Russia on Saturday denied an anonymously sourced report of collusion with the United States to share the figure skating gold medals at the Sochi Olympics.
French sports publication L'Equipe quoted an unnamed Russian coach as saying judges from US would help Russians win gold medals in the pairs and team event; while the Russian judges would assist Charlie White and Meryl Davis win the ice dance.
US Figure Skating rejected the claim as "categorically false" to the Chicago Tribune and Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko issued a similarly short denial to R-Sport.
"There is no point in event commenting on such nonsense," Mutko said.
Russian Skating Federation general director Valentin Piseev added: "If they have something to present, let them present it, enough with the babbling."
The report evoked the judging scandal that hit the Salt Lake City games in 2002, when a French judge struck a deal to give low scores to Canadian skaters and thereby assist a Russian pair.
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