The U.S. figure skaters who won the silver medal in the team competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics will not receive their medals before leaving China, departing with just an empty box.
The International Olympic Committee declined to hold a medals ceremony because of the question of eligibility of Kamila Valieva, who skated for the Russian Olympic Committee, which won gold. After the team competition, Valieva was found to have tested positive for a banned heart medication in the Russian national championships in December, and the IOC put the medals ceremony on hold.
The nine members of the U.S. figure skating team who won a medal appealed the decision, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the IOC decision on Saturday. The IOC had said the Russian Olympic Committee athletes could be stripped of the gold medal after an investigation.
Japan won the bronze medal and Canada finished fourth.
Ramsey Baker, the executive director of U.S. Figure Skating, said the athletes deserved to take part in a public medals ceremony as the appeal was filed.
“We stand with and fully support our athletes as they courageously seek to be given the recognition that they have earned,” Baker said in a prepared statement. “Having a medal ceremony at an Olympic Games is not something that can be replicated anywhere else, and they should be celebrated in front of the World before leaving Beijing.”
The nine athletes who took part in the team competition, which concluded Feb. 7, are Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier, Vincent Zhou, Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
Chen won individual gold in the men’s singles competition, and Hubbell and Donohue won the bronze medal in ice dancing. They had their moments on the podium for those events.
In the team competition, the 15-year-old Valieva skated both the women’s short and long program and easily outdistanced the other skaters in the field.
The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to rule her ineligible to compete in the individual competition, but the three-member panel ruled she could take part. The IOC said it would not hold a medals ceremony should Valieva medal in the event, but it became a non-issue when the teen stumbled in the long program and finished fourth.
–Field Level Media
–Field Level Media