Given that this past week, the International Skating Union's Congress considered the presidential candidacy of a prime figure in the scandal, former French federation president Didier Gailhaguet, as well as eliminating the anonymity in judging instated after this competition, it seemed like the perfect time to review the 2002 Olympics. Our judges assessed the skating in context - how they think it should have been scored in 2002 - and through the lens of modern, 2016 skating.
Here are our judges!
Keira is on Tumblr.
Meghan blogs for USFSA Fan Zone and at Figuratively Speaking. She's also on Twitter.
Margaret (new!) is on Tumblr.
Shannon can be found on Twitter.
Click below to keep reading our rejudging of the pairs at the 2002 Olympics!
Keira: Only Sale/Pelletier! I was only two when the event took place. (Editor's note: who says young people aren't watching figure skating?!)
Margaret: I had to miss these Olympics, unfortunately. Those were the days of analog TV, and it was pretty much impossible to get a good signal for the NBC affiliate where I lived. I may have randomly watched some of these performances while browsing YouTube over the years, but I don't really remember.
Meghan: I do remember watching them in 2002, but I haven't watched them recently until now.
Shannon: Watched the whole thing on TV and on YouTube over the years
Be honest: how much of this event did you actually watch?
Keira: All of the videos given to me!
Margaret: All ten programs we were asked to watch.
Meghan: I watched all top five short/long programs.
Shannon: All.
Who had the best short program of the event?
Keira: I'm going to have to give this to Elena and Anton. Their technical difficulty was through the roof, and they skated very cleanly! I would have given the upper hand to Sale/Pelletier, had it not been for those fluke falls (which were handled extremely well by both Jamie and David!). My favorite program, though not the best, was probably Shen/Zhao's.
Margaret: Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze's short program was just stunning, and I can't think of a single thing to criticize about it. Pretty much perfect.
Meghan: I'd have given it to Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze as well. Even without the fluke fall at the end of Jamie and David's program, I felt like their performance just wasn't as complete or as polished of a package as the Russians.
Shannon: Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze (RUS). This program is literal pairs perfection. From beginning to end this program had flow, speed, and unison. All requirements nailed to technical perfection. Spiral transition into the throw loop, held landing into a spread eagle...love! I was disappointed in the U.S and Japanese judge for giving them 5.7 for required elements. Despite skating early, I would have thrown all 5.9's in the air, like confetti. And bless the Polish judge for the 5.9 for presentation. 5.8 Russian judge?! A 6.0 would have been deserving and legit in this case. Pictures of their posture should hang in every skating rink in the world.
Keira: Sale/Pelletier, hands down. It. Was. Stunning. Almost flawless. The choreography was gorgeous, the costumes were simple but fit the music perfectly, and I felt connected to the program... they deserved the gold medal, one-hundred percent.
Margaret: Sale/Pelletier's "Love Story" was definitely the best free skate. Not only was it skated cleanly, I loved, loved, loved the emotion they showed throughout. After they landed the last throw jump, I doubt many people would have blamed them for slipping and showing a little happiness, but I was really impressed with how they stayed in character right to the very end.
Meghan: Watching this ten + years of watching figure skating later, this was closer than I remembered but I still think Jamie and David had a better overall performance- I would have had them ahead of the Russians in the free.
Shannon: I have watched Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze and Sale/Pelletier probably a million times since and I still come to the same conclusion. Elena and Anton were the rightful winners. Jamie and David had a great skate, there is no denying that. I do not put them at the same base mark as Elena/Anton though. Even with a turn out on the double axel and a close catch on the twist, they are still far superior in everything else. By the end, I can overlook those things, they still left me breathless. Their program is choreographically stunning and difficult. By a landslide.
Keira: Sale and Pelletier's free skate. It's not so much that it was underscored, but it should have put them in first.
Margaret: It's difficult to talk about underscoring/overscoring under 6.0, since it's the ordinals that really matter and not the actual scores given, but I thought Ina/Zimmerman should have been higher than fifth in the short program. Yes, they had two tiny little iffy moments on the side-by-side elements, but the overall program was fantastic -- my second favorite of the short programs I saw -- and their second marks did not show that at all. I actually had them tied with Shen/Zhao, but Shen/Zhao won the tiebreaker on the first mark (5.6 5.8 vs. 5.7 5.7). (I do acknowledge, though, that I only scored five programs compared to twenty, so the judges probably were just saving room while I could afford to be more generous with my marks... I/Z still should have been at least fourth, though.)
