With Russians Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov solidly in the lead entering Monday's concluding free dance, tonight featured almost as much talk about ice dancing's judges as it did about its competitors. Canadian Tracy Wilson, a former Olympic and world medalist in dance and now a CBS commentator, said the judging of ice dancing has cast a black mark on the discipline. There are issues undermining the credibility of the sport. It's got to be black and white like it is in pairs and singles. It's a sport I love, and it has no credibility right now.
International rules prevent judges from commenting during competitions.
It is less objective than in pairs. In pairs you have lifts, throws, jumps, spins that you can judge. New guidelines introduced here today by the International Skating Union offer judges specific point ranges for deductions for falls in the free and original dance. The guidelines would be included in the official rule book only after a vote by the ISU Congress in Stockholm in June. The ISU proposals come after a season in which Grishuk and Platov suffered falls in three different competitions-yet won each one.