The 2002 Winter Olympic Games should have been highlighted by the great accomplishments of athletes such as the Canadian men’ ice hockey team or Apolo Ohno. Instead, these Olympic games are mainly remembered for the number of scandals that surrounded the international event. First, it was found that the President and Vice President of Salt Lake Bid Committee were both caught offering bribes to various members of the IOC. Second, during the pairs’ figure skating competition, dual gold medals were eventually awarded as the result of French figuring skating judge Marie – Reine Le Gougne’s favorable score for the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze causing a disadvantage to the Canadian team of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier,
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Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC President at the time of the scandal, initiated the investigation by appointing then – IOC Vice President Dick Pound to lead a committee to investigate any wrongdoing during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Thomas Bach, Pal Schmitt, Jacques Rogge, and Judge Mbaye were also appointed onto the committee. The goal of this committee was to rid the IOC of corruption once and for all. Before any investigation took place, both Tom Welch and David Johnson resigned from their posts as the head of SLOC. As part of the investigation, the IOC recommended expelling six IOC members, while continuing the investigation on several others. Each person was accused of receiving money from the SLOC. Overall, ten members of the IOC were expelled and another ten were sanctioned. Although many saw the IOC response to the Salt Lake City Olympic Games bid scandal as a step in the right direction, there were many that still felt that it was insufficient in preventing future improprieties. The events surrounding the Salt Lake scandal were not exclusive to the bidding process for 2002 Winter Games. Allegations have also arisen that the bidding process for the 1996 Summer Olympics also involved bribing of IOC
Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC President at the time of the scandal, initiated the investigation by appointing then – IOC Vice President Dick Pound to lead a committee to investigate any wrongdoing during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Thomas Bach, Pal Schmitt, Jacques Rogge, and Judge Mbaye were also appointed onto the committee. The goal of this committee was to rid the IOC of corruption once and for all. Before any investigation took place, both Tom Welch and David Johnson resigned from their posts as the head of SLOC. As part of the investigation, the IOC recommended expelling six IOC members, while continuing the investigation on several others. Each person was accused of receiving money from the SLOC. Overall, ten members of the IOC were expelled and another ten were sanctioned. Although many saw the IOC response to the Salt Lake City Olympic Games bid scandal as a step in the right direction, there were many that still felt that it was insufficient in preventing future improprieties. The events surrounding the Salt Lake scandal were not exclusive to the bidding process for 2002 Winter Games. Allegations have also arisen that the bidding process for the 1996 Summer Olympics also involved bribing of IOC