Who Said the Cold War is Over - Canadians Get Jobbed by East Block Judges

CBS Sportsline ^

[jayef]

Russian pair wins gold; Canadians get silver Feb. 11, 2002 SportsLine.com wire reports

SALT LAKE CITY -- Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze extended Russia's dominance of Olympic pairs figure skating Monday night by the slimmest of margins over Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

Sikharulidze and Sale collided during warmups, sending her sprawling to the ice on her hands and knees. Each team shook off the mishap to skate superbly.

The Russians collected seven 5.9s for artistry, just enough to give their nation its 11th straight gold medal, dating back to 1964.

With the crowd chanting "Six, Six," when the Canadian world champions finished their routine, Pelletier fell to his knees and kissed the ice.

But he was waving his hand in disgust moments later when they lost to the Russians by a one-judge margin, 5-4.

China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the bronze medal.

American champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, with "the greatest thing we've ever done," responded to the urgings of a clamorous sellout crowd. They finished fifth, where they were after the short program.

AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service Copyright 2002, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

[Miss Marple]

The Canadians were robbed. So were the Americans.

[Thane_Banquo]

They were totally screwed over by the judges, all of which were eastern block except the judge from France.

[Arkinsaw]

I was rooting for the Russians...but there is NO WAY they won. Figure Skating has always been the most political sport. The Russians got a bye to hold on to their streak for another four years and the Chinese get a Bronze to prove they are up and comers. The Canadians got screwed and the second Russian couple got screwed cause they were better than the Chinese (who actually fell on butt).

[PJ-Comix]

I don't get it. Why would Poland vote for the Russians?

[Righty1]

Exactly! The french are the slimiest of all parasites!!!!

[Texman040]

True! They were robbed!!!!!

[jayef]

What would it take to de-communize this sport? It seems to me that relative position is guaranteed going in and merit doesn't matter. I know these folks pay their dues, but you can't just live on a name. You have to earn it, don't you?

Did you notice the reporter asking the American pair about 2006, as if she know that regardless of their performance that there was no chance for them to medal?

[Scott from the Left Coast]

And I felt kind of sorry for the Russians -- because you could see openly that they knew they didn't win. The man was obvious about that at the medal ceremony. That has to be a big bummer -- to get the gold and know you didn't earn it.

I'm not that knowledgable about skating (skiing is my sport), but from what I could tell as a simple specatator it seemed pretty blatantly obvious that the Canadian couple won the long program.

And who is dumb enough to let the French judge anything???

[Faithfull]

The judging tonight was undeniably biased against the west. The Canadians were robbed in front of millions of people as were the Americans who warranted fourth place. I am outraged that subjective voting is this blatantly political and my hope is that this will result in some changes for the future. If not, the sport of ice skating will become less important. Look for more biased judging in the singles competition. Todd Eldredge most likely will earn low scores against the Russians, Chinese, French, etc.. I hope the Canadians do everything possible to protest this.

[oldvike]

Last Friday night during the opening ceremonies I decided to cut the French some slack because they carried in American flags. I have changed my mind. They now disgust me again.

[YaYa123]

This is a scandal!!!!! Russia, Chinese, Chechian, Polish judges had to have conspired to keep the Canadians from winning 1st. No way should the Russian pair have come out ahead of the Canadians. I don't care if that Russian skater got her head cut off in a skating accident, she didn't deserve to win the gold tonight, and she knew it too.

The Americans were fabulous...absolutely flawless too. They should have taken the bronze.

[Endeavor]

Yes both the Canadians and Americans were robbed. The Canadians should have been 1st and the Americans 4th. So much for detente.

[jayef]

I thought it was odd that Costas focused on the Technical Merit Scores of the East Bloc judges, but not the placement scores given by the Chinese and French who placed them second. That's what really did them in. Is the world really as anti-West as it seems?

[Miss Marple]

I figure Scott Hamilton doesn't have an ax to grind and he was appalled at the outcome.

Simple solution: no judges can vote for their own country. Take the top 3 scores of the judges and average for each contestant. Former astern block and western block judges must be evenly divided.

Or, just let the audience vote with an applause meter. Seems as fair as what's going on.

[rbmillerjr]

Yep --- That's the East Block, the Wall might be down, Communism may be dead, but the Caviar and Vodka crowd considers Canada part of the US. The Canadian couple who were clearly better and flawless, outskated the 4 error Russian couple.

Judges: Russia, Urkraine, Poland, Peoples Rep China, and to top it off France all voted for the Russian couple.

I told my wife,"Never complain to me again about how dirty boxing is".

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Yeah, they had those flags with one side French and the other U.S. They always dress nice too.

But still.

[YaYa123]

I've predicted the american women will win all three medals.....they could....but after tonight's judging, it aint gonna happen.

[Arkinsaw]

And I felt kind of sorry for the Russians

They had a very nice program, and I like the Russian girls....but the Canadians had one of those rare Olympic moments where they are in some sort of zone. The Canadians appeared arrogant and cocky and thats why I went for the Russians. But after they were robbed...ROBBED...they handled it wonderfully and I was much impressed.

I think the Russians were somewhat embarassed. I've never seen a medal ceremony where 2/3rds of the winners were unhappy.

[Dianna]

Is Ice Dancing going on this year? I don't usually watch that, but from what I hear, the Canadians have been screwed a number of times in that event over the years.

It's such a shame...the Canadians really gave it their all. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to lose when you really ought to have won.