The pairs' figure skating competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held on February 9 and 11 at the Salt Lake Ice Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. Originally, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia won the gold medals, while Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada won the silver, and Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the bronze. However, after the event concluded, allegations of vote swapping led to one judge's scores being discarded; Salé and Pelletier were also awarded gold medals, while Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were allowed to keep theirs. In a joint press conference on February 15, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the International Olympic Committee announced that Marie-Reine Le Gougne, the French judge implicated in collusion, was guilty of misconduct and was suspended effective immediately.

In 2004, the ISU voted to change the 6.0 judging system because it was considered too subjective. As a result, the ISU Judging System was created, whereby skaters and teams were scored based on a technical grade of execution of the required elements.

Background The pair skating event was one of four figure skating competitions contested at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. It was held at the Salt Lake Ice Center over two nights: the short program took place on February 9 and the free skating on February 11. The pairs' event was highly anticipated, as the field of contenders was considered especially strong. Joy Goodwin, a former producer for ABC Sports, described the field as "probably the greatest collection of talent ever assembled in pairs skating on a single night".

Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada had won the 2001 World Figure Skating Championships, while Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia had finished in second place, and Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China had finished in third. Salé and Pelletier were also two-time Four Continents champions (2000 and 2001) and two-time Canadian national champions. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were two-time world champions (1998 and 1999), two-time European champions (1998 and 2001), and had also won the silver medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo had won the 1999 Four Continents Championships and were eight-time Chinese national champions.

Qualification Twenty teams were eligible to compete in the pairs' event at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Sixteen quota spots were awarded based on the results of the 2001 World Figure Skating Championships. Four additional quota spots were to be earned at the 2001 Golden Spin of Zagreb. Poland had originally qualified two quota spots in pair skating after the World Championships; however, the Polish Figure Skating Association returned one spot when they chose to send only one team to the Olympics. That extra spot was also made available at the Golden Spin of Zagreb.

Sarah Abitbol and Stéphane Bernadis of France, the bronze medalists at the 2000 World Figure Skating Championships and eight-time French national champions, had been forced to withdraw from the 2001 World Championships after the short program when Bernadis was injured. Abitbol and Bernadis earned a spot at the Olympics by winning the 2001 Golden Spin of Zagreb. However, Abitbol ruptured her Achilles tendon shortly before the competition began, forcing her and Bernadis to withdraw. Their spot was re-allocated to Armenia, who sent Maria Krasiltseva and Artem Znachkov.

+Qualifying nations in pairs Event Teamsper Qualifying NOCs Totalteams 2001 World Championships 3 15 2 1 2001 Golden Spin of Zagreb 1 5 Total 20

Competition In the pairs competition, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia – the silver medalists from the 1998 Winter Olympics – were in first place after the short program, while Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada were in second. Salé and Pelletier had tripped and fallen on their closing pose when Pelletier hit a rut in the ice. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China were in third place.

Salé and Sikharulidze collided on the ice during their warm-up prior to the free skate, though neither skater appeared to have suffered any serious ill effects. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze made a minor, yet obvious, technical error when Sikharulidze stepped out of his double Axel, and both throw jumps showed shaky landings. Salé and Pelletier performed their Love Story free skate program, which they had used in previous seasons and had been well received at the earlier 2002 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. They skated a flawless program, albeit one that some experts considered to be of lesser difficulty than that of Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. The 6.0 system of scoring was in use at this time, where the judges awarded two marks for each performance: one for technical merit and one for presentation, with each expressed as a number on a scale from 0 to 6.0. Salé and Pelletier received 5.9s and 5.8s for technical merit, while Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze received mostly 5.8s and 5.7s. However, the Canadians received only four 5.9s for presentation, while the Russians received seven. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were awarded the gold, Salé and Pelletier the silver, and Shen and Zhao the bronze.

