More than two years after the U.S. Olympic figure skating team failed to win a gold medal due to an opponent’s doping, they finally received their trophy.
On Wednesday, figure skaters from the United States and Japan stepped onto the podium at Champions Park in Paris to receive their gold and silver medals won at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
At that time, Russia won gold in this discipline, thanks mainly to the help of 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, who was the first woman ever to perform a quadruple jump at the Olympic Games.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee reacts during the women’s team free skate in the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
However, at the Russian Championships in December 2021, Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine – a banned drug used to prevent angina pectoris. The test results were not published until a day after the team final in Beijing. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) then decided that no medals for the team event in figure skating would be officially awarded until Valieva’s case was resolved.
The Olympic participants then had to wait almost two years before they found out which medal they would receive.
Cuban wrestler becomes the first to win a single Olympic discipline in five different years, but then immediately gives up
The team released a statement on Instagram on February 2, 2023, saying its athletes were “deeply frustrated by the lack of a final decision in the team event.”
“They have long deserved the recognition that has been withheld from them due to the ongoing litigation,” the statement continued. “US Figure Skating calls for a fair and appropriate decision to rightfully award medals to all clean sport athletes affected by this situation.”
Nathan Chen of Team USA reacts during the team competition in the men’s individual skating short program during the 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 4, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Just last January, Valieva was found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation and the ROC was stripped of its gold medal in the event. The International Skating Federation demoted the Russian team from gold to bronze following Valieva’s disqualification, while the USA dropped from silver to gold and Japan from bronze to silver.
They then had to wait another seven months before they could actually take part in the official medal ceremony, which was already almost two years overdue.
Members of the U.S. Olympic figure skating team pose for a photo at Champions Park in Paris after receiving gold medals following the Russian team’s disqualification for doping at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But this week, all Americans were able to celebrate their long-overdue medals.
Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou were all able to take part in the revised medal ceremony in Paris on Wednesday in front of 13,000 cheering fans.
“It’s almost surreal. We got our medals and I turned around and saw the Eiffel Tower and was just overwhelmed,” Chock said at the event. “It took my breath away.”
Follow Fox News Digital Sports coverage on Xand subscribe the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
