JD
12-10-2002, 12:19 PM
Chidlow let down her team in scandal
CANADA'S SPORTS LEADERS: 2002 The final instalment of The Globe and Mail's two-part annual ranking of leading sports figures takes a look at the losers and unsung heroes in 2002, and those to watch for next year.
By WILLIAM HOUSTON
Saturday, December 7, 2002 – Page S3
To be fair to Marilyn Chidlow, she is a volunteer in her role as the chairwoman of Skate Canada. But when the biggest scandal in figure skating history exploded at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, and when it directly affected Canada's pairs team of Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, Chidlow's performance was, by any measure, stunningly inept.
After Salé and Pelletier had been denied a gold medal that they clearly deserved, the Canadian public wanted someone at Skate Canada to fight for them. They wanted to hear, with conviction and perhaps even some passion, that there had been an injustice, that Salé and Pelletier deserved the gold and that an immediate independent investigation of the judging was necessary.
Instead, a timorous Chidlow defended, astonishingly, not her skaters, but the International Skating Union. She contradicted Canadian officials who demanded an independent inquiry. Television viewers shook their heads, and media at Salt Lake rolled their eyes when she insisted that an outside probe was unnecessary. When the media -- certainly not Skate Canada -- made it impossible for the International Olympic Committee to ignore the scandal, Chidlow continued to defend the ISU, which had pretended for years that judging problems didn't exist.
Four months later, Chidlow had an opportunity to restore some of her credibility. All she needed to do was vote for Canadian Ann Shaw, a widely respected skating official, in her bid for a senior ISU post. Instead, Chidlow cast her ballot for Russian Alexander Gorshkov, who had played a large role during the years in denying a gold medal to the Canadian dance team of Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz. Why? It was widely speculated that Chidlow's vote was a tradeoff for Russian support of Canadian David Dore's election to the ISU council. That's how it works in the world of the ISU. Chidlow's loyalty to that organization makes her a worthy leader among our losers.
IMHO, enough said......smile
CANADA'S SPORTS LEADERS: 2002 The final instalment of The Globe and Mail's two-part annual ranking of leading sports figures takes a look at the losers and unsung heroes in 2002, and those to watch for next year.
By WILLIAM HOUSTON
Saturday, December 7, 2002 – Page S3
To be fair to Marilyn Chidlow, she is a volunteer in her role as the chairwoman of Skate Canada. But when the biggest scandal in figure skating history exploded at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, and when it directly affected Canada's pairs team of Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, Chidlow's performance was, by any measure, stunningly inept.
After Salé and Pelletier had been denied a gold medal that they clearly deserved, the Canadian public wanted someone at Skate Canada to fight for them. They wanted to hear, with conviction and perhaps even some passion, that there had been an injustice, that Salé and Pelletier deserved the gold and that an immediate independent investigation of the judging was necessary.
Instead, a timorous Chidlow defended, astonishingly, not her skaters, but the International Skating Union. She contradicted Canadian officials who demanded an independent inquiry. Television viewers shook their heads, and media at Salt Lake rolled their eyes when she insisted that an outside probe was unnecessary. When the media -- certainly not Skate Canada -- made it impossible for the International Olympic Committee to ignore the scandal, Chidlow continued to defend the ISU, which had pretended for years that judging problems didn't exist.
Four months later, Chidlow had an opportunity to restore some of her credibility. All she needed to do was vote for Canadian Ann Shaw, a widely respected skating official, in her bid for a senior ISU post. Instead, Chidlow cast her ballot for Russian Alexander Gorshkov, who had played a large role during the years in denying a gold medal to the Canadian dance team of Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz. Why? It was widely speculated that Chidlow's vote was a tradeoff for Russian support of Canadian David Dore's election to the ISU council. That's how it works in the world of the ISU. Chidlow's loyalty to that organization makes her a worthy leader among our losers.
IMHO, enough said......smile