Maria Butyrskaya

Mathman said:

You hope for the best.Like Anne Frank, in spite of everything I believe that figure skating judges are good at heart.

Mathman

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You really have to otherwise you can end up ruining your enjoyment of the sport you love. You know when you can smell a rat...that's what online message boards and groups are for - screaming and shouting about it afterwards!

Ant

"This was the competition about which a senior Russian official said afterward, "Why didn't Frank Carroll slip us a bottle of vodka? What did we care which American girl won?"

MM

I heard that a Russian coach (some people say Irinia Rodnina and some say Tarasova) asked Frank why he didn't slip the judges a bottle of vodka -- although I have not heard anyone say that Callaghan did so (and the comment, if true, indicates that Tara should have won; they just would have voted differently if bribed). Has anyone ever determined if any Russian official really did say any such thing? This whole story strikes me as a slam on the Russian judges. After all, Tara won in a 6/3 vote, so the Russian vote wouldn't have changed the outcome.

attyfan said:

After all, Tara won in a 6/3 vote, so the Russian vote wouldn't have changed the outcome.

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Quite true. They would have needed two bottles of vodka, one for Russia and one for Ukraine.

But maybe they could have shared...

The Ukrainian judge was Alfred Korytek. He was suspended by the ISU after the 1999 World Championships in Helsinki for collusion with the Russian judge, Sviatoslav Babenko.

But not to worry. By the time of the 2002 Worlds in Nagano, Mr. Korytek was back judging the ladies event, this time representing Israel.

Mathman hwell:

PS. Koytek was evidently a little rusty after his time off. In the qualifying round he placed Fumie Suguri 6th (behind Kirk, Robinson, Butyrskaya and Sebestyen, as well as Kwan). The other six judges placed Fumie 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, and 3.

Koytek was considered incompetent even at cheating. He fled to Israel because the Russians didn't want him. Watch for him in Torino and you will know before the competition begins whom he will give the high scores.

Let's face it, no bottles of vodka, you don't know the game! It's not about skating, it's about the game!

Joe

attyfan said:

"MM

I heard that a Russian coach (some people say Irinia Rodnina and some say Tarasova) asked Frank why he didn't slip the judges a bottle of vodka -- .

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I heard it was Rodnina who did work with Michelle in her early days with Frank Carroll.