"스포츠 정신" 이라는 이말 한마디가 수십년씩 힘들게 준비하여 올림픽 경기를 주최하는 국가 및 참가국 선수들의 고생을 말끔하게 씻어주는 역활을 한다고 믿었었다. 그래서 이기간 동안만은 지구상에서 전쟁도 휴전하고.....온인류가 TV와 언론매체에 초점을 맞춘다.
그런데 이런 인류의 아름다운 잔치에 찬물을 끼엊는 스캔달이 터졌다.
프랑스의 L'Equipe라는 잡지사의 폭로에 의하면 미국과 러시아 심판들이 서로 담합하여
이번 소치 동계 올림픽 피겨 스케이팅 남녀 혼합조에 출전하는 금매달 유망팀인 캐나다의 Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir조를 배제 시키기위해 Vote-Swapping혐의가 있었다고 한다.
이잡지는 익명을 요구한 러시아의 코치가 미국과 러시아 사이에 서로 자국 선수들에게 "Proposed Barter"를 해주기로 했음을 폭로했다는 것이다.
우선 급한데로 기사내용의 첫부분만 옮겨 보았는데, 아래 기사를 보면 그전체 흑막을 알수 있다. 제발 오보이기를 기대해 볼 뿐이다.
Alleged Olympic vote-swapping deal would keep Canada from gold
L'Equipe reports Russia-U.S. deal would keep Virtue, Moir from gold
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won their fifth national ice dance title in six years.
French magazine L'Equipe alleges the U.S. and Russia have struck a deal to help each other out at Sochi Winter Olympic figure skating events, which would keep Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from the gold.
The magazine quotes a Russian coach, who spoke to the magazine on the condition of anonymity about the "proposed barter" between the two countries.
According to the magazine, the anonymous official said the U.S. has agreed to help Russia win the pairs figure skating and team events.
In exchange, Russia would purportedly ensure Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. win gold over Canadian champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
But Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada's high performance director, says he's confident the judging will be fair.
"I stay clear of that stuff," he said. "I have full confidence that [when] the skaters go out and do their job, they will do their job on the ice, [and] the judges will judge it as they see it."
The International Skating Union refused to comment directly to the accusations, saying they would only take action if there was proof of misconduct.
"The ISU does not react to allegations without evidence," the organization said in a released statement. "Based on credible and verifiable evidence the ISU has always pursued cases of misconduct or other violations of the ISU statutes."
Davis, a two-time world champion with White, wasn't concerned with the allegations when asked after the U.S., couple finished first in the short program — ahead of Virtue and Moir — of the ice dance team event on Saturday.
"We haven't heard anything about it," she said. "We are confident that what we are putting out onto the ice speaks for itself."
This is not the first judging controversy to hit the Olympics.
In 2002, Canadian figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier placed second behind Russian pair Yelene Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, despite a stumble during the Russians` performance.
A French judge later admitted she planned to vote for the Russians regardless of how they performed.
Sale and Pelletier, who initially took home silver, were eventually awarded a second gold medal in the event.
The sport's entire scoring system was overhauled on the heels of the scandal. The old 6.0 scoring system was replaced in 2004 to make the scoring more objective.
"We have lived through Sale and Pelletier, figure skating has a storied past with all that stuff," Moir said.
"The wonderful thing about the Olympic Games is that we are athletes and we do our jobs and we don't have to worry about all that."
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