Judges and officials +Judges and officials for the pair skating event at the 2002 Winter Olympics Function Name Nation Referee Ronald Pfenning ISU Assistant referee Alexander Lakernik ISU Judge No. 1 Marina Sanaya Judge No. 2 Jiasheng Yang Judge No. 3 Lucy Brennan Judge No. 4 Marie-Reine Le Gougne Judge No. 5 Anna Sierocka Judge No. 6 Benoit Lavoie Judge No. 7 Vladislav Petukhov Judge No. 8 Sissy Krick Judge No. 9 Hideo Sugita

Breakdown of scores The scores from the French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, were officially discarded by the International Skating Union. +Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze Category Technical merit 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.8 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.7 Presentation 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.9 Placement 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 +Jamie Salé and David Pelletier Category Technical merit 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.9 5.8 Presentation 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.8 5.9 5.9 Placement 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1

Controversy Numerous Canadian media outlets were outraged by the result of the competition and began to raise accusations of conspiracy and bias. La Presse of Quebec featured the headline "Salé and Pelletier victims of a plot", while Le Journal de Montréal ran with "Some judges plotted before the competition". The Globe and Mail of Toronto quoted "sources" who had stated that the results of the pairs event were predetermined as part of a deal regarding the ice dance competition. Cam Cole of the National Post wrote the following:

Members of the American media were quick to support Salé and Pelletier. Christine Brennan of USA Today wrote, "The problem for those who run figure skating is that this was an event witnessed by millions of Americans on television. This didn't happen far away. It happened in Salt Lake City to a North American pair that has received more than its share of publicity on NBC." Sandra Bezic and Scott Hamilton, the retired skaters who provided the on-air commentary during the NBC broadcast of the Olympic figure skating competitions, were deeply critical of the judging of the pairs event. Robert J. Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, explained that viewers rely on the commentators of figure skating events to explain whether what they see is good or not. NBC featured Salé and Pelletier in several primetime segments, including one with Bob Costas, NBC's primary host for their Olympic coverage. They also made appearances on The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Entertainment Tonight. Anton Sikharulidze spoke about prior competitions where he and Elena Berezhnaya had finished second to Salé and Pelletier, and said that they had never complained about their results or protested their silver medals. Sikharulidze also described the difficult situation they were in, facing hostile reporters with no one backing them up.

In response to the outcry, Ottavio Cinquanta, president of the International Skating Union (ISU), announced in a press conference the day after the competition that the ISU would conduct an "internal assessment" into the judging of the pairs event. Cinquanta acknowledged that Ronald Pfenning, the event referee, had filed an official complaint about the judging, but did not offer further details. François Carrard, director general of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), publicly urged the ISU to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, and warned that if the ISU failed to act, the IOC might take action instead. Pfenning alleged that in a closed-door meeting with the event judges, French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne admitted to having been pressured by the French Federation of Ice Sports, and federation president Didier Gailhaguet, to award the gold medals to the Russian team. "You don't understand! You don't understand!" Pfenning quoted Le Gougne as having said, according to The Washington Post. "The pressure is enormous! There is so much pressure that my federation, that the president, Didier, put on me to put the Russians first!" An arrangement had allegedly been struck whereby Le Gougne was to award the gold medals to the Russian pairs team, while the Russian ice dance judge was to award the gold medals to the French ice dance team. Gailhaguet denied these allegations.

On February 15, IOC President Jacques Rogge announced in a press conference that Salé and Pelletier would be awarded gold medals, while Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze would still keep theirs, since there was no evidence of wrongdoing on their part. Le Gougne was also suspended for failing to immediately report the intimidation she alleged to have received prior to the competition. The medal award ceremony was repeated on February 17. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze attended, wearing the gold medals they had already received, but bronze medalists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China opted to not attend. Salé and Pelletier received their gold medals, and also presented Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze with gifts – a pair of hand-blown glass hearts – along with a handwritten note. Craig Fenech, agent to Salé and Pelletier, clarified that his clients' grievance was never about Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze.

Results +Pairs' results Rank Team Nation Points SP FS rowspan="2" 1 rowspan="2" 2 4.533 4 6.044 5 7.555 6 9.066 7 11.087 8 11.578 9 14.0109 10 16.51310 11 16.5912 12 18.01411 13 18.51113 14 21.01215 15 22.01614 16 23.51516 17 25.51717 18 27.01818 19 28.51919 20 30.02020

Aftermath