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International Skating Union to Investigate Controversial Olympic Result VOA News 12 Feb 2002 23:27 UTC 
The international body that oversees figure skating will investigate the judging at Monday's controversial Olympic pairs figure skating competition that pitted Russia against Canada for the gold medal.
Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the gold over Canadian duo Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, shocking television commentators and many in the crowd. Boos rained down from the crowd when the results were announced.
The Russian duo skated beautifully during their routine, entitled "Meditation," but made several clear technical mistakes. The Canadians "Love Story" routine was seen as flawless but perhaps less artistically pleasing.
The International Skating Union says it is doing an "internal assessment" to see if judges at the event followed proper rules and procedures.
Canada's skating association called for the investigation Tuesday and said it may launch its own probe.
Five of the nine judges for the Monday's event favored the Russians, with four of the pro-Russian votes coming from communist or former Soviet Bloc nations - Russia, Poland, Ukraine and China. France cast the fifth vote that gave the Russians the gold.
Soviet and Russian pairs have won 11 straight gold medals in pairs figure skating, dating back to 1964.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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