More than two days after the team figure skating event ended with Russia winning, Olympics officials have yet to hand over the medals as they investigate a ‘legal issue’ that sparked issues in sports.
The awards ceremony was due to take place on Tuesday night in Beijing, with the US team set to receive the silver and bronze medals from Japan, but just as the teams were preparing to head into a berth for the event , they were told to turn around.
Since then, Olympics officials have declined to elaborate on the cause of the delay.
“Obviously we ask and hope for the patience and understanding of all the athletes involved here,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a Thursday press conference in Beijing. “But this is a court case, and I’m bound by this court case, and I can’t say anything more.”
Adams was asked about reports in the Russian media that the issue was whether an athlete on the Russian team had tested positive for a banned substance, but he simply replied, “I saw the information, but I cannot comment on it”.
Adams had said Wednesday there would be more information shortly, but none came Thursday morning. He had said Olympic officials were consulting with lawyers and the International Skating Union, the sport’s world governing body, to resolve the issue.
There was no more clarity on the situation at the figure skating venue, where the men’s singles competition was taking place on Thursday morning. The Russian skaters refused to answer questions about it.
Russia won the team event on Monday with an outstanding performance from 15-year-old star Kamila Valieva.
The team event is a mixed competition that debuted at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. A Russian team won that year, then took the silver medal behind Canada four years later in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The United States has won the bronze medal in the previous two editions.
This year, the American team, led by three-time world champion Nathan Chen, finished second to the Russian team in the best result of the event for the United States.
Adams said at the press conference that the IOC is generally not responsible for doping tests and sanctions, noting that those responsibilities fall to organizations such as the International Testing Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
But he was vague on who was watching the current case.
“Even if I comment on who’s handling the case, that tells you what kind of case it is, so I’m not going to do that,” he said.
He took the same position when asked if a possible doping case involving Russia would force the IOC to re-evaluate a decision allowing the country’s athletes to compete at the Games under the name “Russian Olympic Committee”. The country was officially banned from the Games as part of the fallout from a state-sponsored doping program.
“A lot of speculation on this issue,” he said.
The team event takes place over several days. In it, each country is represented by individual male and female skaters, a team of pairs and an ensemble of ice dancers. Athletes compete in multiple rounds of performances and scores are combined to crown a winner.
The event can showcase the breadth of a team’s skating talent, but team events also come with risks. Germany and Ukraine failed to score points in parts of this year’s competition after losing athletes to positive coronavirus tests, ending their slim medal hopes.
But the disqualification of an athlete from a medal-winning team — a common occurrence in other Olympic sports — means the loss of that athlete’s points. This could change the final ranking.
