PARIS — The US figure skating team was formally confirmed as gold medalists from the 2022 Beijing Olympics by a sports court ruling Thursday, opening the way for the team to get its medals at the Paris Summer Games. “We are thrilled to finally honor these incredible athletes,” Sarah Hirshland, chief executive of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said in a statement. “We are especially excited that the beautiful city of Paris will join us in this celebration.
” It is now nearly 21⁄2 years and multiple layers of Court of Arbitration for Sport appeals since the American skaters left the Beijing Winter Games without a medal of any color. They had placed second in the team event to the Russians including teenage star Kamila Valieva, who within hours was implicated in a doping case that took almost two years to judge. Advertisement Now, Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim, and Vincent Zhou should be coming to Paris as official Olympic champions.
On Thursday, CAS said three judges dismissed Russian appeals to be reinstated as the team gold medalist. The Olympic title was lost in January when Valieva was disqualified and banned for four years. It took the latest CAS ruling in the Valieva saga to guarantee the US team its overdue gold medals, and for Japan to be in line for upgraded silvers.
Special medal ceremonies are planned by the IOC in the second week of the Paris Olympics to honor.