation at the 2023 World Championships.
French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne was banned after admitting she had been pressured to back the Russians in an arrangement that would also lead to French couple Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat winning the ice dance.
"I don't want to comment on Mr. Rogge's decisions," Le Gougne said. "All I say is I put the Russians first because they were the best. "I voted with my conscience on February 11, 2002, and today I would make the same choice without hesitation."
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Lipinski and Kapostasy are co-executive producers for the documentary "Meddling," looking at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics pairs figure skating scandal.