By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – The U.S. figure skating team will finally receive their Beijing Olympics team event gold medal on Aug. 7 in Paris, more than two years after Russian teenager Kamila Valieva was found guilty of doping, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday.
“The medal allocation ceremony for the figure skating team event of Beijing 2022 will take place at the (Paris Olympics) Champions Park at 5pm on the 7th of August,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference.
At the Beijing Games, Valieva was found guilty of doping earlier in the season and was banned for four years thus removing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) as winners of the team event.
The decision elevated the U.S. to top spot on the podium.
Japan moved up a step to silver and it was thought that Canada, who finished fourth in the event, would be promoted to bronze. However, the International Skating Union said the ROC’s total score even after Valieva’s marks were erased was still a point better than the Canadians.
Skate Canada appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Last Thursday, the Russian appeal against the decision to strip them of the gold medal was dismissed by CAS.
“Clearly we wanted this to be settled as quickly as possible for everybody concerned, for all the athletes, it’s the athletes that we care about,” Adams said.
“But unfortunately, when the legal process gets involved, the wheels can move very slowly. Once we’ve had a result, we’ve expedited matters to make sure the allocation can be here somewhere suitable.
“You can never replace the moment of winning or the moment of a victory and the medal allocation during the Games. But I think it was felt and clearly the athletes agree that this is a as good a place as any.
“And like everyone, I’m sure that, you know, it seems a shame for the delay, but process has to be followed properly and process has been followed properly.” (This story has been refiled to fix a typo in Valieva’s first name in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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