Canadian skaters get gold; French judge suspended
February 15, 2002 Posted: 1:13 PM EST (1813 GMT)
(CNN) -- The International Olympic Committee reversed a judges' panel decision Friday afternoon and awarded a gold medal to the Canadian figure-skating pair who initially won the silver in a hotly contested performance ruling Monday night.
The Russian skaters who had won the gold in that free-style pairs competition will still keep their gold medal.
The International Skating Union suspended French figure skating judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, saying the body had evidence of misconduct, said Ottavio Cinquanta, president of the ISU, at a news conference Friday.
The decision comes less than 24 hours after Canadian Olympic officials asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to award the gold medal to Canada's team.
The dispute stems from a performance in which the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the gold over Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, despite witnesses describing their performance as nearly flawless.
The International Skating Union had recommended that the IOC make the move.
It is the second time the IOC has made such a move in modern Olympic history to correct a judging error. The first also involved a Canadian athlete and happened after the 1992 Summer Games.
A Brazilian judge mistyped a score as 8.7 when she intended to give Canadian Sylvie Frechette, a synchronized swimmer, a 9.7 during the 1992 Barcelona games. The proper score would have allowed the Canadian to win, so a second medal was granted.
