OLYMPIC JUDGING SKATING ON THIN ICE.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

``Embarrassed'' was how NBC figure-skating analyst Sandra Bezic bluntly described her feelings for ``our sport'' on Monday night's prime-time telecast, after Russians Elena Brezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were awarded the gold in the pairs competition over Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier at the Winter Olympics.

Having had time to re-analyze everything, Bezic didn't change her opinion Tuesday afternoon.

``I feel the same way,'' she said, almost with a sigh, concluding a half-hour interview with reporters where she tried to sort out what happened. ``It's just such a shame. I'm so sad for Jamie and David, and I'm sad for the sport. It's gotta be fixed.''

Bezic, a five-time Canadian pairs national champion herself who went on to become a choreographer and coach in the '80s, could be accused of some bias herself with her background if the opinion wasn't so universally voiced - except by five judges.

``I'm still having a hard time believing it,'' said broadcast partner Scott Hamilton, the former men's gold medalist. ``By the end, I thought it was a no-brainer.''

On the air Monday, Bezic came off as much more critical than Hamilton about the 5-4 judges' ruling for the Russians over the Canadians.

``I just said what I was thinking,'' she admitted Tuesday. ``We crowned (the Canadians) one minute before they were finished and felt strongly they were the gold medalists. As the marks came up I was completely shocked and disillusioned by the whole thing.

``I don't regret anything we said. I've never seen a competition judged this way. It's the worst.''

Bezic, after re-evaluating the programs Tuesday morning, thought the only reason for the discrepancy in judging was that the Canadians were at a slight disadvantage going with a simpler program to the music from ``Love Story,'' and their routine was two years old. However, the Canadians' skate did not include the small slip-ups that the Russians' did.

``Presentation marks can be argued until kingdom come,'' she said, ``but there should not have been such a difference in the technical marks.''

Hamilton, seemingly less shocked and more used to judges' unpredictability, said he doesn't think it's as much a political decision as much as it is a cultural difference that might never change in how routines are viewed.

``If you spend a lot of time in Eastern Europe, you know the musical tastes are different than Western culture,'' said Hamilton, who won his gold in 1984 at Sarajevo. ``We may skate to a medley of Beatles where they have classical tastes, which is excellently trained. When you skate to a Western style or contemporary music, artistically you may not be judged at the same level. It's not music established for generations. That's why there are nine judges.''

Hamilton, who said he and Bezic actually congratulated some of the judges for their marks during the pairs short program Saturday, doesn't think this will set a precedent for the upcoming men's and women's individual competition. Hamilton was back on the air Tuesday night for the men's short program.

``It's a lot more black and white with the short programs with the required elements,'' he said. ``It's who survives.''

So how will skating survive this latest controversy?

``It comes down to where everyone has to defend their mark,'' Hamilton said. ``Maybe the judges were looking at Elena and Anton against themselves rather than the competition. In that regard, it's a shame for the sport.

``They're always updating things with new technology, and if a judge can look at a replay like I did today and look at all the elements to see how a foot came down or if it was held properly, maybe that would help.''