Well...the controversy was not about which team skated better or who should have won. It was about the judging.
For starters, Scott Hamilton screaming into the television microphone had nothing to do with it. The judges were not watching on TV when they entered their marks, so they did not know what the North American or Russian commentators were saying over the air.
As it turned out, all of the judges from the Eastern bloc -- Russia, China, Poland, and Ukraine -- had a great eye for the sophistication of Berezhnaya and Sikarudlidze's program.
Strange as it seems. none of the four Western bloc countries noticed B&S greater speed, the intricacy of their transitions, and the complexity of their choreography. They -- USA, Canada, Germany and Japan -- all voted for Sale and Pelletier's technical gem.
Surprise, surprise.
So that left France. The French judge voted for the Russian team, then broke down in tears in public and said that the President of her federation made her do it, then repeated this confession in the referee's meeting, then recanted and said, no, none of this was true, then blamed the Canadians for trying (unsuccessfully) to pressure her into voting for Sale and Pelletiere. The President of the International Olympic Committee took Cinquanta to the woodshed and told him to clean this up or else, etc., etc.
The question of who actually skated better was kind of lost in the shuffle.
In later years, as far as I can tell by reading the Internet, the consensus seems to be that Berezhnaya and Sikharudlidze were miles ahead of Sale and Pelletier. Why this was not evident to the judges from the Western bloc then becomes a mystery.