In the free, Ina/Zimmerman were even more screwed. Again, they had some minor mistakes, but I felt that one amazing lift they did more than made up for those. Not to mention that it was a gorgeous program filled with inventive choreography (such as that aforementioned lift), and they had the skate of their lives which brought the crowd to their feet. Granted, they were Americans skating in Salt Lake City, which probably helped with the crowd reaction, but they did perform that program extremely well. In my opinion, it was the second best free skate, and I would have placed it even above Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze's skate.
Meghan: I know they had a fall in the free skate on the throw, but Shen/Zhao's technical marks (mostly 5.7s) were low in my opinion. I would also have the other two teams ahead of them, but they were a solid 5.8 if you ask me.
Shannon: Ina and Zimmerman. They skated great here and that second lift in their free skate... I die. I would have had them fourth, but the judges could have shown them some more love.
Keira: Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze's free skate. It was good, and once again, their elements were extremely difficult, some of their landings were a bit too shaky and they weren't connected to the music, which should have put them in second.
Margaret: Again going back to the short program, I would have put Totmianina/Marinin in fifth behind Ina/Zimmerman. T/M's program was by far the least interesting of the top five, and in my opinion, them losing unison at the end of the side-by-side spins was a bigger error than the two minor mistakes that I/Z made. One of the commentators was even saying that deductions for loss of unison were supposed to be taken off the second mark, not the first, which made me go, "Huh?" Sure, loss of unison does hurt the presentation of a program, but it's also a technical mistake, so I marked them down on both marks.
Meghan: Totmianina/Marinin shouldn't have been ahead of Ina and Zimmerman in the free skate. The 5.7's for presentation were generous in particular.
Shannon: Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the short program. And it still burns my toast. Costumes aside (I. Can. Not.) their program was much simpler and lets face it - had no transitions, choreography that consisted of hopping, a non-existent footwork sequence, and a fall at the end. I don't care if it wasn't on an element, they fell. Both of them. In a short program, a fall gives me feelings. And as much as Benoit Lavoie wanted to go on about biased scoring - a 5.8, 5.9 (from him - Oh Canada) for that...honey. No. You gave the Russians (who skated before them) a 5.8 for artistry. Just no.
Here is how these short programs were actually ranked:
1. Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze
2. Jamie Salé / David Pelletier
3. Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo
4. Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin
5. Kyoko Ina / John Zimmerman
Keira
1. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 2. Sale / Pelletier 3. Shen / Zhao 4. Ina / Zimmerman 5. Totmianina / Marinin |
Margaret
1. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 2. Sale / Pelletier 3. Shen / Zhao 4. Ina / Zimmerman 5. Totmianina / Marinin |
Meghan
1. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 2. Sale / Pelletier 3. Shen / Zhao 4. Totmianina / Marinin 5. Ina / Zimmerman |
Shannon
1. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 2. Sale / Pelletier 3. Shen / Zhao - and only because of their spins |
Here is how these free skates were actually ranked:
1. Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze NOT OFFICIALLY RANKED
1. Jamie Salé / David Pelletier NOT OFFICIALLY RANKED
3. Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo
4. Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin
5. Kyoko Ina / John Zimmerman
Keira
1. Sale / Pelletier 2. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 3. Ina / Zimmerman 4. Shen / Zhao 5. Totmianina / Marinin |
Margaret
1. Sale / Pelletier 2. Ina / Zimmerman 3. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 4. Shen / Zhao 5. Totmianina / Marinin |
Meghan
1. Sale / Pelletier 2. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 3. Shen / Zhao 4. Ina / Zimmerman 5. Totmianina / Marinin |
Shannon
1. Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze 2. Sale / Pelletier 3. Shen / Zhao 4. Ina/Zimmerman |
Keira: Had it not been for the fall, [Shen/Zhao] would have been in third
Keira: Definitely the Canadians, at least in my opinion. They were pretty much equal to Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze in the short, but totally outshined them in the free. They had a clear connection to the music and nailed all of their elements- two things Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were not able to do.
Margaret: I thought this question was going to a hard one to answer, based on all the controversy and subsequent discussions I've followed on forums and such, but it was actually rather easy. Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze were absolute perfection in the short program, but they were not in the free program. In fact, as I scored them, they weren't even second best. I would have placed them third in the free skate, behind Ina/Zimmerman. I don't care if B/S's program was a little bit harder than Sale/Pelletier's; it's not like S/P's program was THAT much easier. "Love Story" is one of my favorite 6.0 pairs programs, and they gave an incredible performance of it, absolutely worthy of the gold medal. While B/S's program was also beautiful, they didn't skate their best and made a noticeable mistake (along with not doing the other elements as well as I know they could). Sale/Pelletier deserved to be the Olympic champions.
