US figure skaters file appeal to receive their silver medals: report

U.S. figure skaters who have had their silver medals in the team competition withheld have filed an appeal in the Court of Arbitration to receive them by the end of the Beijing Olympic Games on Sunday, according to a report from The Associated Press. 

The AP received confirmation from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that it would hear the case on Saturday evening and expected a ruling soon after. 

The Hill has reached out to the court for comment.

“Our clients seek the legal right they have earned to be given their silver medals in a public ceremony at the Olympic Games prior to the Closing Ceremony,” attorneys for the athletes wrote in a letter to the board members of the International Olympic Committee obtained by the AP. 

“The IOC’s decision to not hold the medal ceremony for the Figure Skating Team Event during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 is not only unfortunate, but a decision that violated both Article 56 of the Olympic Charter and the Host City Contract for the XXIV Winter Olympic Games,” they continued. 

The athletes represented include gold medalist Nathan Chen, who won the top spot in the men’s figure skating singles competition. 

The U.S. figure skating team won second place in the team competition, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it is withholding the awarding of medals until it resolves a controversial doping case with 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva. 

Valieva, whose Russian team earned the gold in the team skating competition, incited debate and controversy after news emerged she tested positive for the banned drug trimetazinine.

The CAS allowed Valieva to compete until the incident is resolved, but the IOC said it would not award medals in any events in which she placed in the top three.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland told the AP it was “unfair” for the committee to withhold medals from the U.S. because of another team’s issue.

“There’s no question that our team wants to go home with the medals in their hands,” Hirshland told the news outlet. “That’s just a reality we’re all dealing with right now.”