Russia wins this year’s Olympics Figure skating category as Kamila Valieva led the team to victory. However, it was revealed that the 15-year-old skater had tested positive for doping. The CAS let her compete in the women’s event, but the International Olympic Committee said she would be disqualified from any circumstances she placed in the top three. Meanwhile, the United States came in second place in Beijing.
US skaters file appeal to get Olympic medals https://t.co/NfoX8rLt0L pic.twitter.com/vnrQC23PbS
— New York Post (@nypost) February 21, 2022
The Associated Press reported that U.S. figure skaters who have had their Olympic silver medals withheld had filed an appeal with the International Olympic Committee to have them returned before the close of the Beijing Olympics.
In a letter written Saturday to IOC President Thomas Bach, attorneys said that a copy of which was obtained by the A.P., they will seek justice from the Court of Arbitration for Sport before Sunday’s closing ceremony.
According to the Americans’ letter, the IOC’s “own rules require that a victory celebration ‘to distribute medals to participants should immediately follow the completion of each sporting event.”
Bach presented the skater’s Olympic torches at a meeting earlier this week as a kind of leftover souvenir while the doping case proceeds, which may take months, if not years.
The lawyers said they expected the IOC would change its mind, but they were filing an appeal because of the lack of time.
Ramsay Baker, the executive director of U.S. Figure Skating, sent an A.P. statement supporting the skaters.
“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,” he explained.
Bach had then requested the opinions from the athletes, according to the letter delivered by attorney Paul Greene, who defends athletes in doping and other disputes against Olympic officials.
Bach wrote in the letter, “A dignified medal ceremony from our clients’ vantage point is one in the Medals Plaza as originally planned and afforded to all other medalists.”
After the results of Valieva’s test became public, Russia’s anti-doping committee placed her on temporary suspension and subsequently removed it. This elicited for the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which moved promptly and declared Valieva eligible to participate.
That did not address the broader issue of the team competition’s outcome.
Nine Americans have a chance to earn a medal — either the second-place ranking they’re hoping for this weekend or a gold medal if the Russians are disqualified due to Valieva’s doping conviction.
Valieva is deemed a “protected person” under anti-doping standards because of her age and is unlikely to face a hefty punishment. Russian and international anti-doping agencies are investigating her trainers and medics.
