CHICAGO -- Figure skating's Olympic judging scandal came to a legal end Thursday, oddly leaving every involved party a loser.
The decision by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne to drop her appeal of a three-year suspension by the International Skating Union for improper behavior was the final act in a pairs skating soap opera that began Feb. 11 at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Earlier this month French Ice Sports Federation President Didier Gailhaguet decided not to appeal his three-year suspension for allegedly ordering Le Gougne to judge in a certain way.
Both decisions were made because the French federation, in a general financial bind, refused to bear the costs of the appeals.
