Le Gougne was born in Strasbourg.[1] She took up figure skating as a child in France. She competed at a high level and won the bronze medal at the French National Championships twice, in 1975 and 1977.[2] She decided later to become a skating judge, and progressed rapidly up the ranks. By the time she was 25, she had an appointment to judge international figure skating competitions. At the age of 36, she judged at the 1998 Winter Olympics, considered a high honor for a figure skating judge. She was promoted with a referee's appointment, and selected again to judge at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Le Gougne had the reputation of being a competent judge. With the support of the Fédération française des sports de glace (FFSG, the French Skating Federation), she was planning to run for a position on the International Skating Union's Technical Committee at that organization's Congress later in 2002.
2002 Winter Olympics scandal
Le Gougne became known for her role in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal. Although four other judges also placed Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze ahead of the crowd favorites Jamie Salé and David Pelletier in the pairs free skating, Le Gougne was immediately singled out for suspicion by television commentators and other observers. When she returned to the officials' hotel after the competition, she was confronted in the lobby by Sally Stapleford, then the chair of the Technical Committee, who began to question her about her judging of the event. Le Gougne broke down in a tearful outburst that was witnessed by a number of other skating officials who happened to be present in the hotel lobby. She said that she had been pressured by the head of the French federation, Didier Gailhaguet, to put the Russians first as part of a deal to give the ice dancing gold to the French ice dance team. She repeated these statements in the judges' post-event review meeting the following day, but in the following days and weeks, she issued a number of contradictory statements and retractions. She later stated that she had truly believed the Russian pair deserved to win and had been pressured to say the Canadians were better. Both Le Gougne and Gailhaguet were eventually barred from the 2006 Olympics in Turin and suspended from the sport for three years by the International Skating Union which never made any serious investigation into the events.
After the Games, Le Gougne wrote a book about her experiences, Glissades à Salt Lake City (ISBN2-84114-650-2).
In June 2006, she ran for the presidency of the FFSG and of the Federal Council of the FFSG, but was not elected.[4] She remained president of the Eastern League of the FFSG. She also ran for the FFSG presidency in 2010 and lost, receiving only 37 votes (less than 5%).
As of 2018[update], Le Gougne lived in her home town Strasbourg where she is running a shiatsu massage business in the Petite France district.[3][5]
References
^OLYMPICS: THE FRENCH JUDGE; A Score Overwhelms Many Years of Effort, The New York Times, 15 February 2002
^ [French men's, ladies', and pairs' champions] (in French). Français Volants. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008.
^ abTetrault-Farber, Gabrielle (12 January 2018). "Years after Salt Lake City scandal, French judge finds peace" – via www.reuters.com.
^Claude Ancelet nouveau président de la FFSG, Sport.fr, 24 June 2006 (online 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine)
^(in French) On a retrouvé... Marie-Reine Le Gougne, la juge déchue du patinage, Le Monde, 27 April 2015.
marie, reine, gougne, french, pronunciation, maˈʀi, ʁɛn, ləˈɡuɲə, born, 1961, french, figure, skating, official, competitor, central, figure, 2002, winter, olympics, figure, skating, scandal, biography, editle, gougne, born, strasbourg, took, figure, skating, . Marie Reine Le Gougne French pronunciation maˈʀi ʁɛn leˈɡuɲe born 1961 is a French figure skating official and competitor She was a central figure in the 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal Biography EditLe Gougne was born in Strasbourg 1 She took up figure skating as a child in France She competed at a high level and won the bronze medal at the French National Championships twice in 1975 and 1977 2 She decided later to become a skating judge and progressed rapidly up the ranks By the time she was 25 she had an appointment to judge international figure skating competitions At the age of 36 she judged at the 1998 Winter Olympics considered a high honor for a figure skating judge She was promoted with a referee s appointment and selected again to judge at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City Utah Le Gougne had the reputation of being a competent judge With the support of the Federation francaise des sports de glace FFSG the French Skating Federation she was planning to run for a position on the International Skating Union s Technical Committee at that organization s Congress later in 2002 2002 Winter Olympics scandal Edit Le Gougne became known for her role in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal Although four other judges also placed Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze ahead of the crowd favorites Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the pairs free skating Le Gougne was immediately singled out for suspicion by television commentators and other observers When she returned to the officials hotel after the competition she was confronted in the lobby by Sally Stapleford then the chair of the Technical Committee who began to question her about her judging of the event Le Gougne broke down in a tearful outburst that was witnessed by a number of other skating officials who happened to be present in the hotel lobby She said that she had been pressured by the head of the French federation Didier Gailhaguet to put the Russians first as part of a deal to give the ice dancing gold to the French ice dance team She repeated these statements in the judges post event review meeting the following day but in the following days and weeks she issued a number of contradictory statements and retractions She later stated that she had truly believed the Russian pair deserved to win and had been pressured to say the Canadians were better Both Le Gougne and Gailhaguet were eventually barred from the 2006 Olympics in Turin and suspended from the sport for three years by the International Skating Union which never made any serious investigation into the events She has never judged a competition since 3 After the Games Le Gougne wrote a book about her experiences Glissades a Salt Lake City ISBN 2 84114 650 2 In June 2006 she ran for the presidency of the FFSG and of the Federal Council of the FFSG but was not elected 4 She remained president of the Eastern League of the FFSG She also ran for the FFSG presidency in 2010 and lost receiving only 37 votes less than 5 As of 2018 update Le Gougne lived in her home town Strasbourg where she is running a shiatsu massage business in the Petite France district 3 5 References Edit OLYMPICS THE FRENCH JUDGE A Score Overwhelms Many Years of Effort The New York Times 15 February 2002 TITRES FRANCAIS MESSIEURS DAMES COUPLES French men s ladies and pairs champions in French Francais Volants Archived from the original on 20 June 2008 a b Tetrault Farber Gabrielle 12 January 2018 Years after Salt Lake City scandal French judge finds peace via www reuters com Claude Ancelet nouveau president de la FFSG Sport fr 24 June 2006 online Archived 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine in French On a retrouve Marie Reine Le Gougne la juge dechue du patinage Le Monde 27 April 2015 Joy Goodwin The Second Mark ISBN 0 7432 4527 X Jon Jackson On Edge ISBN 1 56025 804 7 Sonia Bianchetti Garbato Cracked Ice ISBN 88 86753 72 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Marie Reine Le Gougne amp oldid 1105202696, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
