In Salt Lake City, Utah, the Olympic village lay in a valley encircled by the mountains. There were 4 inches of snow on the ground, and the air was bracingly cold. At the Olympics, the practice were closed to the public, and David, who was already shaking with nerves, was made even more nervous by the stillness of the arena. The short program was skated cleanly, and at the end, Jamie and David made the humerous program end with a funny, with David loosing his footing and they both fell to the ice. They were second going into the long program behind the Russian team and ahead of the Chinese team.
During the pair's warm-up for the free program, Jamie decided to try one last triple toe. Just as she turned forward to step into the jump, her and Anton, a part of the Russian team collided with Jamie. With only a minute left in the warm-up, Jamie was down on the ice holding her side. As she stood up, she couldn't help but hyperventilate, as she had the wind knocked out of her. At this stage the press was already surroundning her. The task that lay ahead for Jamie was trying to convince David that she was alright and that she was capable of performing to her best. They were living a dream, and Jamie wasn't about to let that dream be shatterered. Then the Russian's marks comes up, Jamie and David knew that if they skate cleanly, the gold was their's. As David looks back on the accident he syas of Jamie: "She's kind of like my hero. You would think after 4 years she would stop surprising me, but she still does." To Jamie and David, it was like they had the world in their hands, and a clean performance would mean the gold. As the program came to a close, and was still clean, Jamie landed the final throw cleanly, and she said to David "We did it!". After this, David, who remebered the mistake in the short program, gently reminded Jamie that it wasn't saying, "Concentrate its not over!". After the music had stopped, David, feeling that all the pressure was done now, bent down and kissed the ice, with Jamie standing in the back ground in shock. The marks seemed to take forever to arrive, yet, when the marks for technical merit arrived, they were worth it, 5.8's and 5.9's. Then came the famous second mark, Jamie and David were 2nd after the Russians. How? Jamie and Daivd had skated clean , while the Russians ahd faltered, how can they be in second place? Right away, there was talk of a scandal. Jamie and David had just wanted to go and enjoy the Olympics, and so they did, they jammed with the Bare Nakid Ladies at the Olympic Medal Plaza, and through all the media scrutiny, just had a good time. Six days after the long program, the IOC came to the decision that they would award a second pair of gold medals to the Canadian team, after the French judge came forth saying she was pressured into voting for the Russian pair. The special ceremony was held on February 17, 2002 after the ice dance event. Elena and Anton joined Jamie and David for their medal ceremony. It was the right outcome in the end, and the two pairs walked away knowing neither caused the situation.
Jamie and David decided not to try to defend their world title at the World Championships in Nagano. They soon announced their retirement from amateur skating, and signed a 4 year contract with the Smucker's Stars on Ice cast beginning in 2002/2003 season and lasting until 2006/2007. They also signed onto the HSBC Stars on Ice cast which tour Canada. You can catch Jamie and David on those tours, also be watching for them in other shows and competitions.
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*NOTE: The information on these 3 pages Cortney got from the book "The Second Mark," Jamie and David's official website and my own knowledge. Please credit the information to the right people.*