US Olympic figure skaters’ appeal for medals denied

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Saturday denied an appeal from U.S. figure skaters to receive the silver medals won in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The CAS said in a press release that a panel met on Saturday night in Beijing and decided to dismiss the team’s appeal, adding that the decision “not to hold the medal ceremony for the figure skating team event” was still in effect.

The court promised to release a justification for the ruling in the next few days.

The Hill has reached out to the U.S. Figure Skating organization for comment.

U.S. figure skaters Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou were listed on the application file to receive the medals, according to the CAS.

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

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

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.

Sarah Hirshland, the CEO for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which is not involved with the appeal, said not awarding medals to the U.S. team “was unfair” because it had done nothing wrong.

Attorneys for the U.S. figure skating team said the skaters should “be given their silver medals in a public ceremony at the Olympic Games prior to the Closing Ceremony,” according to a letter to the board members of the IOC obtained by The Associated Press.

“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,” attorneys wrote.