The ice-dance final was held amid rumours of a judging scandal in Sochi that allegedly conspired against the Canadians – rumours the International Olympic Committee has refused to investigate. French sports publication L'Equipe ran an article last week, citing an unnamed Russian source who said a Russian judge and an American judge had agreed to a pact that would give the Russians the gold medal in the team event, while assuring the Americans of the gold in the ice dance. In both cases, Canada would be shut out of a gold.

It was an allegation that was difficult to pin down, since scoring in figure skating is done without knowing which judge gives which mark. But after the Russians claimed gold in the team event, with a strong performance from its skaters, the conspiracy seemed to gain more credibility after Sunday's ice dance short program. Virtue and Moir skated almost flawlessly, as did Davis and White, yet there was a significant difference in their marks.

The Canadians were awarded 76.33 in the short program. While the Americans, silver medalists in 2010 and the defending world champions, were given 78.89 points.

Davis and White's score was a new world record. Yet no one seemed to be able to explain the difference in the marks.

"That was not correct," Elvis Stojko, the two-time silver medal winning Canadian figure skater, said on Twitter after the short program. "Both teams are so close the result did not reflect that."

The most tangible difference between their two performances appeared to be a small bobble by Virtue and Moir in their Finnstep segment, a quick ballroom-dance type sequence that lasts about 30 seconds, which ice dancers are required to do. The judges moved them down a level and docked them a point.

However, experts on the Finnstep said the Americans also failed to nail it, and the penalty given to the Canadians seemed unfair.

Former Olympic ice dancer Petri Kokko suggested Virtue and Moir were robbed in the short program. And the 47-year-old from Finland should know: He pioneered the Finnstep.

"I don't understand the judging," Kokko tweeted. Virtue and Moir "should be leading in my honest opinion," Kokko said. He said that he hoped the Canadians would win, since the Americans' timing was "off" and "restrained" in the Finnstep. Over all, Kokko added that he thought the Americans didn't have "crispness and character."

The Canadians were awarded a level 3 for their Finnstep sequence, out of a possible 4, while the Americans got full credit for a level 4. Virtue and Moir were given a level 3 on their Finnstep two other times this season, once at Skate Canada in Saint John in October, and again at a competition in Paris a month later.

Read the full article at The Globe And Mail!

Watch Tim Micallef voice his opinion on the matter!