by Lady Liberty
04/15/2003

From March 24 to March 29, I was privileged to attend the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships in Washington DC. Amidst the extraordinary grace and beauty of the world class skaters, it was surprisingly easy to forget from time to time that the world outside was at war. But when political battle lines were drawn inside the arena, it was impossible for me not to compare the war within from the war without.

It goes without saying, of course, that a war in which men and women bleed and die is far more important than one in which athletes may or may not be judged unfairly. None-the-less, there is an interesting parallel, and one which, once drawn, may prove instructive at least as an illustration for your contemplation.

As the first shots of Operation Iraqi Freedom may be said to have been fired on September 11, 2001, so were the overt hostilities in the figure skating world first escalated in Salt Lake City, Utah at the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was then that Canadian pairs skaters were ranked a close second to a Russian couple as they entered the final stage of competition. During the deciding event, the Russians made a significant and very visible mistake. The Canadians, on the other hand, enjoyed the skate of their lives. The audience in the arena and in front of televisions worldwide all knew they'd seen the Canadians upset the favored Russians. The only people who felt differently were the judges, and the gold medal went to the Russian pair.

Though the judging in figure skating had long been thought by many to be more political and less objective than it should be (comparisons with the inspection process in Iraq don't need to be mentioned here, do they?), for the first time the results were so blatantly unreasonable that skating officials had to take action to still the very loud and public outcry. After investigating, it was discovered that a French judge had made a deal to vote for the Russian pairs skaters in exchange for a vote on behalf of the French ice dancing couple (take note of the fact it's the French and the Russians who've proved to be the stumbling block here and consider again the situation in Iraq). In the end, the Canadian skaters were awarded the gold they deserved, the Russian skaters kept the gold they didn't, and the French dancers won the gold in their discipline so convincingly it was offensive to even consider that someone made a deal for any votes on their behalf.

Much as Saddam Hussein had been warned for years that he had to clean up his act, the International Skating Union has fielded complaints about judging irregularities. Under threat of war, Saddam finally made some concessions and permitted UN inspectors to return to Iraq. And it was under threat to the credibility of figure skating as a sport that Ottavio Cinquanta (president of the ISU) developed and enacted a temporary system of judging that supposedly eliminates deal making and dishonestly among skating competition judges. Unfortunately, much as Saddam's "cooperation" with inspectors proved to be merely another round in the shell game he's played for years, Cinquanta's judging system is largely a pretense, and an unpopular one to boot.

A USA Today editorial printed during the Championships called Cinquanta the most reviled figure in sports, and the crowd present for the World Figure Skating Championships in Washington's MCI Center seemed to agree. Every time Cinquanta was introduced, he was roundly jeered. And each time the new judging system was briefly described, it, too, received loud boos from fans. Under the temporary system (the system will supposedly be replaced at some point by another, currently under development), all of the judges on a given panel judge each performance. Although all of the marks are then displayed in ascending order, only some of the marks are randomly selected to be considered. Even the judges are not supposed to know which marks count. Cinquanta et al say that, if the judges don't know which marks will matter, it will be fruitless to engage in any collusion with other judges. Critics say the anonymity of the system eradicates any possible accountability for bad judging (sort of like Saddam's game of hide-and-seek with weapons not permitted under UN sanctions eliminated any real accountability for his flaunting of the mandates up until now). Reviews of judging will be conducted regularly and more frequently, but punishments for misconduct have historically been mild or virtually non-existent. In fact, two judges who were previously involved in high-level scandals endured only brief suspensions and were back judging this year's World Championships, much to the very vocal displeasure of some in the audience (and at least reminiscent of the utter lack of repercussions for Saddam when violations of UN agreements have been found).

The plans to destroy weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (once their presence could not longer be denied) were proposed largely by the very people in need of monitoring, which resulted in loopholes large enough to shoot a Scud through. In the same manner, failure to adhere to the rules of judging in figure skating resulted, until very recently, in no more than the equivalent of the diplomatic slap on the wrist reserved for Saddam. Appeasement advocates in connection with the war with Iraq suggest the system has been working, albeit not flawlessly, and they want diplomatic efforts to continue in place of a shooting war. Those in favor of stronger measures say that Saddam has got to go because the danger will remain until the Iraqi leadership is deposed. There are some in the figure skating world that feel much the same about Ottavio Cinquanta (it may be petty to say so, but it's irresistible to point out that Mr. Cinquanta shares the olive complexion, rounded jaw line, and a dark cap of thick hair with, well, you know who).

President George W. Bush, even prior to any war effort, built a coalition of countries who joined in a "comply or else" mandate for Saddam. The coalition did not, and still does not, consist of every country in the world, but it does boast some powerful members. Now a group of figure skating luminaries has elected to form its own coalition to challenge Cinquanta and the ISU. The World Skating Federation made its debut in a news conference (http://www.iht.com/articles/91202.html) during the World Figure Skating Championships. It's an entity formed by a few former ISU officials, and boasts such backers as former champions and beloved skating personalities Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt, and Dick Button. The stated goals of the WSF are to replace the ISU, clean up the judging system, and to institute severe punishments for judges who cheat, including permanent bans. (Cinquanta claims he has wanted to improve the system for some time, but that it was not his job to do so. It was, he says, one for a technical committee which he now says failed to do the job prior to the Salt Lake City fiasco. Meanwhile, Saddam says all of the banned missiles were destroyed as the UN demanded, except for the ones he destroyed a few weeks ago when inspectors discovered them, and those he's firing at coalition forces now.) Cinquanta refused to comment on the announcement of the formation of the WSF to Washington Post reporters saying only that he's not concerned and that it's "too early" to make any statement.

Meanwhile, as the skating competition entered its fifth day, traffic in downtown Washington DC was snarled Friday morning after anti-war protestors staged a "die in" in the middle of Constitution Avenue. Commuters had to be rerouted until police could handcuff and drag participants out of the road. On Friday afternoon, a group calling itself Skate Fair  staged a protest  of its own on the sidewalk in front of the MCI Center to express its objections to the secretive nature of the judging system now in use for figure skating.

I readily grant that there's no comparison between the battle within the skating community and the war in Iraq where magnitude and humanity is concerned (I even admit that Cinquanta, for all his apparent arrogance, is entirely benign next to the atrocities commanded and engineered by Saddam). But the political mindset and many uncanny similarities of the two situations demanded notice.

It's to be hoped that there's another similarity as well, and that is this: while politicians wrangle, the people have little complaint with each other. Humanitarian aid is streaming into Iraq as you read this essay. And during the skating championships, applause was liberally handed out to athletes from both countries which agreed and disagreed with US policy in the Middle East. (China, which is steadfastly opposed to the war in Iraq, is home to this year's world champion pairs skaters. The two won in a free skate performance that was a testament to courage in the face of adversity, and which was literally breathtaking in its perfection. The crowd was on its feet, shouting and cheering loudly and non-stop, a full thirty seconds before the program ended.) It's also true that, in both circumstances, the problem is obvious and the solution simple. It's the execution of corrective measures that are proving to be the sticking point.

The 2003 World Figure Skating Championships are over now, but the battle over judging has just begun. And the war in Iraq rages on, with little hope for a quick and peaceful resolution. Yet despite everything going on both inside and outside the MCI Center, there was one bright and shining moment for me where nothing mattered but that moment itself. Figure skating fans will understand and forgive me for the lapse when I explain how everything receded into the distance for a few seconds: I became just another rapt fan, thrilled to shake the hand of Elvis Stojko.

Lady Liberty
March 11, 2003