The U.S. Olympic figure skating team learned Monday that they will receive gold medals now that Russian skater Kamila Valieva has officially been disqualified for doping at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
According to ABC News, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee received word that the IOC would award gold to the U.S. for the team competition, which was thrown into uncertainty after Valieva's positive test from six weeks prior to the competition was revealed.
And email sent from the IOC to the USOPC, which was obtained by the Associated Press, said that the IOC “is now in position to award the medals in accordance with the ranking, which has to be established by the International Skating Union”
The IOC expressed "great sympathy" for the athletes who had to wait for two years to get the final results from the competition.
Valieva's disqualification will also affect the awarding of the silver and bronze medals. Japan, which finished third, would likely move to second. But even without Valieva's scores, Russia could still move into third ahead of Canada.
The Americans to receive the gold medals are Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou.
Bates said over the weekend that it simply took too long for the IOC to come to its decision.
“I think two years is too long for this decision to be made, and we may never know why it has taken this long,” Bates said. “We’re just looking forward to getting some closure after a long waiting period."
Russian authorities criticized the ruling.
“Of course, we don’t agree with this. From my point of view, of course, it’s politicized,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
