US Figure Skating blasts delay in awarding Olympic medals

NEW YORK — US figure skating has largely bounced back when it comes to allegations of Russian doping at last year’s Beijing Olympics, which left their team without any kind of medal after finishing second almost a year ago .

In a sharply worded rejection of the preliminary investigation, which has been going on since time a Positive test for Russian skater Kamila Valieva rocked the Winter Gamesthe national government called for “a fair and reasonable regulation to rightly award medals to all clean sports athletes affected by this situation.”

The US finished second behind the Russians in Beijing but did not earn the silver medal they won in the competition, nor the gold medal they would receive if Valieva and her teammates were stripped of the title.

“US Figure Skating and its athletes are deeply frustrated at the lack of a final decision in the team competition,” said Thursday. “We are very proud of how our Olympic medalists have behaved with poise and dignity since winning medals in Beijing. They have long deserved the recognition that the ongoing trial has denied them.”

Valieva had just helped the Russians win team gold in the first week of the Olympics when it was revealed that a sample she had given two months earlier had tested positive for a banned substance. The delay in reporting was due to the lab that tested the sample being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport issued an emergency decision to allow Valieva to continue competing in the women’s competitions. Under close observation, the The heavily favored Valieva fell several times during her freestyle and failed to win the medal.

However, CAS did not rule on the entire case and referred it to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. Only after months of waiting and increasing pressure from the World Anti-Doping Agency and other anti-doping bodies did RUSADA announce that it had completed its investigation but would not publish a verdict because Valieva tested positive at the time , was 15 years old.

Meanwhile, a Russian court announced that Valieva had “no fault or negligence” in her doping case.

As the arduous process unfolded, WADA announced in November that it would refer the case to CAS over questions about RUSADA’s handling. In a statement, CAS said that WADA aims to “settle the athlete for a four-year period beginning on the date the CAS award becomes effective.”

In addition to preventing Valieva from participating in the next Olympics in Italy, WADA has demanded that she be banned from all competitions since December 2021 when she gave the sample, which tested positive for a banned substance.

That would deprive Russian figure skaters of their team gold from the Beijing Games. The Americans would increase their silver medal to gold, Japan would move up to silver, and the Canadian team would receive bronze.

Russian athletes, along with those from Belarus, have been banned from international competitions this season because of the invasion of Ukraine. Valieva and her teammates have only competed in national events.