WEDNESDAY,MAY1,2002
SPORTS
THEUNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN 5B
French skating judge suspended
The Associated Press
LAUSANNE, Switzerland The French judge and federation chief at the center of the Olympic figure skating scandal were suspended for three years yesterday and banned from the 2006 Winter Games.
The rulings against judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French skating head Didier Gallhaguet were announced after a two-day hearing of the International Skating Union council.
Le Gougne denounced the hearings as a "masquerade" and said she and Gaillaguet would appeal the findings of misconduct.
They were accused of manipulating the scoring of the pairs skating competition at the Salt Lake City Games, a controversy that led to the unprecedented awarding of duplicate gold medals.
Le Gougne was suspended indefinitely by the ISU in Salt Lake City after initially declaring that she voted for Russians Elena Berezhnya and Anton
Sikharulidze under pressure from Gailhauet.
Le Gougne later recanted the accusations, saying she had been under emotional distress and was harassed by ISU officials into making false claims against Gallaguet.
Based on Le Gougne's alleged misconduct, the ISU threw out the judges' marks and gave duplicate golds to Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
The suspensions, effective immediately, end April 30, 2005, but Le Gougne and Gailhaguet also will have to miss the next Winter Olympics, in Turin, Italy, in 2006.
"We went through the papers, we went through the evidence and then we decided," ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta said. "We are more than confident we took the right decision."
Gailhaguet was sanctioned on the charge of instructing Le Gougne to give first place to the Russians.
Cinquanta said the council found Le Gougne guilty of misconduct on two counts — voting for the Russian pair on Gailhaguet's orders and not reporting Gailhaguet to the ISU for his pressure tactics.
Le Gougne and Gailhaguet both denied any wrongdoing and sought to clear their names. But they claimed they didn't get a fair hearing, maintaining the ISU stacked the case against them to justify the decision to give second gold medals.
"It was a masquerade," Le Gougne said after the ruling. "It is scandalous. My most basic rights of defense were denied. They have decapitated me from the start."
Le Gougne and Gailhaguet have 28 days to file an appeal. They first have to go through the ISU's internal appeals process. After that, the case could go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
"They won't stop me now," she said. "I have nothing more to lose. I will fight this to the end."
Le Gougne threatened to make revelations about the ISU and the way the sport is run.
13 witnesses, almost all of whom had made allegations against Le Gougne or Gallihuet.
"This hearing was arranged in a totally biased way," Le Gouge said as she awaited the ruling. "It was totally unfair. The ISU only wanted to justify the awarding of the second gold medals. I've been the scapegoat from the beginning."
She, Gailhaguet and their lawyers complained the ISU did not call the other four judges who voted for the Russian pair as witnesses. The only two event judges who testified were Canada's Bernard Lavoie and Germany's Sissy Krik, both of whom voted for the Canadians.
Gaillaguet's lawyer, Alexander Brabant, called the proceedings a "kangaroo court."
The ISU heard testimony from
On Tuesday, the council heard testimony from two judges, Switzerland's Christine Blanc and France's Alain Miquel, who have accused Le Gougne and Gallhaguet of improprieties, and from Gailhaguet's American driver during the Salt Lake Games.
Memphis Grizzlies hire new president
The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jerry West joined the Memphis Grizzlies as president of basketball operations yesterday in a multi-year deal worth about $5 million a season.
The 63-year-old West is entrusted with reviving the franchise with the worst winning percentage, .229, in NBA history.
He retired from the Los Angeles Lakers in August 2000, after four decades with the franchise as a player and executive. He helped the team win seven NBA championships, one as a player.
"Retirement was not what I thought it would be." West said.
"Watching NBA games in the last year rekindled my interest, and I am excited again about being involved in basketball — something that I love to do so much."
Grizzlies majority owner
Michael Heisley pursued West after firing general manager Billy Knight one and 1/2 weeks ago. The Grizellies ended their second straight 23-59 season.
The Grizzlies do have two young players to build around:
"After being a part of the Lakers' success
Pau Gasol and Shane Battier, the leading vote-getters for the NBA All-Rookie team announced Monday. "After he
for so many years, I have always wondered how it would be to build a winning team that has not experienced much success," West said. "I want to help make a difference."
Coach Sidney Lowe, who is expected to return next season, said he looked "forward both to working with and learning from Jerry West."
Dick Versace, who was head of basketball operations, will replace Knight as general manager.
Spurs' player leaves for funeral
The Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Tim Duncan will miss Game 4 of the Spurs' playoff series against the Super-Sonics because of his father's death and leave the team without both of its formidable 7-footers.
David Robinson will not be in uniform for the third straight playoff game after straining his lower back late in the regular season.
Duncan left Monday's practice early after hearing that his father, William, had been hospitalized after a long illness. The elder
Duncan died later that day in North Carolina.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said yesterday that his star forward "will rejoin the team as soon as he can, but he will not be in Seattle for Wednesday's game."
Duncan, on the short list of
contenders for the NBA's MVP award, led San Antonio with 25.5 points and 12.7 rebounds.
Robinson, who appeared only briefly in Game 1 before his back tightened, knew the Spurs needed his presence in the middle, but not in his current condition.
"I want to be out there, but I also want to be there at a consistent level," he said.
Popovich said the loss of the key players would force him to look further down his roster for quality minutes.
The Associated Press
Tech's attendance second best
LUBBOCK, Texas — Bob Knight met his goal of raising interest in Texas Tech men's basketball. He couldn't, however, reach the school's goal of leading the nation in combined average attendance at men's and women's games.
Tech's combined attendance was 26,287, a big jump from the previous year but still 2,238 behind Tennessee, according to figures gathered.
Tennessee's total was 28,525. Connecticut, which featured the
undefeated women's national champions and a men's team that reached a final regional, finished third with 25,825. No other Texas schools were in the top seven. Iowa State was the next-highest Big 12 Conference school, coming in sixth with 22,406.
"It will remain a goal for us and would make a statement for our programs," said Lady Raiders coach Marsha Sharp.
In his first season at Tech, Knight took a team that went 9-21 before he arrived and guided it to a 23-9 finish, earning the Red Raiders an invitation to the
NCAA tournament.
The excitement surrounding Knight, a three-time national champion coach known as much for his fiery personality as his Xs and Os, helped men's attendance jump from 4,185 to 13,742. Knight could not be reached for comment on these figures.
Sharp's team, which went 20-12 in her 20th season, averaged 12.545, just 115 less than last year.
Both teams play in the United Spirit Arena, an on-campus facility with 15,050 seats, plus another 48 courtside seats that were added for men's games this season.
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