Figure skating, like any sport, has had its fair share of issues, but this one quite literally changed the trajectory of the sport. At the 2002 Olympics, a scandal erupted following the pairs competition. Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia placed in first in the short program over Jamie Salé and David Pelletier of Canada; in the free skate, the Canadians skated better, but were just one judge's mark shy of overtaking the Russians for gold.
A controversy quickly swelled around the French judge, and it was alleged that she, at the request of the head of the French skating federation, had agreed to rank the Russians first no matter what in exchange for favorable results for a French ice dance team. As a result of the uproar, the decision was made to award joint gold medals to both teams. In subsequent years, figure skating underwent a massive overhaul from the old 6.0 system to a highly technical one.
Watch a recap of the controversy here.
