Skategate Case Weak

Is that all there is?

Did the decision to award duplicate Olympic figure skating gold medals to a Canadian pair at Salt Lake City rest on a muddled statement by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, as detailed in a startling story in today’s editions of the Chicago Tribune?

Or is there something more sinister at work?

Something such as the International Olympic Committee, eager to give the Games a positive slant, pressuring the International Skating Union to devise a cosmetic solution to a crisis involving the fundamental integrity of the sport?

Something such as ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta, a former speedskater, overreacting in his haste to resolve a public relations nightmare?

Something not yet evident, although all the principals seem to have had their allotted 15 minutes of fame, and then some?

Because if the awarding of a second set of medals was heavily based on Le Gougne’s signed statement, which the Tribune examined, the IOC and ISU acted on flimsy evidence that raises more questions than it answers.

In a Feb. 15 news conference with IOC President Jacques Rogge, Cinquanta said the ISU recommended Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada be elevated to co-gold medalist status with Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze because Le Gougne “was submitted to a certain pressure, and we do believe this pressure resulted in putting this judge in a condition not to pronounce, not to give the vote in an adequate manner.” Le Gougne was part of the 5-4 majority that ranked the Russians first in the free skating finale, giving them the gold medal.

The IOC’s approval of the ISU’s double-gold recommendation was seen as a life preserver to Salt Lake organizers, whose Games were about to be consumed by the media-fueled frenzy. Le Gougne was suspended indefinitely; the ISU scheduled a hearing April 29-30 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and said it won’t comment until then.

However, in the statement seen by the Tribune--which Le Gougne’s attorney said is the only documentation he has gotten from the ISU--Le Gougne said she had not been pressured to vote for the Russians.

The Feb. 13 statement, according to Tribune Olympic reporter Phil Hersh, is sloppily written, has no official letterhead, contains typographical errors and employs abbreviations for the names of principals and their nationalities.

Asked whether she thought the Canadian couple deserved to win but voted for the Russians because she had been under duress, she replied, “No, absolutely not.” She acknowledged having told Ron Pfenning, the referee of the pairs judging panel, during the post-event judges’ meeting that she had acted under pressure from French Federation President Didier Gailhaguet, but she said her jumbled emotions led her to misspeak.

Pfenning’s account of the post-event meeting was one of several forwarded to Cinquanta claiming a breach of ethics had occurred. Sally-Anne Stapleford, chairwoman of the ISU technical committee, also told Cinquanta she spoke with Le Gougne in a hotel lobby and said Le Gougne admitted to having been pressured.

The first question in the statement asks, “Is it true that you have declared on the occasion of the review meeting that you received instructions from Mr. DG to place the Russian team first?”

She replied: “Yes, it is true but I wish to add that my emotional condition at that moment was not such to give me the opportunity to give a proper response.”

The second question reads, “Is it true that in private you told Mr. RP (immediately after the event Review Meeting there was a private conversation between MRLG and RP) that the CAN were the best but you had to do what you have done?”

She responded: “No, absolutely not when I gave the marks, I was conscious having at that moment the RUS as the best couple of the free skating. The fact that the day after I could have had a different opinion this should not have any relation with my judgement.”

The statement ends: “MRLG wished to point out that contrary to what appeared on certain media/journalists she never ever discussed or reached any understanding with RUS representatives.”

If there’s more, the ISU should say so, as soon as possible. Her attorney, Max Miller of Salt Lake City, said the ISU might have more documents, “but [the statement] is all I have.” It should be embarrassed to have allowed so sloppy a document to leave its hands.

And if that’s all there was, it acted with horrifying haste. It’s skaters who are supposed to have supple spines, not ISU administrators. If it’s proven they gave in to public pressure without airtight and sufficient evidence of misdeeds, they will have set the sport back more than any crooked ice dance judge ever did.