Ice Dancing, Mixed

The competition was expected to be among three couples – France’s Marina Anissina (who was Russian-born) and Gwendal Peizerat, Russia’s Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh, and Italy’s Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. The ice dance event started after the furor that surrounded the judging in the pairs event. The two were related, as the French judge in the pairs, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, had effectively pledged her “vote” in the pairs to the Russians (over the Canadians), in exchange for the Russian judge supporting Anissina and Peizerat in the dance competition. As usual, the judging seemed pre-ordained. Anissina and Peizerat won the compulsory dances with Lobacheva and Averbukh second and the Italians third. They remained in those positions throughout, and the top eight couples were ranked 1-8 by the judges, in the exact same order, in all phases of the competition. The Italians did lose some points when Margaglio fell during the final dance phase.

In the investigation into the pairs judging scandal, a Russian mafia figure, Alimzhan Tokhtakhtunov, who was actually Uzbeki, was implicated as a person of interest, who may have helped fix the Olympic events. It was also revealed that Tokhtakhtunov and Anissina had a close relationship prior to the 2002 Olympics, vacationing and dining together, and speaking frequently on the telephone. Anissina denied any involvement in the controversy and none was ever found.