The Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for doping breaches during the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The case shocked the Olympics when, roughly 24 hours after she led Russia to victory in the team event, information from a sample collected six weeks earlier at Russia's national championships revealed the presence of a banned cardiac medicine in her blood.
More than a half-dozen trials and appeals were held over the next 23 months, ending in Monday's ruling by CAS, which is essentially the supreme court for international sporting events.
Several hours after the CAS judgment, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee that the gold medal will go to the US skaters, who placed second to Valieva and her teammates in the team competition. IOC and US Olympic and Paralympic Committees will now work together to "organize a dignified Olympic medal ceremony."
Japan moves up to silver from bronze, while the relegated Russians win bronze by one point above fourth-placed Canada.
The International Skating Union produced an altered points table from the Beijing competition, which removed Valieva's maximum 10 points from each of her two events but did not award any points to the teams below her.
Canada still receives eight points out of ten for the women's short program and free skate phases, where Japan finished second each time to Valieva.
Canada's overall point total remained 53, while Russia's slipped from 74 to 54, enough for the bronze medals that Valieva would not receive.
It is unclear how and where the medals will be presented. National Olympic organizations occasionally arrange ceremonies in conjunction with major events in their nations to offer Olympians a sense of what it might have been like to collect medals at the games themselves. Other medals are awarded at international championships. The next figure skating world championships are scheduled for March 18-24 in Montreal.
Regardless, almost everyone thinks that athletes who receive their medals months or years after the competition have been robbed of not just their moment, but also any post-Olympics gain, both financial and emotional, that comes with bringing home that medal in the days following their victory.
"I think two years is too long for this decision to be made, and we may never know why it has taken this long," said U.S. ice dancer Evan Bates, who was on the team in Beijing and won their sixth U.S. title this weekend with Madison Chock. "We're just looking forward to getting some closure after a long waiting period."
