Famous American journalist Monica Friedlander has started collecting signatures for a petition to the President of the International Skating Union (ISU) Ottavio Cinquanta and President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge calling to award the gold medal of the World Figure Skating Championship to Kazakhstan's Denis Ten, R-Sport writes. 19-y.o. Ten was second after the short program and won the free skating finals with 174.92 points. His total points were 266.48 and put him in the second place overall, only a little over 1 point away from the gold. At the end of the tournament many experts criticized the judges for giving high scores to the Canadian, despite of his two falls and several grave mistakes in the free program. "We believe that predetermined judging robbed a very talented young skater of the gold medal he earned. Denis Ten — the first skater from Kazakhstan to ever break into the ranks of elite skaters — delivered the program of his life on March 15, 2013. His program was not just technically difficult and flawless, but artistically exquisite as well. His scores were high and he won the long program, but by a margin so small that it allowed Patrick Chan, a perennial judges’ favorite, to win the gold yet again after skating a program marred by four major mistakes, including two falls. "Any other skater would not have even been within striking distance of the podium with such a skate. Yet the judges deemed Chan's skate to be almost as good as Ten’s, and based on the combined long and short program score, awarded him the gold medal. In fact, Chan's program was also marked higher than that of bronze medalist Javier Fernandez, whose historic achievement (first Spanish skater to medal at Worlds) was overshadowed by the scandal ranging across the world," the petition writes. The authors of the petition also cite the expert opinions about undeserved victory of Chan, including the statements of the Olympic champion Yevgeni Plushenko and famous American figure skaters Todd Eldredge and Johnny Weir. "Denis Ten won that world championship. Patrick Chan didn't win. His federation did!" Olympic Chamion Evgeni Plushenko whote on Twitter right after the event. "No disrespect to Patrick but a skater shouldn't be able to fall twice & get such high PCS," World Champion Todd Eldredge wrote on Twitter. “This judging is ridiculous and the only reason people buy it is because it's in North America. Imagine the outcry if it were Russia,” Johnny Weir, three time U.S. National Champion, wrote on Twitter. "Glitzy gala cannot hide figure skating warts," Steve Keating from Reuters News wrote. “Reputation still reigns supreme. The judges still make decisions based on what they hoped to see, not on what actually happened," Christine Brennan from USA Today wrote. "World champ's apology is perfect ending to flawed skate,” USA Today wrote. “Smell of Reputation Judging Lingers Over Skate World,” Chicago Tribune title rang. Very sadly, Denis Ten is not the only victim of this kind of judging. Last year Patrick Chan similarly skated a flawed program yet outscored Daisuke Takahashi’s to win the gold. The habit of scoring Chan dozens of points higher than he deserves and anyone expects has resulted in the coining of a new word commonly used in skating: Chanflation," the author of the petition writes.
Famous American journalist Monica Friedlander has started collecting signatures for a petition to the President of the International Skating Union (ISU) Ottavio Cinquanta and President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge calling to award the gold medal of the World Figure Skating Championship to Kazakhstan's Denis Ten, R-Sport writes.
19-y.o. Ten was second after the short program and won the free skating finals with 174.92 points. His total points were 266.48 and put him in the second place overall, only a little over 1 point away from the gold. At the end of the tournament many experts criticized the judges for giving high scores to the Canadian, despite of his two falls and several grave mistakes in the free program.
"We believe that predetermined judging robbed a very talented young skater of the gold medal he earned. Denis Ten — the first skater from Kazakhstan to ever break into the ranks of elite skaters — delivered the program of his life on March 15, 2013. His program was not just technically difficult and flawless, but artistically exquisite as well. His scores were high and he won the long program, but by a margin so small that it allowed Patrick Chan, a perennial judges’ favorite, to win the gold yet again after skating a program marred by four major mistakes, including two falls.
"Any other skater would not have even been within striking distance of the podium with such a skate. Yet the judges deemed Chan's skate to be almost as good as Ten’s, and based on the combined long and short program score, awarded him the gold medal. In fact, Chan's program was also marked higher than that of bronze medalist Javier Fernandez, whose historic achievement (first Spanish skater to medal at Worlds) was overshadowed by the scandal ranging across the world," the petition writes.
The authors of the petition also cite the expert opinions about undeserved victory of Chan, including the statements of the Olympic champion Yevgeni Plushenko and famous American figure skaters Todd Eldredge and Johnny Weir.
"Denis Ten won that world championship. Patrick Chan didn't win. His federation did!" Olympic Chamion Evgeni Plushenko whote on Twitter right after the event.
"No disrespect to Patrick but a skater shouldn't be able to fall twice & get such high PCS," World Champion Todd Eldredge wrote on Twitter.
“This judging is ridiculous and the only reason people buy it is because it's in North America. Imagine the outcry if it were Russia,” Johnny Weir, three time U.S. National Champion, wrote on Twitter.
"Glitzy gala cannot hide figure skating warts," Steve Keating from Reuters News wrote.
“Reputation still reigns supreme. The judges still make decisions based on what they hoped to see, not on what actually happened," Christine Brennan from USA Today wrote.
"World champ's apology is perfect ending to flawed skate,” USA Today wrote.
“Smell of Reputation Judging Lingers Over Skate World,” Chicago Tribune title rang.
Very sadly, Denis Ten is not the only victim of this kind of judging. Last year Patrick Chan similarly skated a flawed program yet outscored Daisuke Takahashi’s to win the gold. The habit of scoring Chan dozens of points higher than he deserves and anyone expects has resulted in the coining of a new word commonly used in skating: Chanflation," the author of the petition writes.