Elena Berezhnaya - 2002 Olympics

2002 Olympics

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, both pairs skated strong short programs, after which Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were in 1st and Sale and Pelletier, who had a fall at the end of their program, 2nd. In the long program, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze skated a good program although Sikharulidze had a stumble on a jump element before quickly regaining unison with his partner. Sale and Pelletier, meanwhile, had no obvious mistakes. Four judges placed the Canadians first, while five had Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze as the winners. Sale and Pelletier received higher technical scores, but Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had superior artistic marks. Some observers pointed out that Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had performed a more challenging program with greater speed, more interweaving moves and transitions, and less distance between the partners. They were awarded the gold and the Canadians the silver. The result sparked a controversy although the commentators were criticized for failing to mention Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze's strengths. The president of the International Skating Union (ISU), Ottavio Cinquanta, under extreme pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), immediately launched an investigation into a possible judging scandal. The focus immediately turned to French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the only Western judge in favor of the Russian pair. Under intense pressure, she stated that she had been intimidated into voting for the Russian pair in exchange for an advantage for the French couple in the ice dancing competition, which was to follow a few days later. The scandal resulted in a second gold medal being awarded to the Canadian pair, and the IOC and ISU decided to declare both pairs as Olympic co-champions. When the media furore faded, Le Gougne rescinded her earlier statement and declared she had voted according to her honest assessment of the performances but had been pressured to say otherwise. Leading up to the pairs final, NBC had heavily promoted the chances of the Canadian pair possibly breaking the decades-long Russian/Soviet dominance of the pairs event. Although Sikharulidze's stepout on a jump was regularly highlighted by the media, it is not uncommon for skaters of all nationalities to be awarded gold for a program with errors; Sale / Pelletier were awarded gold at the 2001 World Championships, held in Canada, despite Sale falling on the triple toe loop in the short program and then singling her double axel in the long. There was no media controversy and no investigation was launched. Canadian Patrick Chan won gold at the 2010 Skate Canada with four falls but there was no investigation or media campaign.

Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had an on-and-off romantic relationship between 1996 and 2002; they remain close friends.