Sale, Jamie, and Pelletier, David

▪ 2003

      The ever-controversial world of figure-skating judging became even more so during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. When Canadian pairs skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier skated a technically and emotionally compelling and nearly flawless long-program routine to the theme music from the movie Love Story, a gold medal seemed a certainty. When the scores were posted, however, their scores for presentation were lower than those of the Russian pair, Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, despite errors by the Russians. Moreover, five of the nine judges had awarded first-place ordinals to the Russians, so the Canadians would get only a silver medal. The audience was outraged, and Salé and Pelletier were stunned and mystified. Soon, though, the news media were abuzz with the rumour that the French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, had been pressured to vote for the Russians by the president of the French skating federation, Didier Gailhaguet, in a vote-swapping arrangement designed to guarantee a gold medal for the French ice dancers. After five days of investigation and speculation, the decision was made to declare a tie, and Salé and Pelletier were awarded a second set of gold medals in a ceremony on February 17.

      Salé was born on April 21, 1977, in Calgary, Alta., and grew up north of there in Red Deer. She began skating when she was three years old, began training in both skating and gymnastics at age five, and by age seven had chosen to concentrate on skating. Teamed with Jason Turner, she competed in the 1994 Olympics, with a 12th-place finish, and later that year in the world championships, where they finished 16th. They ended their partnership that summer, and Salé embarked on a singles career. She and Pelletier first considered working together in 1996, but it was not until 1998 that they paired up. Pelletier was born on Nov. 22, 1974, in Sayabec, Que. His mother encouraged him and his two brothers to follow her skating dream, and at age 15—realizing he did not have much hope of becoming an elite hockey player and also wanting to please his mother—he chose to concentrate on figure skating. He competed with three other partners before teaming up with Salé.

      Salé and Pelletier found success almost immediately, winning bronze medals in Grand Prix events their first season together and placing second in 1999's Canadian championships. The year 2000 saw them win a number of gold medals, including the Canadian championship, and in 2001 they took gold at all their events, including the world championships. The flurry of events following the 2002 Olympics kept Salé and Pelletier from participating in the world championships the following month, and in late April they announced that they were retiring from amateur skating and joining the professional ranks. Pelletier also planned to play in a recreational hockey league.

Barbara Whitney

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