Skating results under threat

Figure skating results from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics could be scrapped because of an alleged attempt to fix the outcome. "I'm not ruling anything out," said IOC President Jacques Rogge - when asked about the arrest Thursday of an alleged Russian mobster accused of vote-rigging.

NEWS: French deny all in Skategate

U.S. Federal prosecutors accuse 53-year old Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov with attempting to fix the pairs and ice dance competitions. His lawyer denies all, as do suspended French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne and French skating federation president Didier Gailhaguet.

Gailhaguet admits he was approached by Tokhtakhounov in the spring of 2000 to fund a Paris ice hockey team, but he said that having checked out the Russian's background, "no follow-up was given to this exchange and no contacts were kept up."

The man known as "Little Taiwanese" was found out as part of a wider investigation into money laundering out of Russia. Investigators say they fell upon a taped telephone conversation where a Russian-born French skater - presumably ice dancing gold medallist Marina Anissina - thanked him for his part in helping her win. Prosecutors say he and a second man alleged to be part of the Russian mafia might have contacted as many as six judges.

The New York Times reports that in a sport where most athletes see little of the huge television and endorsement money, some officials privately wonder if skating shouldn't be temporarily suspended from the Olympics until an investigation reveals all.

International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta said that at no time had organized crime links been mentioned in his investigation of Le Gougne and Gailhaguet. He's promised to fully cooperate with Italian and U.S. investigators.

SPORT'S EXISTENCE IN QUESTION

As for the cancellation of medals and even the suspension of the sport, the International Olympic Committee's disciplinary chief, Thomas Bach has asked the FBI to keep him updated on their investigation. He told the German news agency SID that "the sport's credibility and its existence is in question."