IOC in a Twirl Over Skating Scandal

It's called 'Skategate', and the scandal that is rocking, not to mention salchow-ing, the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City is showing no signs of going away.

To recap, Monday's figure skating gold was awarded to the Russian pair of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze ahead of Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. To most observers the Canadian pair were clearly superior, with the Russian performance blemished by errors, and suspicions of foul play amongst the judges were quickly raised.

The crowd at the Salt Lake Ice Centre and media pundits made their thoughts plain after the event. According to Jayne Torvill "Everyone watching around the world guessed the right winners. The Canadian duo were clearly better than the Russians."

Tthe Canadian Skating Federation have since called for their competitors' silver medals to be upgraded.

With the judges' votes split 5-4 and arranged along traditional lines (with Eastern Bloc countries lined up against those of the West) doubts have been raised as to the decisive vote for the Russians, which was cast by French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne, and today reports have emerged that she was acting under outside pressure.

Didier Gailhaguet, the head of the French Olympic team, admitted to the Daily Telegraph this morning that Le Gougne's voting hand had been forced.

"Some people close to her have acted badly and have put someone who is honest and upright, but emotionally fragile, under pressure," said Gailhaguet. "I think she has been somewhat manipulated."

This is not the first time that figure-skating panels have been accused of treading on thin ice, but there is also some controversy expected when the ice dance competition begins today.

France did not have a gold medal chance in the figure skating, but they do have hopes of a gold in the ice dance, for which there is expected to be a Russian judge, but no French one.

An International Skating Union (ISU) inquiry is underway, but the matter will not come to an end until Monday when a scheduled ISU conference takes place.

With the Salt Lake City vote-rigging scandal still hanging over the Olympic organisation, the new president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, is keen to be seen to be taking action, and has been outspoken in his condemnation of any possible impropriety, even before the inquiry has been completed.

"While the IOC trusts the the ISU will take all appropriate decisions," he said, "we would like to emphasise the high urgency of the matter and the need to take adequate actions as quickly as possible."

Francois Carrard, who is in his first Games as IOC director general, expressed similarly alarmist sentiments. "they must work day and night to get this matter resolved," he said. "The message is that this must be sorted out as soon as possible."

Meanwhile the Canadians, who were roared on to the second step of the podium at the Olympic Medals Plaza, while the Russian pair were greeted with stony silence, are exploring their options.

The Canadian Olympic team have already lodged an appeal on their behalf. Now Sale and Pelletier could go to the IOC or the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Canadian team are not asking for a medals reversal, but a share of gold with the Russians.

How deep does the taint of Skategate run? Will the ice skating community ever recover? We can only wait and see.