LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Marie-Reine Le Gougne's love for figure skating will not stop her from attacking a sport she now calls "prejudiced ... even corrupt."

Sale and Pelletier retire

TORONTO -- There will be no more judging controversies or Olympic scandals for Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The Canadian pairs team, awarded duplicate gold medals after the judging scandal in Salt Lake City, announced their retirement from amateur skating Tuesday. "We're going to miss it and that's obvious," Sale said in a conference call from Edmonton, Alberta. "But we're so happy with our career, and we left with a good skate. We left on a positive note. "That's really why -- we left on a positive note." The couple's announcement came just hours after the French judge at the center of the Olympic scandal was suspended for three years by the International Skating Union and barred from the 2006 Winter Games. "That didn't really have any influence at all," said Pelletier, who said he and Sale talked about retiring even before the Olympics. Sale and Pelletier initially finished second to Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze in a 5-4 judging split in Salt Lake City, despite an obvious technical error by the Russians. But Sale and Pelletier also were awarded gold medals after French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said she was pressured "to vote a certain way" by her federation president, Didier Gailhaguet.

The International Skating Union suspended the French judge for three years plus the 2006 Olympics, ruling she threw her vote to the Russian pair at the expense of the Canadians at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

French federation chief Didier Gailhaguet received the same penalty Tuesday, with the council saying he pressured Le Gougne to favor the Russians, supposedly in return for a later favor.

The suspensions begin immediately and last until April 30, 2005. They cover the annual world championships, European championships, Grand Prix events and exhibitions.

An embittered Le Gougne intends to expose corruption at the ISU.

"Now it's clear, I will denounce everything I know. Enough is enough," she said. "I am a wounded and angry woman.

"They dragged me through the mud, robbed me of my honor and dignity, they attacked me as a woman. What can happen to me? I have nothing left to lose anyway.

"I will make revelations, explain how it works," she said, calling the ISU technical committee that oversees judging "extremely prejudiced and dictatorial .... even corrupt."

"I'm not worried," ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

He said the ruling would turn out to be good for the sport.

"The ISU is sending a message saying to athletes that the international federation is doing its utmost to protect them," he said.

ISU technical committee chairwoman Sally Stapleford called Le Gougne's accusations "absolute nonsense. I have nothing to tremble about."

Gailhaguet said he would support Le Gougne.

"We will organize ourselves, think and prepare," he said. "The next four years in skating will be interesting."

Gailhaguet and Le Gougne did not elaborate on their accusations, insisting they would consult lawyers first.

Some thought Le Gougne deserved a lifetime ban.

"An Olympic gold medal is a very valuable object," said Jon Jackson, a U.S. attorney and skating judge who testified against Le Gougne. "A three-year sentence is a very light sentence. ... She fixed an Olympic Games."

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet said they would appeal, first to an ISU appeals body, and then before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, if necessary.

"As far as the ISU is concerned, this case is over," Cinquanta said Wednesday.

The council cited Le Gougne on two counts: voting for the Russian pair on Gailhaguet's orders, and not reporting Gailhaguet to the ISU for his pressure tactics.

Le Gougne denies she threw her vote to Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze at the expense of Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the Olympic pairs. She contends she had to resist "Canadian lobbying" to vote in good conscience.

"I lived through true hell for 2½ months, and now I want to clear my honor," she said.

Despite everything, Le Gougne maintains she was the best judge at the pairs competition.

"I proved during this event that I was the best judge. It clearly showed," arguing none of the other nine judges came as close to placing the finalists in the right order.

The ISU, however, ruled Tuesday she was guilty of "misconduct" by giving first place to the Russians.

Skate Canada praised the ISU's decisions, calling it "a great day for international figure skating and for skaters."

The U.S. Figure Skating Association said "serious and permanent international judging reforms (should) be instituted immediately to ensure that this situation does not happen in the future."

The ISU will discuss judging changes at its June meeting in Kyoto, Japan.

Le Gougne has no plans to leave the sport that has been part of her life since she was a child. She rose to national fame as a skater and quickly made a name for herself as a judge, just as Gailhaguet was rising through the administrative ranks.

"I passionately love this sport and will continue to love it despite all that happened," she said.