Posted on 02/25/2002 12:42:01 PM PST by codebreaker
'You know...
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier are good skaters and good guys.
But then, why don't we have three gold medals? (at the Olympics)
Russian skater Elena Berezhnaya, after she and partner Anton Sikhardulidze were forced to share pairs figure skating gold.
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.
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.
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! :)
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.
She and her partner indicated that they were just "skaters".
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
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.
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.
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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.