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Top 10 Judging Robberies That Changed Figure Skating History

Journey of Icons

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Figure skating's most controversial judging scandals span three decades of Olympic history, and Salt Lake City 2002 is where the sport broke wide open. A French judge admits, that she was pressured to hand Olympic gold to the wrong team. Figure skating tears out its entire scoring system in response. That same failure resurfaces in Sochi 2014, Beijing 2022, and Milan 2026.

On Journey of Icons, I count down the ten results that forced figure skating to reckon with its own judges, and the names who paid the price for decisions made behind closed doors: Nancy Kerrigan, Yuna Kim, Kamila Valieva.

What you will see in this video:
The six-point-zero scoring system that let bloc voting and backroom deals decide Olympic gold
A hidden tape recorder, and the scandal that forced the ISU to scrap the system entirely
Nancy Kerrigan, Yuna Kim, and Kamila Valieva, three Olympic careers reshaped by decisions made at the judges' table

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
00:18 - Number Ten, PyeongChang 2018
01:53 - Number Nine, Lillehammer 1994
03:01 - Number Eight, Vancouver 2010
04:22 - Number Seven, Milan 2006
05:51 - Number Six, Nagano 1998
06:59 - Number Five, Sochi 2014
08:09 - Number Four, Beijing 2022
09:40 - Number Three, Lillehammer 1994
11:20 - Number Two, Sochi 2014
12:50 - Number One, Salt Lake City 2002
14:52 - The pattern that never breaks

Sources:
Olympics
Olympics.com
Court of Arbitration for Sport
tas-cas.org
International Skating Union
isu.org
NBC Sports
nbcsports.com
The Washington Post
washingtonpost.com

Journey of Icons tells the stories behind the performances the world remembers.
Contact: journeyoficons.contact@gmail.com

20 Comments

@thejourneyoficons Creator 2 months ago Pinned

Can figure skating ever be completely fair?

@cpcathy 2 months ago

None of the 1994 dance programs were gold worthy, but G&P clearly broke rules by skating very far apart. The judges weren’t thrilled about the professionals returning so they basically penalized Torvill and Dean.

@Blanka1100 2 months ago (edited)

It is always all about Russia, USA, Canada. What about figure skaters from countries like Poland or Lithuania? Nobody cared about Zagorska and Siudek or Drobiazgo and Vanagas being robbed on and off for years because their federations were small and insignificant.

@Dexter348-z5u 2 months ago

I don't think this can ever be fixed. As long as the sport is judged by humans, there will always be some bias.

@silviaq2525 2 months ago

you forgot to include Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz. They were asked at their arrival in Nagano how they felt about coming in 4th. It had already been decided before they even stepped on the ice. Their Riverdance routine was difficult and phenomenal. But of course the Russians had to come in first even though Oksana Gritchuk had an obvious stumble in the compulsary dance. A total scandal, but of course the ISU could never be wrong - unless they were presented with irrefutable proof like in Salt Lake City

@JonnyTainment 2 months ago

Figure skating is a judged sport. Any sport that's judged will never be 100% fair.

@noran7809 2 months ago

Zagitova?? She deserved gold! ❤

@SuperStella1111 2 months ago

Carolina Kostner is the people’s 2014 champion. That podium was upside down.

@RosaAlvaOrtegaMejia 2 months ago

Que me dicen de la rutina hermosa de Peter increíble le robaron su medalla pero dejó huellas en el corazón de muchos y es más visto por miles de personas más que los ganadores de medallas

@RomanahIslam-p2g 2 months ago (edited)

Honestly the alina situation is not a robbery cause in the same way alina used her ability and added extra jumps evgenia could have done the same and alina had amazing jumps

@carmenelize 1 month ago

After the Lilehammer games, Oksana Gritschuk changed her name to Pasha Gritschuk because she did not want to be confused with Oksana Baiul (Olympic singles champion). The crazieness in Russia's sports was there already.

@mortner3669 2 months ago

#1 "Pairs," not PARIS" :-)

@steffjojo8648 1 month ago

La note de la juge française n'a eu aucun effet sur la note globale, car la plus basse note et la plus haute note sont enlevées de la note finale. Il ne connaissent pas les règles. Le jugement du commentaire est biaisé. Amateur

@JamesMcCarthy-vl1hk 2 months ago

Not being able to properly twizzle is not minor. Please.

@charisselinnell-morton4137 2 months ago

Team France gave us something different . They were absolutely magnificent.

@Angel-np8rd 1 month ago

It’s always Russia that’s cheating 🤔

@3l3llala13 2 months ago

I don't agree with handing out a 2nd gold medal to the Canadian pair in 2002. It diminished the accomplishment of the Russian B&S pair and ruined their Olympic moment. Yes, B&S had one visible but non-disruptive mistake, but their program was way more complex with transitions than the Canadian pair's program.

@utpre89 2 months ago (edited)

Oh no, not again this story about the robbery of gold concerning Chock/Bates. No, the result was absolutely ok, because the French are the better skater, yes and their mistake was marginal. To put this result on a scandal level is absurd, its only an american and a canadian view. In Europe and Asia Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron are deserved Olympic winner and this couple is very loved by the crowd. Their partnership is so perfect and their single and common skills are breathtaken. Chock/Bates didnt have this stunning skills, nobody else have it. It is the same story like with Cizeron and his former partner Papadakis, they both also were unbeatable and their skating in their own league. We will see in this season what will happen.

@SuperStella1111 2 months ago

Plushenko was crass. Yagudin deservedly won. His short was a masterpiece.

@oragamiowl5031 2 months ago

Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry deserved the '26 Olympic medal. Their skate was like watching poetry on ice. Any mistake by Cizeron was extremely minor. Chock and Bates were showy and skated well but there was no real connection. They're married in real life but you don't feel it on the ice. There was no scandal at all here.