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Olympics should be about fair play
University Chronicle
EDITORIAL BOARD
The issue: Once again, there was misconduct amongst judges at the Olympic games.
What we think: No matter where the judges come from or what they are judging, they should remember the goal of the Olympic Movement. They should remember the athletes.
The sixth fundamental principle in the Olympic Charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) states the following: "The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."
This principle was established by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894. In a nutshell, the principle means that the purpose of the Olympic games is to encourage peace between people of different nationalities and cultures. It is a chance for the world's best athletes to compete with one another in a fair environment. It is meant as a reason for people all over the world to work together for a moment, even if it is brief.
Perhaps it took an idealist to think that people of different nations could, for any period of time, forget their differences. Against the wishes of the IOC's founders, politics have played into the Olympics for years. At the world championships three years ago, two judges from Russia and Ukraine were suspended for misconduct. The most recent example came only last Monday when Canadian pair figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier finished second to Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia, losing 5-4 in the pairs free skate.
Although skating already had a long history of questionable decisions, this most recent one was bigger than any other. French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne admitted she had been pressured to judge in favor of the Russians in exchange for a vote for the French pair in the ice dance competition.
To remedy the situation, at least for the athletes, the IOC awarded a second gold medal to Sale and Pelletier making them co-champions alongside Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze Sunday night.
The judges, of all people, should remember the rules of the games.
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