ISU says it can't change pairs result

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An Olympic referee raised questions about the scores that narrowly gave the gold medal to the Russians in pairs figure skating, the head of the skating union said Wednesday

It was the latest development in what has quickly become the biggest story of the Winter Games- - and could lead to changes in the way the sport is judged.

Ottavio Cinquanta, International Skating Union president, said he had received "certain allegations" from American referee Ronald Pfenning, who oversaw the nine judges scoring the competition.

In responding to questions about reports that a judge might have been pressured to vote for the Russians, Cinquanta said the judge denied it.

"I have an allegation and a denial," he said, refusing to identify the judge.

Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze edged Canada"s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier 5-4 in the free skate Monday night.

Cinquanta said he was embarrassed by the furor over the Russians winning despite an obvious technical error. Canada's Olympic delegation has demanded an independent investigation, and the federation said it would conduct a rare "internal assessment."

Pfenning, the only one who could present the allegations, could have been relaying a complaint from himself or any of the judges. ISU rules prevent Pfenning or anyone else on the judging panel from commenting publicly about decisions.

Cinquanta did not provide details of the allegations. Others also had questioned the results, "but the most important is the one of the referee," he said.

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"He is the coordinator of the competition."

Cinquanta made it clear the integrity of judging -- and the sport itself -- is at stake.

"We are on the eve of possible revision of the judging system and it could limit the possibility of misunderstandings," he said.

Skate Canada, which filed an appeal of the pairs outcome with the ISU on Wednesday, also recognized the significance of the controversy.

"We are on the eve of changes in the judging system," said Marilyn Chidlow, president of Skate Canada.

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't think this was a crucial time for our beautiful sport."

And an ugly time. The infighting over whether Berezhnaya- Sikharulidze deserved the gold medal has overshadowed the event - and called the entire sport into question. Not only is suspicious decision-making being spotlighted, but accusations of dealmaking and vote-rigging on the panel are being made.

Skate Canada went so far as to call for the independent investigation even though it had no proof of any irregularities.

"We will look for that firsthand information," Chidlow said, "and be very very careful of our work in the process."

Canadian officials said they do not want the Russians stripped of the gold medal, but they believe Sale and Pelletier should be rewarded if any evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered.

"We are not here to pull someone down, we are here to pull somebody up," said Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Association. "We see no reason why the council of the ISU should not consider awarding a second gold medal."

The ISU executive council will meet Feb. 18 to discuss judging and consider any revisions to the rules. But Cinquanta reiterated that the competition was over, meaning the Russians would keep their gold medal.

Sale and Pelletier skated cleanly and the crowd was chanting "Six! Six!" by the time they finished, begging the judges to award the Canadians a perfect score.

The Canadians got only four 5.9s for artistry compared with seven 5.9s for the Russians, even though Sikharulidze stepped out of a jump. Boos rained down from the crowd as the marks were flashed.

Chambers said the COA was filing the appeal right away because, "There is no time to wait, we're at the Olympic Games now and we must file the appeal now for any hope of a decision before the end of the games."

Reaction differed on opposite sides of the world.

U.S. coach Frank Carroll suggested that a French judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne, voted for the Russians in a deal to avenge a loss by the French dance team to the Canadians at the Grand Prix finals in Canada in December.

"Does that mean now the Russian judge possibly is going to give the French dance team first" in these Olympics? Carroll asked.

The ice dancing competition begins Friday.

"This is the worst thing that's happened to figure skating in a long time," Carroll said. "I can understand where, watching that, if the International Olympic Committee said, 'We don't want figure skating in the Olympics anymore,' who's going to argue with that?"

The IOC isn't giving figure skaters the boot yet, but it is "concerned," said Francois Carrard, its director general.

"The ultimate responsibility for the results," he said, "lies with the ISU."

 

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