MOSCOW — Russian Olympic skating gold medalist Anton Sikharulidze, distressed and indignant at Friday's decision to award a second gold to the rival Canadian skating pair, said there had been competitions in which he and partner Elena Berezhnaya had skated as well as their Canadian rivals but had to accept silver medals. But he said they never complained.
He said the decision to award a second gold was "totally wrong" and "not done."
There was a chorus of outrage in Russia over the decision, with accusations that the Canadians were unsporting for refusing to accept the judges' decision.
"If someone insists that our skating is equal and that it is impossible to determine who is the best--Russia or Canada--then let's remember the past and think about all the championships and tournaments when both pairs were also said to be equal, but the Canadians would get the gold, while we would have to be content with silver.
"We would just comply with the decision of referees, take our silver and we never complained. If we are so equal, let us take the gold medals for all those cases too," Sikharulidze said in a telephone interview from Salt Lake City.
After Canadian skaters, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, were narrowly defeated by the Russian pair in the ice-dancing competition, an outrage erupted over the decision.
A French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne, said she had been pressured over the judging, but French Olympics officials reported that she nonetheless voted honestly.
Sikharulidze said the controversy over the decision was based on the perceptions of laypeople, not experts.
"In fact the opinion of laymen, the opinion of the crowd and not professionals, determined the fate of the golden medals," he complained. "I personally have not seen any true experts in figure skating against the original decision of the panel of referees."
Sikharulidze said the controversy had been enormously stressful as he and Berezhnaya faced hostile media that seemed to support the Canadian cause.
"It is very difficult to fight their television and crowds of aggressive, unfriendly reporters. We do not have anyone backing us up," he said.
He was sure that he and Berezhnaya had won the medal fairly, but in future they would be even more motivated in competition against the Canadian pair.
"The unscrupulousness is the saddest thing--they are ready to wangle these medals by hook or by crook. To them, it does not matter how they get the medals, it only matters that they do get them," he said.
