US figure skaters set to get team gold medals at Paris Olympics after ruling in 2022 doping case

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The United States figure skating team was formally confirmed as gold medalists from the 2022 Olympics by a sports court ruling Thursday, opening the way for the team to get their medals at the Paris Summer Games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges dismissed Russian appeals to be reinstated as the team event gold medalist. The Olympic title was lost in January when star skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified and banned in a long-running doping case.

The latest CAS ruling in the Valieva saga guarantees the U.S. team gold medals in an event where no medals of any color were presented in Beijing in February 2022.

Special medal ceremonies are planned by the IOC in the second week of the Paris Olympics to honor athletes whose results have been upgraded because of doping cases that were prosecuted and resolved in recent years.

Valieva, who was aged 15 in Beijing, starred as the Russians easily won the team event. The U.S. was second and Japan placed third.

No medals were presented because a positive doping test by Valieva, from a sample given in Russia six weeks earlier, was revealed on the day the team event ended.

Without Valieva’s scores when she was disqualified, Russia dropped to third in the revised result signed off by the International Skating Union.

The Canadian team is awaiting the verdict in a separate appeal to CAS to be upgraded from fourth to third, knocking the Russians off the podium.

CAS said Thursday it was “not possible to indicate at this time” when the Canadian appeal verdict will be given.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games