Originally, the Russian pair of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were awarded gold medals despite what many considered to be their lackluster performance. Shortly thereafter, there were whispers and accusations of "a fix". After accusations flew, the French judge tearfully confessed that she had cut a deal with the Russian judge to give an inflated winning score to the Russians in return for high scoring for French skaters in another competition. A furor broke out and the French government quickly recalled their judge back home. A few days later, while in France, the judge recanted her story and insisted she had simply fabricated the whole story and just thought the Russians were better than the Canadians (whom everyone else thought had won). One week after the competition had been concluded, the Olympics committee awarded gold medals to the Russians as well as the Canadian skaters David Pelletier and Jamie Sale.
