The 2002 Olympics did not put a spotlight only on Salt Lake City and the games — it also put figure skating corruption front and center. This was considered an open secret for years, subject to jokes, but the blatant misjudging of the pairs competition finally uncovered the extent to which countries and individuals went to to fix the competitions. “Meddling” is a four-part series streaming on Peacock that delves into the athletes, games and the scandal.

The two favorite pairs teams were from Canada and Russia. The gold medal was up for grabs in SLC. Going into the final long program, the Russian pair, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharuledze,  held a slight lead over Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada.

After a small mistake by the Russians, and a perfect program by the Canadians, it was clear the Canadians were going to take home the gold medal. But the French judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne, voted with the Eastern block to declare the Russians the winners. It was unthinkable to anyone who had witnessed the event.

When Le Gougne admitted she was leaned on to vote for the Russians, everything changed. After years going on in darkness, someone went on the record admitting that judges conspired to give the gold to one pair in return for a favorable vote in another event.

This scandal rocked the Olympics, Salt Lake City and the skating world. But in the end, it served to change the judging system and, in an unprecedented move, both teams were ultimately given a gold medal.

The scandal involved the FBI, Italians, French and Russians, among others. This was big.

Besides tracing just how deep the cheating was, the series focuses on the skaters themselves, and their paths to Salt Lake City. No one had an easy life leading to Olympic infamy, but they all reached the pinnacle of their sport. Olympic dreams were front and center for their entire lives.

With interviews from all four skaters, judges, commentators and others, as well as footage from the event, this is a well-rounded look at how everything came together to create this historic event in Salt Lake City and Olympics history.

“Meddling: The Olympic Skating Scandal that Shocked the World” is streaming now on Peacock.

Newsletter