Commentators Don’t Hold Back

The NBC announcers working Monday night’s pairs competition were as incensed as everyone else about the judges’ decision that deprived Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of a gold medal and gave it to Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.

“My heart breaks for both pairs, and I’m embarrassed for our sport right now,” NBC commentator Sandra Bezic, a former Canadian pairs champion, said before the medals ceremony.

Partner Scott Hamilton said, “How did that happen? They won that program. There’s not a doubt of anyone in the place, except for maybe a few judges. That will be debated forever.

“How do you win the performance, win the crowd, win the night and lose the medal? One point. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, except for Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski, every single gold medal in those Olympics has gone to Russian republics. Every single one.”

Play-by-play announcer Tom Hammond said, “They’ll talk about this one for a long time. So the Russian domination of Olympic pairs skating continues here in Salt Lake City. The first figure skating event of these Winter Games features beautiful skating in the pairs free skate. With a controversial finish as the Russians win again, and there’s yet another judging controversy in the figure skating world.”

The announcers were almost totally silent while Sale and Pelletier were skating. Finally, Hamilton said, “Throw a triple loop, and the gold is theirs!”

After Sale landed cleanly to complete the triple loop, Bezic said, “Simply perfect.... They did it!”

Apparently they weren’t perfect enough to satisfy the judges.

Larry Stewart

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Elvis is back in the building. And in figure skating, that can mean a spectacular display of jumping and artistry.

The building in this case is the Salt Lake Ice Center, where the men’s figure skating competition will begin tonight with the short program. And Elvis is Elvis Stojko of Canada, the two-time Olympic silver medalist whose brilliance has been dimmed in recent years by a series of injuries.

This time, though, he said he’s fit and eager to skate. That would add another element of intrigue to a competition that promises to deliver fireworks from Russian rivals Evgeny Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin, as well as quadruple-jump masters Timothy Goebel of the U.S. and Alexander Abt of Russia.

“Anybody can be beaten,” said Stojko, who fought a groin injury to finish second to Ilia Kulik of Russia at the 1998 Nagano Games. “There’s nobody invincible.”

Stojko, 29, is a four-time Olympian and three-time world champion. He finished fifth at the season-opening Goodwill Games in September, second to Yagudin at Skate Canada and sixth at the Nations Cup behind Plushenko, Goebel, Chengjiang Li of China, Abt and Takeshi Honda of Japan. He didn’t qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

However, he is optimistic he can keep his mind and body together to grab the gold in his fourth and final Olympic appearance.

“I feel very light here,” said Stojko, who will perform his 2-minute, 40-second program last of the 29 men today. “Just ready to skate and not worried about anything.

“I don’t have any injuries. I don’t have any problems. I’ve waited four years to come back and skate.”

Six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, a three-time Olympian who was 10th at Albertville in 1992 and fourth at Nagano in 1998, is also hoping his final appearance will be his most enjoyable on many levels.

“In my first one, I had a back injury, but it was still kind of a great experience being at the Olympics because it was my lifelong goal to be there,” he said. “At Nagano, I was thinking it would be my last time competing at the Games, and I put a lot of pressure on myself.... I don’t look at a medal anymore. I just look at having a great experience. I haven’t had that, outside of the opening ceremonies.”

Eldredge, who was among the eight athletes chosen to carry the World Trade Center flag into the opening ceremony, was third at Skate Canada, second at the Trophee Lalique and fourth at the Grand Prix Final this season. But after finishing behind bronze medalist Goebel at the Grand Prix Final, Eldredge defeated Goebel at the U.S. championships last month at Staples Center.

Helene Elliott