Since the judging system has changed after the controversial Olympics-2002, the subjectivity in this sport has not diminished. The bias of the referees is especially striking when the dancers perform, whose rare glitches and failures are rare. For example, what is the difficulty level (first or fourth) to evaluate support if there are no clear criteria? Shaky designs, invented by athletes and coaches, are sometimes kept on parole. What to consider as aerobatics: a grip with one hand or also with your leg, straight or bent limbs, in a vertical or horizontal plane? All this creates a lot of room for a run in the estimates.
In one of the interviews, Evgeni Platov, who became Oksana Grischuk, two-time Olympic champion (in the 94th and 98th years), spoke about the secrets of the backstage. According to him, figure skating has turned into a corrupt look, which just right can be compared with professional boxing. Each judge works for his country, only anonymously. Coaches are not allowed to seek clarification from ISU representatives. This is the prerogative of only the presidents of national federations. And it is not known whether the claims will be sorted out. In addition, almost direct text says that representatives of the United States are obligatory on the podium.
In 2005, the Americans Tanit Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, having won silver in the “world”, for the first time in 20 years brought their country a medal in this discipline of figure skating. On the eve of the Turin Games, Belbin, a native of Canada, was allowed to play for the Stars and Stripes. In Italy, the newly-born American, along with her partner, got the first award in the Olympic history of ice dancing, dating back to 1976, for the States. For a superpower that did not have a dance tradition, it was a great success.
Tanit and Belbin are very nice young people and good athletes. However, to tell you the truth, they were dragged everywhere by the ears on a pedestal. For the World Cup in Tokyo, the couple did not prepare any special innovations, except that the partner changed her hair color, turning into a brunette.
After the obligatory dance, rumba, US skaters took fifth place. And the referees began to clear their way: for the original Belbin - Agosto dance, they received the second sum of points and moved to the third line. Although there were flaws: Benjamin made a mistake when performing twizzles, the track in a circle was made with blots.
The aggressive tango of Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin looked no worse. The Russians managed to convey the nature of the music, riding at high speed, with interesting transitions. Nevertheless, the arbitrators pushed them from third to fourth and made it clear: get ready for the worst.
At each appearance on the ice of the silver medalists of the European Championship, there was no offense for the state. One can only guess what feelings Oksana experienced, having lost her father a few weeks ago. This grief did not affect the mood of the athlete from Odintsov: extremely collected, motivated, if necessary - mischievous. It is impossible in another way when you embark on the dashing Polovtsian Dances with the khan Shabalin. The wonderful free dance of the Russians, wonderful costumes (which is worth at least a find with a fox tail) deserved more than the final fifth place. But in front of the wards of Alexei Gorshkov and Sergey Petukhov, who quickly burst into the elite this season, the judges lowered the barrier.
It is all the more surprising that the green light was given to the skaters, hitherto not enjoying the favor of the referees. We are talking about Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavijsky, who became two-time world champions in Japan. The Bulgarians were worthy of the three winners at the last Olympics, and at countless other tournaments, where plenipotentiaries of a weak federation were constantly pinched. Many times veterans tried to leave. The only thing that kept them from this decision was the desire to please the audience, the Bulgarian fans who idolize them. By the way, Denkova - Stavii in Japan has a lot of fans. This is evidenced by the warm welcome not only at the current “world”, but also at the annual NHK Trophee Grand Prix. Arbitrary rental under the "Requiem" - goosebumps - was truly champion.
The composition of Marie-France Dubreux and Patrice Lauzon “At last”, which means “Finally,” did not prophesy success. Canadians were not able to get the gold of the championship of the planet, and they already became silver medalists, last year in Calgary.
In general, the leading dance couples told dissimilar stories of the relationship between a man and a woman - life-affirming and tragic, which happened today and many years ago. It was delicious. It is only a pity that the bright and colorful performance was overshadowed by judicial bias.
Olga GONCHAROVA