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WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 2002
OLYMPICS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5B
Canada asks for probe of loss to Russia
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Canada's Olympic delegation called for an investigation into the judging that gave the Russians the pairs gold medal over the Canadian team. Others in the sport say this could be the first sign that figure skating is due for some drastic changes.
The International Skating Union, which oversees the sport, said yesterday it would conduct an internal assessment of the narrow loss by world champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier to Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharuldzite on Monday night.
"There should be pressure applied to investigate the results of this particular event," said Sally Rehorick, Canada's chief of mission, a former skater and a judge for 25 years. "We will request an investigation. I do feel the credibility of our sport could be negatively affected by this decision."
That decision gave the Russians gold by the slimmest of margins.
"It was like somebody punched me in the stomach," Pelletier told NBC's Today show yesterday. "At the same time, we can sit here and talk about it for weeks
... it's not going to change the results."
But it should change figure skating, said longtime coach Frank Carroll.
"This is the worst thing that's happened in a long time in figure skating," he said.
Carroll was Linda Fratianne's coach in 1980, when Fratianne lost the gold medal to East Germany's Anett Poetzsch amid allegations of judges trading votes along political lines.
"People say figure skating shouldn't be in the Olympic Games because it's a play sport, it's not a real sport ... when you watch that on TV," Carroll said. "The ISU has a lot of work to do as far as getting the judging system worked out."
Rehorick said subjectivity in figure skating was fine, "as long as the subjectivity is based on fair play in the spirit of the Olympics."
ISU secretary general Fredi Schmid said that the outcry following the judging prompted the organization to undertake "an internal assessment to monitor if the ISU rules and procedures have been respected."
When the marks flashed and the boos rained down Monday night, Pelletier buried his face in his hands and Sale's eyes filled with tears.
There was no easy way to explain how they could have looked so magical, yet come away with silver.
If only they'd made some mistake, left something out, maybe then they could understand. But this is figure skating, and the answers are rarely simple.
"That's the way skating works," said Sale, trying to contain her emotions. "It's judged."
NBC commentators were amazed at the decision. Sandra Bezic, a former Canadian pairs champion, even went so far as to say she was "embarrassed for our sport."
"How did that happen?" asked Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion. Hamilton said there was no doubt for any-
"We didn't come here to win gold, we came here to do our
best."
Jamie Sale Canadian world figure skating champion
one, except for maybe a few judges, of who had won the program.
But for the Russian coach, the issue was closed.
"For two years, we considered that Elena and Anton won, but it went to the other couple," said coach Tamara Moskvina, referring to recent losses by her top pair, including their loss to the Canadians at last spring's world championships in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"We didn't accuse the North American bloc, we just accepted it. So now it is our time."
Sale and Pelletier put on the kind of memorable performance that defines a career. The Canadians did it even after Sale had the wind knocked out of her when she crashed into Sikharulidze during warmups.
Though she initially felt "paralyzed" by the crash, Sale and Pelletier skated with passionate abandon.
Every move and detail of their "Love Story" program was flawless, including two huge throw jumps.
Fans were chanting "Six! Six!" when it ended — begging the judges to award the Canadians a perfect score.
Pelletier was so overcome he
dropped to his knees and kissed the ice, then leaned back and let out a scream as he pumped his fists.
Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze's program, to "Meditation," was strong but hardly perfect. Sikharulidze stepped out of a double axel, and they couldn't match the Canadians' emotion.
"We didn't come here to win gold, we came here to do our best," Sale said. "We were on tonight, we really were. What else can you ask for?"
Yet they still collected seven 5.98 for artistry, with the Chinese and Polish judges favoring the Russians and making the difference, ensuring a Russian or Soviet pair has won every gold medal since 1964.
The Canadians got only four 5.98 for artistry.
But Sikharulidze refused to apologize for the shiny golden disc hanging around his neck. He and Berezhnaya were silver medalists four years ago, and it's been anything but a smooth transition from second to first.
They withdrew from the 2000 world championships after Berezhnaya failed a drug test, which she said was caused by over-the-counter cold medicine. They were then suspended for three months by the International Skating Union and stripped of their European crown.
