Olympic gold goes to USA, Kremlin disapproves of Valizhieva's suspension

Olympic gold medal lost to Russian figure skaters goes to USA after suspension of Kamila Valiyeva The International Olympic Committee (IOC) informed the US Olympic Committee.

The American Figure Skating Association released a photo of the team in X with the gold medal. “We are very proud of our 2022 Olympic champions,” the association said, before naming all the skaters.

Two years after the Beijing Winter Games, the CAS Court of Arbitration for Sport announced the ruling on Monday. Valijeva has been suspended for four years. The penalty came into effect from December 25, 2021.

The Russian, now 17, has lost all titles since then, including a gold medal in the team event at the Beijing Games.

The Kremlin (the Russian government) announced the day after the verdict that it “does not accept” Valizhieva's suspension.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: “We don't agree with this. Not the decision of the court or the decision of the (skating) federation. We don't agree with it. To continue and protect the rights of our athletes, they should be stopped.”

In December 2021, during the Russian national championship, Valizhieva tested positive as a 15-year-old girl, but the result was announced only on February 8, 2022, a day after she won the nations tournament with the Russian team. Due to this issue, the medal ceremony of the team competition was cancelled.

The IOC said in a statement that it was pleased with the settlement of the doping case. “The IOC can only award medals now. We sympathize with the athletes who have to wait two years for the final results of their competition.”

After reviewing the results, the International Skating Union ISU declared that the Russian team was still eligible for the bronze medal. After eliminating Valijeva's results, the team was left with enough points for third place in the final stages of the Nations competition.