02/23/2002
SALT LAKE CITY – At the start of the Winter Olympics, organizers feared
protesters on the streets. Instead, the protests are coming from Olympians
themselves.
In a two-page handwritten fax, Russian officials claimed "unobjective
judging by the majority of the panel" cost figure skater Irina Slutskaya
a gold medal Thursday night. The International Skating Union denied the
Slutskaya protest Friday night.
It is at least the fifth time the Russians have complained about unfair
judging at these Games, which they say has become a "witch hunt" against
their athletes.
Friday's protest came on the heels of Russian Olympic Committee
President Leonid Tyagachev's statement on Thursday that his team would
pull out of the Olympics early – as well as probably skip the Athens
Games in 2004 – if their complaints were not satisfactorily dealt with
quickly.
Along with the two figure skating controversies, Russia has protested
the officiating in its 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic in the men's
hockey quarterfinals, said judges were biased in freestyle aerials, and
alleged that a women's cross-country skiing competitor was unfairly
disqualified for failing a blood test Thursday.
After an 80-minute meeting Friday with Jacques Rogge, president of the
International Olympic Committee, Russian officials said that they would
not pull out of the Games.
"The national team will stay," Russia's IOC vice president Vitaly
Smirnov told Reuters news service. "It will take part until the very
end. Russia will take part in all events, in all competitions and will
take part in the closing ceremony."
But the lower house of Russia's parliament took a different approach,
voting 417-0 on a resolution asking Russian athletes to boycott Sunday's
closing ceremony unless Olympic officials apologize to the team.
Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin said North American athletes
had a "clear advantage" in judging.
IOC Director General Francois Carrard said late Friday the Russian
delegation has requested the IOC review a list of "points we should
consider and talk over with the heads of the international sports
federations."
The Russian complaint had demanded that Slutskaya, who won the silver
behind American Sarah Hughes, be given a second gold medal to share with
Hughes. That's a clear reference to the first prominent protest of the
Games, when Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were upgraded from
silver to a shared gold with Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton
Sikharulidze. An investigation found evidence that a French judge had
been improperly pressured to vote for the Russian pair.
The ISU announced Friday they will have a hearing in April to make a
final decision on accusations against French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne
and ISU council member Didier Gailhaguet in the case.
Unlike the earlier Canadian protest, however, the Russians have provided
no evidence of individual misconduct by a figure skating judge.
The Russians haven't been the only ones expressing doubts about judging.
Korean officials have filed protests over short-track speed skating
decisions against their athletes, including the men's 1,500-meter race
in which Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States was awarded the gold
medal when Dong-Sung Kim was disqualified. The International Skating
Union rejected their protests, and the Koreans said Friday they would
appeal the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A decision is
expected Saturday.
Lithuanian officials also filed a complaint over ice dancing judging
that was denied by the ISU.