Meghan: Compared to Elena and Anton in the presentation mark, I feel the Canadians were definitely underscored in the free skate. The Canadians should have won the free skate overall, the artistic mark, and therefore the gold medal.
Shannon: Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze
Keira: Either Sale/Pelletier's FS or both of Shen/Zhao's programs.
Margaret: Probably Shen/Zhao's long program. Not only did they attempt (and almost landed cleanly!) a quad salchow, there were quite a few transitions that would have scored well under the current scoring system. Not such a surprise that they were able to come back in 2010 and win the gold!
Meghan: Shen/Zhao's free skate. I thought they had the best power and finesse on their throws and twist compared to the other teams. Their quad attempt was so close that they could keep pace with the pairs quad race of today.
Shannon: Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze both short and long. These programs could give every team a run for their money, and I say this loving Sui/Han.
Keira: Totmianina/Marinin's SP and FS. I found both to be quite bland, and there was nothing special about their skating in either. They didn't seem to be connected to their program, and most pairs in 2016 put their heart and souls into every performance. I just didn't get that feeling from Totmianina and Marin,
Margaret: Tough to say. As much as I loved it, I doubt "Love Story" would score very well in 2016.
Meghan:I was smiling to myself as I was jotting down the technical elements of all of these programs as they are behind what we see today. It's amazing how far the technical ante has been raised.
Shannon: Sale and Pelletier - lack of transitions and I don't think they would get the GOE..
Keira: XUE SHEN AND HONGBO ZHAO! I am all about their skating. They are probably my favorite pairs team ever.
Margaret: Honestly, none. They were all fantastic pairs (with maybe the exception of Totmianina/Marinin), but they had their time. Still, I have to admit it would be nice to have a podium threat American pair team like Ina/Zimmerman again...
Meghan: Hongbo Zhao- I always think that when he's sitting in the Kiss and Cry with current Chinese pairs.
Shannon: Shen and Zhao because they need to show everyone what height and distance on a quad throw looks like.
Keira: Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany were the first that came to mind, which is crazy- Aliona competed in this event with former partner Stanislav Morozov! I could also see Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov fitting right in at this event!
Margaret: Hmm... Maybe Volosozhar/Trakov? Their technical content is close to the same as the top 2002 teams.
Meghan: I noticed how consistent these five pairs were in their side by side jumps at this event- Tarah Kayne and Danny OShea have great consistency in that area and they would be competitive in this (almost) quadless field.
Shannon: Stolbova and Klimov. They could have won so many things.
Keira: I think it will help it. I don't think it'll necessarily stop judges from placing certain skaters above others, but it'll be easier to see if the scoring's fair or just really biased.
Margaret: I don't really know. I think fans will really like the change because it'll give them more facts for their conspiracy theories, but as to whether it'll lead to actual fairer scoring... We'll just have to wait and see.
Meghan: I think it's a good thing. The sport will always be subjective, but there's little-to-no chance of catching improprieties when there's not a specific judge to connect the scores to.
Shannon: I think it will help. We all love looking at the results to see what country put down what. I live for it and I think it will bring some excitement back. People will have to be ready to justify marks. I support this.
Keira: Didier Gailhaguet should have been banned from the ISU- the fact that he was even able to run for president of the organization after cheating is so shocking to me.
Margaret: Ina/Zimmerman deserved bronze. That, in my opinion, is the real injustice. I wish that when the powers that be decided to award two gold medals for the event, they would have moved Shen/Zhao up to silver and gave Ina/Zimmerman the bronze. Not the ideal solution, of course, but I would have been happy with that.
Meghan: On a lighter note, did anyone else forget how dreamy John Zimmerman's hair was?
Shannon: This event was so much about the co-gold medalist, but I fell in love with Shen/Zhao here. And major props to Yao Bin, who finished last in the 84 Olympics and turned that disaster in to a Chinese pair legacy. I admire what he created, all of his pairs, the fact that with Zhao he coaches Sui and Han. Thank you sir for your greatness.
Do you agree with our 2016 judges or did you think they got it right in 2002? Leave us a comment to let us know, then sign up to judge a future event!