Word: berezhnaya
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Italian and U.S. officials last week fingered Tokhtakhounov, 53, a bull-headed Uzbek long linked with the Russian Mafia, as the mind behind the skating scandal at last winter's Salt Lake City Olympics, when tumble-down Russian pairs skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won gold over Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, the Canadian duo who gave a demonstrably superior performance. Now implicated in the mess are the gold-winning French ice-dance team of Russian-born Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat. Anissina and her mother are the two women believed to be caught on tape talking with Tokhtakhounov...
While I won't disagree that the corruption in Olympic judging needs to be seriously addressed, I question the decision to give the Canadian figure skaters a gold medal in addition to the one won by the Russian pair Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. What would have happened if the situation had been reversed and the Russians had challenged the judges? Nothing. The controversial resolution of awarding two gold medals was obviously aimed at pleasing the American press and public, and it reeked of cold war residue. It is rather symptomatic of the nation of plaintiffs that is America. Your...
...Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, it was a much more trying week. "This kind of scandal, the TV people, the media, they make our life harder," said Sikharulidze. This situation makes us very unhappy." Their coach, Tamara Moskvina, insisted that their transitions and footwork were superior to the Canadians'. She stressed that her side did not protest the result of last year's World championships in Vancouver, when Sale and Pelletier beat the Russians. "We considered that Yelena and Anton won, but it went to the other couple," she said. "We just accepted...
They have hardly taken a breather since. Undefeated internationally since November 2000, Sale and Pelletier edged out the Russian pair Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze last spring in Vancouver to became world champions. In that matchup the Russians skated a nearly clean program while Sale singled a double Axel. But with the Russians coming off a weak season, no one raised a fuss. This year Sale and Pelletier trotted out Orchid, a new high-concept routine (he played the stem, she the blooming flower) but on the eve of the Olympics settled on Love Story, based on the 1970 love...
Last week's debate in Salt Lake City once again stirs all of these feelings. I know Yelena [Berezhnaya] and Anton [Sikharulidze]--we've toured together--and they are great skaters. I feel sad for them as well as for Jamie [Sale] and David [Pelletier], sad that their big moment was lost amid yet another judging dispute. But the few technical mistakes Yelena and Anton made in their program--however slight--were unfortunately still mistakes. So, watching it on television, I was both surprised and not surprised when Jamie and David were given the silver. I thought: "Here...