Jamie Salé and David Pelletier will get their gold medals soon, but Canada's Olympic celebrities still want to learn the truth about the judging scandal that originally stuck them with silver.
"We hope that the inquiries don't stop here, and that they keep going," Mr. Pelletier said yesterday, hours after senior Olympic and skating officials announced the awarding of two sets of gold medals for the pairs figure-skating competition: one for the Canadians and one for the original winners, Elena Berezhnaia and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia.
The decision was announced at a late-morning news conference by Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, and Ottavio Cinquanta, president of the International Skating Union.
Mr. Cinquanta said the ISU has suspended French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and discarded the vote she cast for the Russian pair. He also said the ISU will continue its investigation into the scandal, which was exposed by The Globe and Mail this week.
Craig Fenech, Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier's agent, said his clients are eager to help the probe.
"We will participate, assist and nudge to make sure that this is the beginning and not the end," Mr. Fenech said. "I would like to think this won't be laid on one scapegoat, the French judge. I hope serious reforms will come about because of this."
The scandal was tied to vote-swapping between judges involved in the pairs competition and the dance event, which began last night. Sources told The Globe that several judges in both competitions and other ISU officials were involved in the fix.
Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier, who have become international celebrities because of the scandal, found out only 30 minutes before yesterday's IOC-ISU news conference that they will receive gold medals.
"We had no idea what was going on," Mr. Pelletier said. "I've seen in the past a mistake done by a judge in synchronized swimming that should have been fixed in five minutes and it took a year," he said, referring to Canadian synchronized swimmer Sylvie Fréchette, who was robbed of a gold medal in 1992 because a judge incorrectly typed a score. Ms. Fréchette was later granted a gold medal in a gesture similar to yesterday's.
"I was kind of expecting this to go on and on," Mr. Pelletier said. "When Craig said it might be fixed today, I was quite surprised."
Ms. Salé, of Red Deer, Alta., and Mr. Pelletier, of Sayabec, Que., watched the IOC-ISU news conference in Mr. Fenech's hotel room. Chaos erupted when the golden news was delivered.
"All hell broke out in the room," Mr. Fenech said. "I heard four different people speaking in different languages on their cellphones."
The Canadians made a short appearance on the CBC before heading to their own news conference, where they charmed a large crowd with wisecracks and lighthearted banter.
"We do hope we get a bronze too," Mr. Pelletier said, "so we can get the entire collection."
The decision was greeted with wide enthusiasm, including endorsements from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and U.S. President George W. Bush.
But not everybody agreed. Russian sports officials were furious, and even some North American sports commentators, while sympathetic to the Canadians' plight, felt the value of gold had fallen.
"This is an unprecedented decision that turned out to be a result of pressure by the North American press, and turned out in favour of the fanatically loyal" fans, Valentin Piseyev, president of the Russian skating federation told Russia's NTV television.
Even Mr. Pelletier and Ms. Salé seemed mildly guilty about upstaging the Games. They have become household names throughout the world this week, perhaps more famous than the many athletes who have won gold in the arenas and on the ski hills.
"We feel not guilty but a little bit sad that the other athletes in the world are not getting the spotlight they deserve for the accomplishments they are doing," Mr. Pelletier said. "But it's out of our control, what's going on. We're happy that justice was done."
Ms. Salé and Mr. Pelletier both expressed sympathy for the Russian pair.
"It doesn't take anything away from Elena and Anton," Mr. Pelletier said. "This is not something against them. It is something against the system."
Ms. Salé added: "We didn't come to the Olympics to have this happen. It's very overwhelming for us, and we are tired. We are exhausted. We are constantly having people come up to us and want to talk to us about it."
Meanwhile, Mr. Sikharulidze told The Associated Press that he has lost 10 pounds and endured four sleepless nights since the competition on Monday.
"I think people must understand it is not our fault or our mistakes," he said. "I want people to apologize and say we are good skaters and good guys.
"We are not bad guys. We never talked to judges. I don't have enough money to buy judges."