Chinese figure-skating official who was banned for biased judging will work at the Beijing Games
Chinese figure-skating judge Huang Feng, who was caught giving preferential marks to his compatriots at the 2018 Olympics, will officiate at the upcoming Beijing Games after serving a one-year ban.
Four years ago, Huang favored Chinese pair Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, giving them the highest scores for the elements while on the judging panel at the pair’s skating event in PyeongChang.
He awarded them ‘suspiciously’ high execution scores in seven different elements, while also giving the German couple of Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, who claimed gold, the lowest scores of all the judges.
Huang’s actions came despite a warning he had been given a month before the Pyeongchang Games, following suspicious scoring at the 2017 ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya.
A report released by the International Skating Union (ISU) Disciplinary Commission said the judge had shown “obvious and systematic bias” at the 2018 Winter Games.
“The seriousness of his misconduct is aggravated by the fact that it was committed at the Olympic Winter Games, the doubtlessly most important and prestigious competition that exists in figure skating,” its decision stated.
