As the Winter Olympics were ready to come to a close Sunday, the figure skating controversy just wouldn’t go away.
Neither would doping stories.
The French judge in the middle of the controversy said she was under pressure from Canada, not her country’s federation, before voting for the Russians in the pairs final, the New York Times reported.
Despite the pressure, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, said she voted with her “heart and soul.”
Le Gougne said the lobbying effort was led by senior skating officials from Canada and began in September.
Le Gougne was suspended indefinitely by the International Skating Union for misconduct after she admitted that she had voted to give the Russians, Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, the gold medal under pressure from the French federation.
Michael Chamber, the Canadian Olympic Association president, dismissed the claims, also made last week in an interview with the French sports paper L’Equipe.
Le Gougne said she only blamed the French federation because she lost her ability to fight accusations being made by other skating officials.
In other news:
– Spain’s Johann Muehlegg, a cross-country skier who won three gold medals at the Games, has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, an international skiing official said.
A random urine test Thursday found traces of darbepoetin in the skier, who was born in Germany. Results from a second test were to be revealed later Sunday.
It wasn’t clear whether Muehlegg would be stripped of his gold medals or suspended.
Darbepoetin is used to treat anemia. It boosts the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen to muscles.
Since it is relatively new, it is not on the IOC’s list of banned substances. But it has similar properties to the banned hormone EPO.
– Russia’s Larissa Lazutina, who failed a drug test for the relay, won the women’s 30-kilometer classical cross-country ski race.
Lazutina finished in 1:29.09. Italian veterans won the silver and bronze medals. Gabriella Paruzzi finished in 1:30.57.1, and Stefania Belmondo finished in 1:31.01.6.
The victory brought Lazutina’s career total to 10 medals, including six golds, tying her for the all-time Olympic Winter Games mark in both categories.
– The United States finished one medal short of Germany in the medals race.
The United States finished with 34 compared with Germany’s 35.

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