US Olympic figure skaters still owed gold medals after the Russian doping scandal at the 2022 Beijing Games want to receive their awards during a special ceremony at the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics.
American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates touted the notion — with Chock calling it “our dream scenario” — while speaking on Tuesday for the first time since the recent decision of an international sports panel to award them and the entire figure skating team US figures. medal in the team event.
The long-overdue US medal win came after Russian team member Kamilia Valieva was retroactively disqualified for doping at last Winter’s Olympics, lifting the American team from silver.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug six weeks before taking the ice in Beijing, but the test results were only known hours after the 15-year-old competed at the Winter Games.
The International Olympic Committee decided not to hold a medal ceremony in the team event at the time until an investigation was carried out, with the final findings coming out Monday.
Champion ice dancers Evan Bates and Madison Chock want to receive their long-overdue Beijing Olympic gold medals at the upcoming Paris Summer Games. AFP via Getty Images
The US skating team – robbed of their Olympic moment on the podium in 2022 – said they now hope to recapture some of that magic during the 2024 Summer Games if the International Olympic Committee allows.
“When all of this initially happened, the first thing that crossed everyone’s mind was that we wanted to have a real Olympic medal ceremony, and for us that would be the medal ceremony at the Paris Games this summer,” Chock said, referring to the current panel’s decision. 30-minute teleconference hosted by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
“To be able to stand on the podium at an Olympic event and be there with our family, and just to celebrate and be surrounded by the Olympic spirit and the Olympic movement, would be our dream scenario,” he added.
USOPC Chief Executive Officer Sarah Hirshland said during a call with reporters that the time, place and logistics of the medal ceremony have not been determined yet.
Russian figure skater Kamilia Valieva has been retroactively disqualified for doping from the 2022 Winter Games. AP
Other US surfers up for team gold medals are Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou.
Under an unprecedented International Skating Union decision released on Monday, Japan has been upgraded from bronze to silver.
But the ISU said the Russian team skaters would still take bronze, having taken a one-point lead over Canada even after deducting the points Valieva earned with her short and free ice programs.
Angry Canadian officials said they may appeal the decision.
Chock and Bates are the only two skaters from the 2022 Team USA still competing. AFP via Getty Images
Russia is sure to also appeal the gold medal decision, but Hirshland insisted that such a move would have nothing to do with the timing of the medal ceremonies for the nine Americans.
“There is no scenario at this point where Team USA is not a gold medalist,” he said. “There is no reason for any delay.”
As for the location of the gold medal that should have been awarded in Beijing, Hirshland said he wasn’t “100% sure” where the prized sports hardware was at the moment – but he had a good guess.
“My best guess is that the medal is probably in a very secure place in Lausanne, Switzerland, waiting to be awarded,” he said, referring to the home of the IOC headquarters.
Ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, who have been retired since last winter’s Olympics, will be among the US skaters to receive gold medals for the 2022 team event. Getty Images
Chock and his longtime partner and fiance, Bates, just won their fifth national title, which they won last weekend in Ohio, hailing a court decision nearly two years in the making.
“It’s just a feeling I’ve dreamed about and I can hardly believe it’s here,” Chock said. “It’s 24 very exciting news for us.”
The elite athlete admitted the controversy surrounding Olympic figure skating in Beijing, followed by more than 700 days of waiting for results, had affected his experience.
“We never expected that it would take two years to receive the results or receive our medals,” Chock said. “There’s a bit of sadness and disappointment that we didn’t get that Olympic moment.”
But now he said it “almost feels like a weight has been lifted. … It feels like we’re celebrating our Olympic experience all over again.”
Bates said the surfer had no view of the court proceedings and did not know how the case would turn out until the last moment.
Vincent Zhou was part of Team USA competing in Beijing in 2022 and was denied skating gold. Getty Images
“It was quite a surreal experience,” said the champion ice dancer. “When we went to sleep on Sunday night, we prepared for the news that it would be silver, and we woke up to the incredible news that it was gold.”
Of the nine athletes who were part of the US team in Beijing, Chock, 31, and Bates, 34, are the only skaters still competing today. The other seven have retired from the sport.
Bates said he prefers to focus on the positive aspects of the ruling, namely, that it is a vindication for “clean” athletes who compete without using illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
“This is, I think, a landmark case, this is a monumental thing. This is an unprecedented event where clean 20-something athletes leave the Olympics without the medals they won cleanly. And yesterday, I think, most of the findings by [the panel] bring some justice to the clean sports movement,” he said.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug weeks before the Olympics, but the results were only known hours after she took part in the Games. AP
“I think clean athletes around the world, hopefully, will find some joy and some … peace in knowing that clean sports and the fight against doping is going on,” Bates added.
Although Russia retained bronze ahead of Canada, Valieva will not receive a medal because of the decision.
The ruling also bans Russians who are now 18 years old for four years from December 25, 2021 — the date of the positive test. The decision vacated Valieva’s decision after that date; it will end about two months before the next Winter Games in Italy in 2026.
Russia immediately denounced the decision, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing it as “politicized.”
With Postal wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
