On skating, O Canada, we stand (appalled) with thee

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© St. Petersburg Times
published February 15, 2002

In the family of nations, Canada has always been the Aunt Mabel or Uncle Harold, a quiet, decent sort of place that not even its neighbor to the south knows much about.

After all, how many Americans 1) can name the Canadian capital; 2) have the foggiest idea what a "loonie" is; or 3) can tell whether the prime minister answers to "Jean" or "Jacques?"

So it is understandable that Canadians' grief over losing the Olympic gold medal in pairs figure skating is mixed with glee that their country, for once, is squarely in the international spotlight. In the past five days, not even President Bush's "axis of evil" speech has garnered as much attention as the sloppy double axel that figures in one of the biggest Olympic controversies ever.

"World Shares Our Anger!" screamed the headline on Wednesday's Toronto Star.

With no small measure of delight, the Star and other Canadian papers note that "Americans have led the international outcry" and that millions of skating fans around the globe have logged on to media Web sites to express their outrage. The decorous strains of O, Canada have given way to angry cries of "We were robbed!"

Yes, is there anyone, anywhere who doesn't know by now that a Russian couple who skated a flawed performance Monday night took the gold over Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who had a "perfect skate," as they say in the trade? The evidence is there for all to see -- the endless replays of Anton Sikharulidze bobbling the landing on a double axel while his normally supple partner, Elena Berezhnaya, looked wooden-legged on two of her jumps.

The crowd thought the Canadians had won; so did NBC commentators Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic, who were almost hysterical in their joy as they announced the pair had captured the gold before they even left the ice. But as former champion skaters themselves (Bezic was a Canadian pairs medalist), she and Hamilton should have known that this is not a sport where it pays to preguess the judges' decisions.

Sure enough, when the marks went up, Sale and Pelletier were second and the Russians first. Seen in the most favorable light, the vote showed once again that what constitutes great figure skating is a matter of great subjectivity. Put in more venal terms, the 5-4 split suggested collusion or an outright fix.

Indeed, the American referee of the event has accused at least one unnamed judge of impropriety. Meanwhile, the French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, was reportedly pressured by her country's skating federation to vote for the Russians in exchange for support for the French pair in the ice dancing competition (which will surely become one of the most closely watched events of the Olympics).

Suddenly, this modest drama has taken on all the earmarks of a spy-vs.-spy thriller with a cast of characters playing to the best, and worst, of national stereotypes. The earnest Canadians, ever gracious in defeat. The Russians, defiant and furtive. The French, projecting an image of negotiable virtue.

A formal inquiry is under way; no one expects the Russians to be stripped of their medals, although another set of gold might be given to the Canadians as a way of acknowledging they were wronged.

But were they?

Pairs skating is the hardest of the figure skating disciplines and arguably the most interesting to watch. As with auto racing, there's a certain element of morbid fascination -- will those couples rocketing around the ice end up in a bloody tangle of arms and legs? As one who has taken years of skating lessons, I can testify that doing a perfectly centered sit spin is no simple feat; doing one in perfect synchrony with another human being and in time to a soaring piece of music is the athletic equivalent of quantum physics.

The Russians argue, with some justification, that theirs was a fresher and more technically difficult program. Sale and Pelletier have skated to the theme from Love Story for three years, and one senses they could do it in their sleep.

(One Canadian reporter even tracked down the author of that mawkish '60s tale, Erich Segal, who agreed that the Canadians were robbed of the gold.)

And like many who have followed their careers, I admit to a soft spot for the Russians. The tiny, angelic-looking Berezhnaya suffered for years with a partner who was rumored to be a sadistic sort even before he speared her in the brain with a skate blade while they were practicing side-by-side camel spins. It's amazing she can walk, let alone land triple jumps. Much of the credit goes to her current partner, Sikharulidze, who nursed her during the long months of recovery.

The pair and their countrymen are understandably miffed that the gold medal is in dispute, given Russia's tradition of excellence in figure skating. (In fact, can you think of anything else that Russia excels in these days?)

But Canada is also a country that takes its skating seriously. Kids learn how to skate almost as soon as they can walk, and there are thousands of regulation rinks, including one outside the Toronto city hall.

Yet Canadian skaters never quite make it to the top. Kurt Browning, Elvis Stojko, Brian Orser, the great ice dancing couple of Bourne and Kraatz -- all are acknowledged to be among the best in the world yet none has won the gold. So it easy to see why so much was riding on Sale and Pelletier.

But don't cry too much for the Canadian pair. Thanks to their good sportsmanship and good looks (isn't Sale a near ringer for Nancy Kerrigan, the knee-capped victim of another Olympic skating scandal?), the duo stands to make a fortune from endorsements, ice shows and interviews.

Thus this soap opera seems to be skating toward a happy ending after all. The Russians get the gold, the Canadians get a million dollars worth of publicity and adoration, and Canada gets its 15 minutes of fame.

(By the way, the Canadian capital is Ottawa, the loony is the $1 coin, and the prime minister is Jean Chretien who this week is in -- of all places -- Russia.)

-- Susan Taylor Martin can be contacted at susan@sptimes.com.

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