US figure skaters call for their own medal ceremony at Paris Olympics after Russian disqualification: ‘Dream scenario’
NY Post
US Olympic figure skaters still owed gold medals after a 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 Tuesday for the first time since a bombshell international sporting panel’s decision recently awarded them and the rest of the US figure-skating team gold medals in the team event.
The long-overdue US medal victory came after Russian team member Kamila Valieva was retroactively disqualified for doping at the last Winter Olympics, moving the American team up from silver.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication six weeks before taking the ice in Beijing, but those test results only came to light hours after the then-15-year-old competed at the Winter Games.
The International Olympic Committee decided to not have a medals ceremony in the team event at the time until a probe was conducted, with the findings finally coming out Monday.
The US skating team — having been robbed of their Olympic moment on top of the podium in 2022 — said they are now hoping to recapture some of that magic during the 2024 Summer Games if the International Olympic Committee allows.
