One more entry from me on the Irish theme.
Ice Dance team from Canada (Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz) created a buzz and became part of a scandal at the 1998 Olympics. Their program became a fan favorite, and many felt they would finish on the podium. It was later revealed that some European judges conspired to place other teams higher to keep the podium "European." The sacrifice was that Bourne & Kraatz would place no higher than 4th, just missing Olympic medals.
This came to light during the competition, and they still skated their best, proving they were deserving of an Olympic medal. The music they skated to was from Riverdance, which caused many shocked remarks from commentators, as Irish Step Dance is a vertical movment, while ice dance is a flowing horizontal movement. Many were shocked at how well the team was able to incorporate the two, as well as show off moves they invented called "hydroblading", which involved deep knee bends to create low, sweeping moves on the ice.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzuksE2qNA&feature=related[/youtube]