Friday, February 15, 2002

CNN: Canadian skaters get gold; judge suspended.

“Olympics and skating officials said a gold medal will be awarded to Canada’s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who initially were awarded the silver medal in a hotly contested Monday night performance. Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, the Russian duo who originally won the gold in that freestyle pairs competition, will keep their medals…

“The controversy intensified after the head of the French Olympic team was quoted as saying the French figure skating judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, was pressured to ‘act in a certain way.’

“Le Gougne was suspended because she was approached and pressured and did not report it right away, Olympics authorities said.”