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Heated competitors Russia, South Korea threaten boycotts over judgingPosted: Thursday February 21, 2002 6:54 PMUpdated: Friday February 22, 2002 3:33 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Angered by a pair of decisions that may have cost their athletes medals, Russia and South Korea have plunged the Winter Games into new controversy with complaints of favoritism and poor officiating. Russia threatened to pull out of the Olympics after a cross-country superstar was disqualified Thursday following a blood test. South Korea said it might boycott Sunday's closing ceremony over a judge's decision that gave a short-track speed skating gold to an American. "If decisions are not made and issues we raised not resolved, the Russian team will not play hockey, will not run 30 kilometers, will look very negatively on other factors," Russian Olympic Committee president Leonid Tyagachev said. The Russian men were to face the United States in the hockey semifinals on Friday, the 22nd anniversary of the Americans' stirring victory over the Soviet Union at Lake Placid, N.Y. After meeting with Tyagachev, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to assure him the Games were fair and that his nation's anger was understood. "He knew President Putin was concerned and had expressed his own emotions," IOC director general Francois Carrard said. "President Rogge wrote to express sympathy, to say he has been in contact with the sports federation and that the decisions are absolutely correct." Tyagachev said he told Rogge that his nation was "greatly unappreciated" in the Olympics.
South Korea unsuccessfully protested an International Skating Union referee's decision Wednesday night that gave the 1,500 meter short-track gold to Apolo Anton Ohno. He finished second to a South Korean skater but got the gold when the Korean was ruled to have interfered on the final lap. "We can take various measures, including not participating during the closing ceremony," said Park Sung-in, head of South Korea's Olympic team. With just three days before the closing ceremony, IOC leaders met Thursday night to discuss the issues. "We're watching it very closely, checking with the federations seeking reassurance on their judges and trying to calm the various groups," IOC vice president Kevan Gosper said. Rogge spoke with the presidents of skating, skiing and hockey "and was reassured that their judges are acting in accordance with the rules," Gosper said. The Russian threats came hours after Larissa Lazutina was disqualified from the 20-kilometer cross-country relay because of high levels of hemoglobin found in a pre-race blood test. Gosper said Rogge noted in his talks with the Russians that the case "is a health issue" and that no duplicate golds would be awarded in that case, as in the pairs' skating decision last week. "At the same time, we understand from the Russians that their people at home are very unhappy, as are the Koreans," Gosper said. Carrard also said the IOC had no second thoughts on its decision last week to award duplicate gold medals to Canadian pairs skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier after a judge's misconduct. "Human nature is understandable," he said. "There is a lot of emotion building up and these protests are a result of that emotion." The emotion was evident when Tyagachev said there was a 24-hour window to address the situation, and that if Russia left Salt Lake City it probably would not compete in Athens in the next Summer Games. "Once you leave, it is not easy to come back in," he said. Later, Vitaly Smirnov, an IOC vice president from Russia, tempered Tyagachev's remarks, saying there was no ultimatum, "not 24 hours or 48 hours." Lazutina's disqualification knocked four-time defending champion Russia out of Thursday's relay event. Tyagachev said that while the skier's hemoglobin count was just above the legal limit, she was not guilty of doping. "We are clean," he said. "We have nothing to hide." A urine test on Lazutina will determine whether her case will be considered a drug positive. Results were expected Friday. Lazutina, who already has won two silvers at these games, is scheduled to compete in the 30-kilometer race Sunday. Tyagachev was upset by more than the Lazutina case. He made repeated references to the figure skating judging dispute, in which Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the pairs' competition but had to share the gold medal with Sale and Pelletier in a deal reached in two days between the IOC and the skating union. "This was a new decision that was practically unprecedented," he said. "We went along with the decision and tried to look at it objectively. ... But we have only so much patience." Tyagachev also said a high number of Russian athletes had been picked for drug tests and referred to an unspecified ruling by a goal judge in ice hockey. "I think we are seeing a witch hunt," he said. Tyagachev said if the same rules that led to duplicate golds in pairs skating were applied to the cross-country relay, Russia should share that gold with race winner Germany. "I told Rogge that since the Canadian figure skaters were awarded a second gold medal, by the same logic our relay should get a gold, too, since it's been dominant for so long," he said. "Or if this is not an 'objective' solution, why not stage a new relay on Saturday?" Smirnov warned not to take his country's complaints too lightly: "Without Russia, the Olympic Games will be lost."
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