Israel's ice dance couple Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski took the bronze medal in the World Figure Skating Championships in Nagano, Japan, on Friday, marking Israel's first-ever world championship medal. But in scenes reminiscent of last month's Olympics figure skating controversy, the Lithuanian couple, which finished just behind the Israelis, filed an official protest and accused Israel of "buying" the bronze medal.

The International Skating Union (ISU) rejected the Lithuanian protest, saying there were "no grounds" to overturn the decision to award the bronze medal to the Israeli team.

Russians Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh won their first

"This is an historic occasion for sport in Israel" - Israel Ice Skating Federation's Yossi Goldberg

major international title when they clinched the ice dancing gold medal. Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz finished in second. Going into the third stage of the competition - the free dance element that accounts for 50% of the final score - Chait and Sakhnovski were in fourth place, behind the Lithuanian team of Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas.

Chait and Sakhnovski, wearing black and silver costumes emblazoned with Jewish stars, danced to a medley of Israeli and Yiddish tunes including "Hava Nagila," "My Yiddishe Mama" and "Heveinu Shalom Aleichem." The judges awarded them third place by a 5-4 decision, moving the Israeli team ahead of Lithuania to win the bronze.

"This is an historic occasion for sport in Israel, as it is the first time in our brief history of winter sports that we've accomplished so much, so quickly," Israel Ice Skating Federation president Yossi Goldberg told the Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli couple's third-place finish was considered an upset, and was not welcomed by the crowd. Many in the audience booed the judges' decision, believing the medal should have gone to the Lithuanians, Yediot Aharonot reported.

Lithuanians accuse Israel of "buying" medal
The Lithuanian Skating Federation filed a protest after the competition, and at a press conference Vanagas harshly criticized the International Skating Union and its judging system. "If I was on the ISU's technical committee, I would quit," Vanagas said. "Everything is being decided by which judges are on the panel and it's just unfortunate that the system kills the competitive nature of the sport."

Vanagas accused the Israelis of "buying" the bronze medal. "The Chait family has a lot of money, and we can't fight against that. What other explanation can there be for their third place finish?" Vanagas presented a petition signed by more than thirty skaters and coaches from the ice dancing competition. "When Boris Chait (Galit's father) heard about this petition he started threatening people, saying they should thank God if they reach America alive," Vanagas said.

Vanagas added that he believed the ISU was "paying [Lithuania] back" for its protest of the ice dancing results in the Salt Lake City Olympics. At the Olympics, the Lithuanian pair came in fifth but felt they should have been ranked higher, especially since two couples above them fell. The country's protest was quickly rejected.

"Two or three of the judges who voted for the Lithuanians told me that they were ashamed to be on the panel last night," said Lithuanian team leader Sundeep Pandya.

"Galit and Sergei have been better than the Lithuanians for two years," Goldberg said in response to the protest. "It is just difficult for them to swallow the fact that they finished without a medal, and that we were ahead of them."

The rivalry between Israel's ice dancing couple and the Lithuanians has spilled out of the ice rink frequently in the past, Maariv reported. The Lithuanians registered a protest after Chait and Sakhnovski finished just ahead of them in an ice dancing competition in the United States last October. In Salt Lake City last month, Israel protested against a Lithuanian judge, claiming bias in scoring results, but no action was taken.

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