1 of 7 | Silver medalists, Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and U.S. duo, gold medalists, Meryl Davis and Charlie White (L), embrace each other with other team members including with their common coach former figure skater Marina Zoueva of Russia at the end of the flower ceremony of the figure skating: ice dance during the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 17, 2014. UPI/Maya Vidon-White |
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SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Accusations from fans on social media and the Canadian press say that Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were "robbed" of the gold medal in ice dancing.
The accusations started as soon as the scores flashed on the screen in the Iceberg Skating Palace. Twitter filled up with tweets saying the two were "robbed" and criticizing the judging. Canadian writer Rosie Dimanno suggested that the competition was fixed for a Davis and White win. Her reasoning was that the Games sought to give the gold to Russia for pair skating and gold to the U.S. for ice dancing.
"The villainy of ice dancing knows no bounds," wrote DiManno in the Toronto Star. "If the fix is not in against Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, then I'm the Princess of Wales."
Fellow Canadian ice dancer Kaitlyn Weaver also believes the games were unfairly judged. "For me Tessa and Scott have rewritten the rules of ice dance. They are the best team since [Jayne] Torvill and [Christopher] Dean," Weaver said in an interview. "[The Canadians] have created it into something more exciting. It is a little bit more acrobatic, it is more dangerous in a way, and yet all the while they are maintaining this dance quality and chemistry and romanticism."
Marina Zoueva, coach to Davis and White as well as Virtue and Moir said she thought the Canadians skated nearly flawlessly despite being marked down on a number of elements.
Davis and White have their defenders as well. "They changed this sport forever," Italian ice dancer Luca Lanotte said. "They push this sport forward. They changed everything. [Charlie] is more of an athlete. He is very strong."
The two pairs now both have one silver and one gold medal as the Canadians won the gold in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
[Yahoo]
