SALT LAKE CITY, Feb 19: Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat swept confidently across the ice to the strains of “Non Merci” on Monday to win France’s first Olympic ice dance gold medal after a momentous day for their sport.

The 2000 world champions drew loud applause for their programme entitled “Liberta” during what looks certain to be the last Olympic final to use the present scoring system based on 6.0 for a perfect score.

At a news conference earlier International Skating Union (ISU) president Ottavio Cinquanta said the federation’s council had unanimously accepted his proposal to scrap the present system. The plan will now go to a full congress in June.

Cinquanta, fighting to restore the sport’s credibility after last Monday’s pairs scandal which resulted in the suspension of a French judge for misconduct, also plans to increase the number of judges from nine to 14.

There was plenty of drama at the Ice Lake Ice Center when Italy’s world champions Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio failed to improve on their third place at the start of the evening after Margaglio fell during a footwork sequence.

Fusar Polli wept bitter tears at the end and again as the scores were announced before composing herself for the victory ceremony.

The IOC threw Belarus team chief Yaroslav Barichko out of the Games after one of his athletes failed to turn up for a dope test and he skipped a meeting with IOC officials.

IOC director general Francois Carrard told a news conference Barichko had been excluded from the Games and the Belarus Olympic Committee suspended until December 31 this year.

Carrard said the unidentified athlete had tested positive in a random test for levels of the anabolic steroid nanadrolone 380 times above the acceptable limit.

Because of a breakdown in the chain of custody, when a bag containing the sample was not sealed properly, the athlete was asked to undergo another test on Monday.

Alisa Camplin soared through the air with the greatest of ease at Deer Valley to win Australia’s second gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics.

Camplin, Australia’s second string in the women’s freestyle skiing aerials, won the gold medal after Swiss favourite Evelyne Leu fell badly on her first jump.

Two days ago Steve Bradbury won Australia’s first Winter Games title in the men’s 1,000 metres short track speedskating by staying on his feet after the other four competitors, way out in front of him, fell in a heap.

At Park City, Germany defeated Finland by the width of a ski in the closest ski jumping team event in Olympic history.

After four competitors from each nation jumped twice, Germany won with 974.1 points, only 0.1 ahead of the Finns. Slovenia took the bronze, their first medal in Olympic ski jumping.

Germany won a second gold in the women’s biathlon team 4x7.5 km relay, successfully defending the title they captured in Nagano four years ago.