Posted by Mondo Fuego™ on February 12, 2026, 3:58 pm
... remember the 2002 Olympics and the judging scandal that placed Russian skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze in first place and Canadian skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier in second place?
After hotly-contested accusations of conspiracy and bias involving a French judge and others, IOC President Jacques Rogge announced in a press conference that Salé and Pelletier would be awarded gold medals, while also allowing Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze to keep theirs, since there was no evidence of wrongdoing on their part.
I think it would be appropriate for Chock and Bates to challenge the judging of their performance vs. Laurence Fournier-Baudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
Bates and Cizeron are both top-notch performers, but there's no way Baudry even came close to the skill of Madison Chock. Cizeron did all the work while Baudry was good at hanging on to him.
I think the medal awards should be reversed, but I would be satisfied, but not over-joyed, if both couples received gold medals like Salé/Pelletier and Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze.
