Indications of what would happen at the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City emerged early into the site bidding process. Questions of who gave what gifts to which International Olympics Committee (IOC) Commissioner dominated news headlines and IOC investigations for at least a year after the site for the 2002 Games was chosen. Gifts, bribes, improper contributions: These were all in the mix of things that threatened to taint the much-exalted "spirit of the Olympics".
The next indication that things are not always as they seem at the Olympics occurred during the press coverage of the opening ceremonies. Viewers on the US west coast were misled by the NBC network scroll bar that said the coverage was "live". In fact the coverage was (1) not live; and (2) condensed and reshuffled to fill the same time bloc. Viewers whose satellite or cable service gave them access to the CBC coverage (which was live) very quickly figured out NBC wasn't exactly playing it straight. While CBC viewers saw the ceremony live and in its entirety, NBC viewers saw filler footage of traffic jams in downtown Salt Lake City.
As that controversy dwindled away and it looked as if the actual Games would be held with no future glitches, the figure skating competition began. This event brought to light more dishonesty and dirty dealings - this time for the sake of preserving tradition. That tradition was that Russia has won the gold medal in figure skating at every Olympics since 1964. Pressure of some sort was apparently placed on the French judge to ensure that tradition remained although the Canadian team obviously performed better on the ice. The alleged deal was that if Russia won the figure skating competition, France would win the ice dancing competition.
The routines the Russian and Canadian figure skaters performed were quite different. The Russians performed a very classical and complex routine, but one of the skaters stumbled at least twice. The Canadian team performed a much simpler routine, but they executed it flawlessly. Which of these teams should receive the higher score? It is purely a matter of subjective judgment. Given the admission of the French judge, stumbling during a complex routine should be less costly in respect of points earned than flawlessly performing a simple routine.
