Team Champions, Two Years Later

Nearly two years after the Closing Ceremony in Beijing, the final medals of the 2022 Winter Olympics are set to be awarded.  The Court of Arbitration for Sport has finally announced its ruling in the Kamila Valiyeva doping case that dominated the second week of those Games.  After two years of hearings and appeals, the decision was to hand Valiyeva a backdated four-year ban and strip her of all results from the time of the failed test (Christmas 2021), including the Olympics, where she helped "ROC" win gold in the team event.

With Valiyeva's disqualification, "ROC" is set to be stripped of the gold and the United States will be upgraded from silver to gold.  Japan will go from bronze to silver.  What's unclear is whether the entire team will be disqualified or just Valiyeva.  That matters since even without her 20 points, Russia would still have enough to win the bronze over Canada.  I expect to be the former, though, and Canada will get the bronze.

Because of the whole situation, there was never a medal ceremony for the team event during those Olympics.  The Americans went home with nothing and have been waiting almost two years to find out whether they're getting gold or silver medals.  Now they know, and the plans for a proper medal ceremony can begin.  My guess is they'll be awarded at this year's World Championships in Montreal, finally bringing closure to a two-year saga that was just sad all around.

First, a brief recap of the events.  After Kamila Valiyeva skated for Russia in the women's portion of the Olympic team event, the news broke that she had failed her doping test at the Russian Championships. RUSADA allowed her to compete in the women's event pending her appeal, with the IOC, ISU and WADA appealing the decision to the CAS.  The CAS ruled that she could compete while the process played out, but Valiyeva (who, it must be noted was 15 at the time) cracked under the pressure and scrutiny and ended up finishing fourth.  So, the medals in the women's competition were able to be awarded in Beijing after all.

The fact that Valiyeva was 15 at the time was really the whole heart of the debate.  Athletes are considered minors until they're 16, which gives them additional protections under international anti-doping code.  One of those protections is confidentiality (which was obviously no longer possible after the story broke following her performance in the team event).  Another is that the penalties are often not as severe, typically in the form of a reprimand instead of a suspension.  The athletes' coaches and entourage are also subject to scrutiny.

Valiyeva's argument was that her positive test was the result of a trace amount of her sample being tainted by a small amount of her grandfather's heart medication.  RUSADA believed her explanation and found her to not be at fault, which is why they lifted her suspension.  There were also questions about the handling of the test and the fact that it took six weeks for the lab in Stockholm to return the results.  That delay and the short time frame to make a decision were the primary reasons why CAS allowed her to compete in the women's event in Beijing.

However, in its decision on Monday, CAS ruled that Russian anti-doping rules don't differentiate between minors and those over 16.  As such, Valiyeva was at fault for her positive test and the suspension was warranted.  As a result, they imposed the recommended four-year period of ineligibility, backdated to the original failed test, as well as the disqualification of any results.  Valiyeva's suspension is set to end on Christmas 2025, just weeks before the Milan Cortina Games.  Which may not even make a difference since all Russian figure skaters have been banned from international competition since shortly after the Beijing Olympics because of the invasion of Ukraine.

While this sad chapter appears to be over, there truly are no winners in the situation.  You could even argue that Valiyeva is one of the biggest victims here.  We'll never know if she deliberately took a banned substance or not, but you can't say her team didn't fail her.  There was some intent by someone close to her.  Beyond that, though, the public scrutiny that she received during the final week of the 2022 Olympics would be a lot for anyone to deal with, let alone a 15-year-old.  Then, after she cracked under the pressure, the way her coach treated her was downright cruel.  

Then there are her Russian teammates.  None of them did anything wrong, yet they're all poised to lose an Olympic gold medal based on something that was completely out of their control.  The medals for the team event haven't been reallocated yet, but the entire Russian team will almost certainly be disqualified.  And the ironic thing about that is Russia could've swapped out Valiyeva for Anna Shcherbakova (who won the individual women's event) and won gold anyway.

Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova were victims of this whole situation, too.  If you go back to the women's free skate in Beijing, you'll remember seeing the distraught Valiyeva and the eyes of the world on her.  There was also the disappointed Trusova who considered her silver medal to be a failure.  Meanwhile, Shcherbakova, the newly crowned Olympic champion, was standing there all alone.  It was the biggest moment of her life and no one was there to celebrate with her.

And, of course, there are the American and Japanese skaters.  They earned medals that they still haven't received.  The reason why makes sense.  I'm not saying it doesn't.  But, they've been waiting two years.  It's been two years and they still haven't gotten the chance to properly celebrate their Olympic achievement.  Of the 10 Americans poised to receive gold medals, only the ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates (the defending World Champions who just won their fifth U.S. title) are even still competing.

The same can be said for the Canadian skaters who've been waiting this whole time to find out if they even are Olympic medalists.  The answer to that question is "Yes."  Once the results are adjusted, Canada will likely go from fourth place to the bronze medal.  They were the forgotten team in all of this.  Because the Valiyeva decision didn't ultimately impact just three teams.  It impacted four.

If there's one fortunate thing about all this, it's that the World Championships are in Montreal.  The medals haven't been officially reallocated yet, but once they are, IOC rules call for a reallocation ceremony.  Although, there was never a medal ceremony at all, so in this case, it would be the medal ceremony.  There are provisions for when and where it can take place, but can you think of a more appropriate time and place?  Especially since the opening night of the World Championships doesn't include any free skates?

Don't make them wait any longer.  It's already been two years of waiting.  Two years without an Olympic medal of any color.  Now that the situation's resolved, start planning that medals ceremony.  Six weeks from now in Montreal, let the American, Japanese and Canadian skaters finally get a chance to put those medals around their necks and celebrate what they did in Beijing.  Let's put this sad, sorry chapter to bed once and for all.