A member of the Figure Skating Hall of Fame received a real sentence for a 40-year-old crime.
The coach of the Russophobic figure skater was sent to the bunk. The victim cried in court
A member of the Figure Skating Hall of Fame received a real sentence for a 40-year-old crime.
Canadian figure skating coach Richard Gautier has trained more than one generation of titled athletes. But the court’s guilty decision destroyed everything. Now the specialist, whose students took part in the most disgusting scandal in the history of the Winter Olympics, has no job, no reputation, no freedom.
Gauthier’s students crossed the path of Russians more than once
Gauthier has been coaching for nearly 40 years. During this time he achieved success with many skaters. Some of them, however, have acquired a bad reputation due to conflict situations, including with Russian athletes.
The first (and most high-profile) scandalous confrontation between Richard’s students and our compatriots happened back at the 2002 Olympics. Then the Canadian duo Jamie Sale/David Pelletier was dragged by the ears to gold awards by the entire North American figure skating community. Moreover, even the efforts of openly charged judges were not enough!
After the couples’ performances in Salt Lake City and the presentation of medals, Canadian silver suddenly turned into gold. For the first time in history, a repeat award ceremony was held, where not only our skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, but also Sale and Pelletier stood on the highest step of the podium.
Gauthier also raised another scandalous duo. Megan Duhamel and Eric Radford have three medals from two Olympics. Everything would be fine, but after finishing her career, Megan suddenly became one of the main critics of Russian figure skating. For several years now she has been poisoning our girls and accusing Eteri Tutberidze of all sins. Naturally, without evidence, and often without a hint of logic.
Some of her statements are generally more reminiscent of feverish delirium.
— I never went to train in Russia, it was not at all interesting to me, and I had no desire. But I know skaters who trained there and then returned. They told me that during training they were given some substance similar to black tar to drink instead of food. They themselves don’t even know what it was, but I heard a lot about it from different people,” Duhamel told the YouTube channel The Skating Lesson.
Richard Gautier / Photo: © Christinne Muschi / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press
Prison term and end of career
This year, the coach of these outstanding skaters in every sense found himself in a scandalous situation. On November 7, it was reported that the Figure Skating Hall of Fame inductee received a 12-month prison sentence for inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor.
The 61-year-old specialist was accused of two episodes that occurred in 1984 and 1985. Gauthier was 23 years old at the time, and the injured student was 14-15 years old. The coach in every possible way denied involvement in the crime charged against him and did not admit guilt.
A one-year sentence for a crime of this kind seems strange, but the court took into account mitigating circumstances and showed leniency. Law enforcement officers handcuffed Gauthier right in the courtroom and escorted him to the place where he would serve his sentence. Let us note that the victim of the specialist was also present at the meeting. Gauthier’s former student, who is over 50, could not hold back his tears after the verdict was announced.
At the moment, Gauthier is 61 years old. In principle, his age allows him to continue his career after serving his sentence. But will any club want to get involved with a person who has served time under such an article? And there isn’t expected to be a queue of people wanting to train with him.
2023-11-08 13:52:46
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