Russia and US being accused of joining forces to cheat Canada out of figure skating gold

The French sports magazine L'Equipe quoted a anonymous "senior Russian coach" who claims the two nations have set up a proposed barter deal to prop each other up in the skating events here in Sochi. The reported deal would see the U.S. help Russia in the new team event while Russia would prop up Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White in the ice dance event, to the detriment of defending Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Virtue of Canada. The Russians failed to win a gold medal in figure skating at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and vowed to do much better at their home Olympics four years later, so there is tremendous pressure on the Russian skating federation to succeed in Sochi.
[link to www.saultstar.com]