On Wednesday, the Summer Games saw a touch of winter as the US figure skating team finally received their gold medals from the 2022 Olympics.
The ceremony took place under the Paris sunshine, where the nine American skaters paraded on a runway, admired the Eiffel Tower, and enjoyed the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd at Champions Park.
Exactly 2 1/2 years after the figure skating team event concluded at the Beijing Olympics — and the doping controversy involving the winning Russian team began — the Americans received the medals they had missed out on at that time.
“I think it absolutely was worth the wait. Definitely,” said Karen Chen, who was wearing her first career gold medal.
All nine American skaters were present in Paris, including Evan Bates, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim, and Vincent Zhou. Seven of the eight members of the Japanese team also came to collect their silver medals, which was an upgrade from their third-place finish in Beijing.
During the ceremony, the “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played instead of the Tchaikovsky piano piece that would have been used for the Russian team in Beijing. This event in France was attended by family, friends, and fans, contrasting with the nearly empty indoor ice arena in China during the COVID-19 lockdown Olympics.
“It is very memorable for all of us to be here and to get our medals,” said Karen Chen, “to just see the crowds, see everything and embrace it all.”
Knierim, who skated with Frazier in pairs, had her fingernails painted gold for the occasion.
“I thought it was perfect for the occasion,” she said of the ceremony, which was confirmed only two weeks ago.
A Russian appeal to reclaim the Olympic team title was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport just before the Paris Games began. The title had been taken away in January after a different CAS panel disqualified Russian teenager Kamila Valieva for using a banned heart medication. She was also banned for four years.
