U.S. Olympian Johnny Weir publicly criticized American figure skating judge Joe Inman, who sent out controversial emails to other Olympic-level judges.
To sum up the controversy (from USA Today), which dealt with Inman commenting on reigning Olympic gold medalist Evgeny Plushenko of Russia:
Last month Plushenko said, "If the judges want someone to place high, they can arrange it. Like (at the European championships) in Tallinn, (France's) Brian Joubert got more points for his transitions than me, although we did exactly the same transitions on the ice. In fact, we don't have any transitions because we focus on our jumps."
Inman forwarded that quote, writing: "I find this an interesting observation of his own skating and the judges' marking of his transitions."
Weir was not happy with Inman's emails. He is quoted in the article as stating:
"I am very offended that an American judge started this whole thing. I think it's a smear on my face and my reputation as an American figure skater and I hope he's banned from judging for the rest of his life. Coming into the Olympic Games, America already has an iffy public image and for him to basically attack every other skater in the world …
"Even though he did that trying to support American skaters, it's my reputation. Am I going to be judged differently because of what some stupid American judge did? Because I'm an American, am I going to be judged more harshly than somebody else? It wasn't the time or the place. Politics in figure skating isn't an abnormal thing but you don't do it and smear your team a week before the Olympic Games."
The U.S. Figure Skating Association is not afraid of a potential backlash against American skaters, according to the article.
The article also points out that Plushenko's artistry was criticized in International Skating Union training videos, although Plushenko had been retired from skating when the videos were made. The Russian Skating Federation requested the Plushenko be removed from the videos.