With investigation over, no one will know if judge's alleged impropriety cost Spanish ice dance team an Olympic spot

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With investigation over, no one will know if judge's alleged impropriety cost Spanish ice dance team an Olympic spot

The International Skating Union said Monday it has dropped disciplinary proceedings against a Belarusian judge due to his resignation, which seems to have been conveniently timed.

That means it never will be known if a Spanish ice dance team lost a chance to go to the 2018 Olympics because of Alexandre Gorojdanov’s alleged violations of his duties as judge.

It also means the ISU’s inexplicable refusal to give an automatic lifetime ban to any judge or referee found to have violated the ethical rules of those duties allowed Gorojdanov the chance to potentially corrupt the results of another competition.  The Belarusian had served a 6 1/2-month suspension from Jan. 13 to June 30, 2017, after having been found in violation of the ISU code of ethics as a pairs referee at a 2016 event.

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Athletes save the Olympics from their leaders' big lies

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Athletes save the Olympics from their leaders' big lies

Oh, how the International Olympic Committee must yearn for the good old days of 1999, when revelations of bribes for bid city votes led to the worst scandal in the hoary (or should that be whorey?) history of the IOC.

Because as bad as that was, 2016 was even worse.

That is a painful irony given that years with an Olympics usually leave enough good recollections to wipe the seamier ones from the public memory bank.

Not so in 2016, even if the underlying point of this column, as it has been in each of the 30 years for which I have given international sports awards, still is to celebrate the best athletes in sports for whom an Olympic gold medal is the ultimate prize.

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Gailhaguet, once banned from sport, as skating federation boss? Mon Dieu!

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Gailhaguet, once banned from sport, as skating federation boss? Mon Dieu!

Some people within the figure skating world – including many fans, coaches, administrators and ex-competitors - cannot wait until Friday.

That is when the International Skating Union will conclude its biennial congress by electing a successor to Italy’s Ottavio Cinquanta, who has presided over the ISU since 1994.

Many blame Cinquanta for not having done more to halt figure skating’s precipitous decline in popularity in both North America and Europe, the recent Russian revival notwithstanding.  (If so, shouldn’t he get also some credit, even second-handedly, for the booming interest in Japan and South Korea?)

Among those critics, a favorite target is the obtuse, overly complicated New Judging System Cinquanta succeeded in getting adopted after the pairs skating imbroglio at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (where, by the way, the judges had the result right the first time, no matter how loudly Canadians whined or what behind-the-scenes dirty dealings took place in efforts to predetermine the outcome.)

Given the Salt Lake fallout, it is astonishing what might happen in Friday’s election.

The sport (and its ice cousins, short and long track speed skating) can choose as president France’s Didier Gailhaguet, linchpin of attempts to corrupt the results of the 2002 Olympic pairs and dance competitions.

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