If I were in charge of the ISU, here's how I would have solved the huge scandal over the pairs figure-skating competition. Call me crazy, but here's what I would have done:
1. Convene all the judges for a press conference. Direct them to answer every question put to them by the world's media. Have side-by-side videos of the two disputed performances on the screen to illustrate. Let them defend, in detail, their rankings and choices.
Issue these stern directives to all the judges:
- answer honestly, politely, and completely.
- take every question seriously
- don't be afraid to admit mistakes
Oh. And remove your blindfolds before the press conference.
2. Have the two pairs concerned join the press conference and add their comments to the questions and answers. Were all the moves equally difficult? Which elements of your program did you think were more difficult than those of your competitors?
3. Acknowledge that the judges don't like it when public perception is different from the scoring results. Don't blame it on an ignorant public. Accept the blame for not doing a good enough job of communicating to everyone what the standards are. Encourage people to look closely at all figure skating results and make helpful suggestions where-ever possible.
I know the judges would read these suggestions in horror. You can't expect ignorant peasants to understand the subtleties of figure-skating! And the judges would be right. Do you know the difference between a double-lutz and a double-axle? Me neither. But the public doesn't know how ignorant they are right now. And they will know it even less the more you imply, with your actions, your secrecy, and your jealously guarded privileges, that you don't give a damn about what anybody thinks, as long as you get your travel and accommodations and meals paid for.
Did Sale and Pelletier earn the gold medal? I think they probably did, but it's not cut and dried. The Russians skated a powerful program, though they were clearly not as fluid and smooth as Sale and Pelletier were. The Russians say their skate was more difficult, but nobody can identify the particularities of this.
The real problem was that the actual skating at the competition didn't seem to matter. The skaters, as in ice dancing, are locked into their positions early on and their free skates and long programs have almost no effect on their final position. The Americans certainly seemed to have skated better than the Chinese on their long program, but they moved nary a centimeter.
In ice dancing, Bourne and Kraatz will finish 4th, as usual.
