The US Figure Skating team has been awarded the gold medal for their performance at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva received a four-year ban due to a doping controversy. However, Canada has expressed disappointment over not being awarded the bronze medal.
Valieva, who was only 15 at the time, led the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to first place in the team event ahead of the US and Japan. However, her doping test came back positive for the performance-enhancing substance trimetazidine. As a result, the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified Valieva from all competitive results achieved since her positive test.
The International Skating Union (ISU) confirmed the disqualification of Valieva’s results in both the singles and team event. This led to a re-ranking of medal positions in the team event, with the ROC falling to third place and the US and Japan moving up to first and second place, respectively. Canada remained in fourth place, one point behind the ROC’s recalculated results.
Skate Canada expressed strong disagreement with the ISU’s decision to leave their team in fourth place and stated that they would consider appealing the decision. They argued that the ISU did not apply Rule 353, which states that competitors who initially placed lower than the disqualified competitor should move up accordingly in their placement.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) confirmed that the US Figure Skating team had been awarded the gold medal in the team competition. The decision was welcomed by anti-doping bodies worldwide, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which stated that it would award the medals according to the ISU rankings.
The ban on Valieva also resulted in her first-place finish in the women’s singles competition at the 2022 European Figure Skating Championship being vacated, with the gold medal going to her compatriot Anna Shcherbakova.
The Russian athletes were competing as neutrals at the Winter Olympics in Beijing due to a previous ban for doping non-compliance. Despite Valieva’s ban, the director general of the Russian Figure Skating Federation still considers his athletes to be the champions in the team event.
The Kremlin spokesman expressed disagreement with the decision to disqualify Valieva and stated that the Russian athletes would always be considered Olympic champions. However, the ban on Valieva is final and binding, and parties have the option to appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal within 30 days on limited grounds.
The IOC confirmed that it would organize a medal ceremony for the US, Japan, and Canada in the future, although no date or location has been provided.
In conclusion, the US Figure Skating team has been awarded the gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics following the doping ban of Russian skater Kamila Valieva. The decision has been met with disappointment from Canada, who was not awarded the bronze medal. The ban on Valieva’s results has led to a re-ranking of medal positions in the team event, with the US and Japan moving up to first and second place, respectively. The decision has been welcomed by anti-doping bodies, and the IOC will organize a medal ceremony for the affected teams in the future.