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Summary: "It was billed as the greatest event in the history of pair skating: three of the best teams of all time battling for Olympic gold one night in Salt Lake City. Technical ability was approximately equal. It was the artistic merit score that would decide the gold medal - the second mark." "In a down-to-the-wire nail-biter, the difference between gold and silver came down to the vote of a single judge. Hours later, a bombshell: the confession of a French judge unleashed a worldwide debate - and ultimately produced an unprecedented duplicate gold medal." "The Second Mark reveals what an athlete really goes through to become the best in the world, through the riveting stories of unforgettable people. We meet Yelena Berezhnaya of Russia, who survives emergency brain surgery after a near-fatal training accident and makes it back to the Olympics in less than two years. We meet Zhao Hongbo, a young boy skating in subzero weather in remotest China, who will fulfill his coach's twenty-year dream of catching up to the West. And we meet two Canadians, a barista and a concession stand worker, who had almost quit the sport before deciding to give it one last try - and becoming world champions."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved