Two Bay Area-born figure skaters to receive Olympic gold medals after Russian team's doping scandal
OAKLAND, Calif. - Two Bay Area athletes will be receiving gold medals nearly two years after competing in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The U.S. Figure Skating Team is expected to receive gold after team Russia, which previously placed first, was caught up in a doping scandal.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified from the 2022 Olympics on Monday, almost two years after the teenager’s doping case caused turmoil at the Beijing Games. The verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Russians are set to be stripped of the gold medal in figure skating’s team event. The United States finished second and is set to be named Olympic champion instead.
The U.S. team took silver in Beijing and should be upgraded to gold. Japan took bronze and Canada placed fourth. The International Olympic Committee is responsible for reallocating medals and its executive board is next scheduled to meet in March.
"We now anticipate the day when we can wholeheartedly celebrate these athletes, along with their peers from around the world," the U.S. Olympic body’s CEO, Sarah Hirshland, said in a statement Monday.
Richmond-born Alysa Liu and San Jose-bred Vincent Zhou will both be receiving gold medals for their performances, along with teammates Jason Brown, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen and Mariah Bell.
In 2022, the International Olympic Committee did not hold a medal ceremony for the skating event in Beijing. Valieva, one of the stars of the Russian team, had tested positive for a banned heart medicine. The case provoked legal chaos at the Beijing Olympics because Valieva’s sample, taken six weeks earlier at the Russian national championships, was not notified as a positive test until Feb. 7, 2022, by a laboratory in Sweden which had staffing issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Valieva has now been banned from the Olympics for four years. She will be eligible to return on Dec. 2025 ahead of the Winter Olympics in Italy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.