"Yeah, sure, because I have a gold medal." Sikharulidze shot back when someone asked if he and Borezhnaya had skated a winning program. "All competitions are decided by fate."
Olympic security chases terrorist leads
Pictures of suspects produce possible leads but no credible threat
The Associated Press
Responding to an FBI alert of a possible attack against the United States, Olympic security workers distributed thousands of pictures of suspects and investigated a half dozen leads the pictures generated.
SALT LAKE CITY — Security forces papered the Olympics with fliers of suspected terrorists and chased false leads yesterday. At the same time, they emphasized there were no known threats toward the games.
Don Johnson, FBI agent, said
all the leads turned out to be groundless and there was no evidence the suspects have ever been in the Salt Lake City area.
"We have had sightings here in Utah that all turned out to be false sightings," said Johnson, who heads the FBI's Salt Lake City office.
Johnson and other Olympic security officials said once again that there have been no credible threats against the Olympics, which are being guarded by an unprecedented $310 million security effort.
That effort so far has resulted in a nearly trouble-free games, guarded by more than 15,000 police, troops and other security personnel.
"There are no specific threats against the Olympics," Johnson said.
Security forces distributed around the Olympics a two-page alert with color pictures of the suspects, named by the FBI in Washington, D.C. The pictures were posted at command centers and at security checkpoints.
Attorney General John Ashcroft urged Americans earlier to adopt "the highest state of alert" in the search for the 16 men the FBI said were possibly linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and believed to have planned an attack against the United States or Americans in Yemen.
The FBI said in Washington there was no evidence the Olympics were a specific target, although a more general alert had included the time the Olympics were going on.
David Tubbs, executive director of the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command, the umbrella organization for Olympic security, said no extra precautions had been taken in the wake of the alert.
Tubbs said Olympic security was already at its highest state of alert.
"There's really not a lot we can do to enhance our security," he said.
Tubbs said the security plan has worked as intended so far, with only a few minor problems.
"We have a solid plan," he said.
"There's no reason to change it."
Johnson said the Joint Terrorism Task Force spent much of yesterday running down sightings that proved false. He said there were about "a half dozen and that include one sighting of Osama Bin Laden and one of Elvis."
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COMMENTARY
and Her Broken Foot." In a flashback to the network's mawkish coverage of the Sydney Olympics, Monday night's show opened with announcer Tom Hammond discussing figure skaters Natalia Ponomareva and Evgeni Sviridov as though they were characters in some 19th century fable. "We have been following the special Olympic story of Natalia and her broken foot. I don't know how many people have come up to me since the free skate Saturday night, saying how much they appreciated the special Olympic
THE KANSAS CITY PREMIERE OF THE SHOW THAT HAS ROCKED THE WORLD!
AMY CARLE EDIE McCLURG MICHELE SHAY
A look at NBC's coverage of the Salt Lake City Olympics: HIGHLIGHT: The best way to televise sports is live — and NBC proved that with deft handling of the pairs figure skating. Monday night's telecast had everything the network's storytellers hope for close competition, drama, tears — and it was all captured for viewers. Now, if only the TV audience had more chances to watch events as they happen.
THE
story of Natalia and skating with that foot that's broken in two places," Hammond said. For good measure, he added: "Natalia and Evgeni skate for Uzbekistan, one of the U.S. allies in the war in Afghanistan." Puleezee. Natalia and her foot finished 18th, by the way.
SUGGESTION: How about saving that "LIVE" graphic for live segments that are truly worth showing live? The latest inane use of "LIVE" in the upper-left corner of the screen was during studio host Bob Costas' tongue-in-cheek
Human interest fractures Olympic coverage
The Associated Press
interview with the bartender at a place owned by the parents of U.S. gold medalist Kelly Clark.
MONDAY'S RATINGS: With live coverage of pairs figure skating, NBC's prime-time rating for Day 4 of the Olympics was 19.6 (each rating represents about 1.06 million TV homes). That's the best showing by any network from 8-11 p.m. on a Monday in nearly four years — since ABC's Academy Awards telecast on March 23, 1998, drew a 29.1 rating.
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