US figure skating team gets 1st gold medal at Paris Olympics -- for its performance 2 years ago in Beijing

PARIS — The first gold medals have been awarded during the 2024 Summer Olympics — for an event that took place in the Winter Games more than two years ago.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected an appeal Thursday involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for a banned substance at a national competition shortly before the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Her doping violation became public after Russia was declared the winner of the team figure skating event, beating the United States and Japan for the top podium spot.

Valieva’s disqualification from the Olympics means the U.S. squad — which included Addison, Ill., native and pairs skater Alexa Knierim — will be awarded the gold medal, with Japan moving into the silver spot. The court still is considering a dispute as to whether the bronze should go to Canada or the Russian skaters other than Valieva.

After the ruling, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced the American skaters would receive their medals at a special ceremony during the Paris Games. Those plans, however, have not been formalized.

“We are thrilled to finally honor these incredible athletes,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement. “As we finalize the details of the award ceremony in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee and U.S. Figure Skating, we will share updates as soon as they are confirmed. We are especially excited that the beautiful city of Paris will join us in this celebration.”

It’s believed to be the first time a Winter Olympics medal has been awarded at a Summer Olympics.

As Valieva, then 15, and the Russian Olympic Committee tried to hang on to the medal in Beijing, they insisted the positive test was the result of her grandfather accidentally putting his heart medication into a strawberry dessert he served her.

Amid questions about her level of culpability given her age, the IOC did not hold a medal ceremony for the team event in Beijing. Instead, organizers gave the U.S. team empty medal boxes with a promise to fill them as soon as the winner was sorted out.

Knierim, who has retired from competitive skating and now coaches in the Chicago area, recently told the Chicago Tribune she would participate in a Paris medal ceremony to send a message about the importance of competing cleanly.

“Getting the medal means that we are still striving for integrity in our sport, so I think that’s important and significant,” she said. “I don’t see it as a second chance to experience what we would have felt if we had the ceremony right after our competition. That moment has been taken away and it’s no longer about that.”

In addition to Knierim and her pairs partner, Brandon Frazier, the gold medal will be awarded to U.S. Olympians Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Madison Hubbell and Vincent Zhou.