Shooting From the Lip-Russian Female Gold Pairs Skater Leaves Salt Lake, Whines Over Sharing Medal

The Canada National Post ^ | February 25, 2002 | National Post Staff

[mewzilla]

LOL! Well done! A picture that is truly worth a 1,000 words.

[Registered]

[codebreaker]

The new Olympic credo...Outwhine, Redo, Replay!

[mewzilla]

They didn't. They were making snide comments from the night this whole mess started. The one in particular I recall was along the lines of something to the effect that the Canadians ought to be good since they've been skating the same routine for three years. Aaaargh. I'm glad they went home. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

And BTW, I'm not so sure that they didn't know that the medal was theirs from the get-go. It would certainly explain their sloppy performance in their long program.

[pbear8]

Another excellent artistic statement.

[codebreaker]

Someone referred to the same catty comment at the beginning of the thread.

Something like..'If we had been skating the same program for 3 years, then we would have had zero mistakes also'.

As I am a heterosexual male, I was not watching pairs figure skating that night and had to catch up on the controversy.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I would have given the Russians the Gold. My whole family thought so as we watched.

My husband thought so too. The Canadians were exquisite and perfectly timed, but the Russian program was more difficult. I thought that Jamie Sale was so much personable that she won on the way she related to the audience.

The Russians were more acrobatic, however. I don't know how they accomplished some of those contortions on skates -- moving fast!

My husband says that his opinion rules because he worked in the concession stand of an ice rink when he was 14! :)

[zoyd]

The Russians were better...

Puh-leeeeze!

I guess the French judge's ADMISSION that she cheated doesn't make you second-guess your call (that the Russians were better)?! Strange.

[mewzilla]

LOL. We weren't watching, either. In fact gave 90% of it a miss, though Mr. Mewzilla tuned in for the hockey. The controversy certainly gave NBC's ratings a goose though. That's probably all they care about. But between the ringers, the drugs, the sleazy judging, etc., I just can't watch anymore. People tuned in, but I'm not sure this Olympics was a success for anyone who truly loves sports. Or maybe I'm just too old-fashioned. Sigh...

[stanz]

I don't care what she thought. I thought the Russians were better skaters - - -with the mistakes.

[FixitGuy]

Sale wasn't whinny. She stated that she was "disappointed" and pretty much let it go at that.

She and her partner indicated that they were just "skaters".

[zoyd]

Fair enough... but don't you wonder why you're the 1-in-100 who thinks the Russians won? ;)

[dalebert]

The Russian pairs skaters have a right to whine. The Canadian team cried their way to gold. The Russians beat them on technical and artistic merit. Now the French judge says she was pressured by the Canadians.

[bvw]

More than 1 in a 100. The Canadian Pair does however win the Gold for most effective hype.

[bvw]

The same French Judge that now says it was the Canadians who strongarmed her?

[Political Junkie Too]

The female russian kept forcing a smile.

I think I noticed something like this, but I wonder how much of it is attributed to the fact that she was partially paralyzed from her earlier injury. When you watch her speak, she looks like part of her mouth is still paralyzed.

-PJ

[NYCVirago]

Can I file a protest? I am extraordinarily perturbed that not one freeper captured a screen shot of NBC showing skater Alexei Yagudin dropping his drawers. ;)

[FixitGuy]

Yep. This judge has also been called "impressionable,and weak-minded" and other things by those "in-the-know" who are familiar with judgeing.

Anyhow this will all pass and skating will go on, hopefully with more improvements in the judgeing.

It's not as subjective as people think.

(If they follow the rules, which this bunch did NOT!)

There was a terrific spread in many of the scores.

[kayak]

The thing that bothers me about the judging in skating is that they take into account a person's (or couple's) history, how they've done in other competitions, etc.

In the other sports, it doesn't matter if someone is the greatest athlete in the world at their sport ..... it matters only how they performed in that particular competition. E.g., the best skier will not get the gold if he/she falls on the way through the slalom run ..... or doesn't get the fastest time in the Olympic race.

The Russians did not do their routine perfectly on that night ... the Canadians did. Though the Russians may be the better skaters, on that night, in that event, the Canadians did better ... and deserved the gold.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I guess the French judge's ADMISSION that she cheated ...

She doesn't admit that at all. In fact she has given 3 conflicting stories. I think she's nuts -- but that is a different story. I preferred the Canadians because of the personality they displayed while skating, but the Russians had a more difficult program. I would have made it a tie, if I were the judge, and awarded golds to both couples. My husband, on the other hand, preferred the Russians. We watched it together, after the gold had already been awarded to Sale and Pellatier.

I was waiting to see all the mistakes that the news commentators said that the Russians had made. I was surprised that I did not see them. There were no falls, as had previously been reported. They were a little tight on some of the jumps, and the male skater made one noticeable mistake. But that was overshadowed by their incredible gymnastic ability. They were like contortionists on skates. I saw bobbles by other skaters that were worse and were overlooked by the judges.

The Canadians were flawless and seamless in their program, but their moves were not as difficult, IMHO. Jamie Sale's smile is what would have tipped my vote, but the Russians were awfully good too.