Canadian figure skaters who competed in the team event at the Beijing Olympics in 2022 have launched an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on February 24, 2024. This appeal seeks to reorder the placement and medals allocated to countries in the team event following the disqualification of Russian skater Kamila Valieva. The Canadians attest that as a result of the disqualification, they should be awarded bronze over the Russian team, who initially placed first but were moved down to third following the removal of the points scored by Valieva.
This is not the first controversy surrounding Olympic figure skating; figure skating is usually at the center of scandal. In 2002, in Salt Lake City, a French judge in the pairs event blew the whistle, claiming she was coerced into voting for the Russian pair to win. This controversy led to the Olympics awarding the Russians and Canadians gold for the pairs event that year. In 2014, in Sochi, in the Women’s singles, Adelina Sotnikova of Russia controversially won over Yuna Kim of South Korea. Fans of figure skating and former Olympic medalists have claimed that Adelina’s scores were unfairly inflated and that she was not adequately deducted for technical errors such as improper edge changes. Critics of the International Skating Union and the Olympics point to events such as those outlined above, where these organizations have placated and supported Russia instead of supporting fairness among athletes. The following incident only served to entrench this belief.
In 2022, a new scandal erupted in Beijing among the press and media, but it bore similar trappings to past Olympic scandals involving Russia. Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater participating in both the team and individual events, had tested positive for three different heart medications.
Of the three medications she tested positive for, only trimetazidine was banned. CAS had to decide whether or not to allow Valieva to skate. For Thilo Kalbarga (10), a tennis player, the answer was clear, and she believed that Valieva should not have been allowed to skate in the individual. Valieva and her backers were claiming that the positive drug test resulted from contamination with food and drink that had occurred when Valieva had been staying with her grandfather as he supposedly used trimetazidine. However, many believed that the presence of the other two medications weakened this argument. Aanshi Patel (10), a fan of figure skating who is familiar with the incident, believes that the defense provided was weak. Despite the positive drug test, the shaky defense, and the public outcry, CAS elected to allow Valieva to participate in the individual event to avoid further harm to her. However, the media circus, the CAS trial, and the pressure the situation applied undoubtedly weighed heavily on Kamila. The once-strong and steady skater fell and floundered in her free skate in the individual event, and she landed just off the podium in 4th place. Despite her loss in the individual, the damage had been done, and the medal ceremony for the team event had to be delayed pending an investigation into the doping violation.
On January 29, 2024, CAS ruled that Valieva was guilty of an anti-doping violation, would be under sanction, and had an ineligibility period for competition of 4 years starting on December 25, 2021. This ruling would also invalidate all of the points that Valieva had earned in both the team event and the individual. Based on this ruling, the Olympic team event medals were reorganized, with the United States winning gold, Japan winning silver, the Russian Olympic Committee winning bronze, and Canada winning 4th. Many believe that the reordering should have resulted in Canada winning the bronze over the Russians, as after Valieva’s points were removed, the points of those who skated against her were not upgraded. The Canadian appeal of the medal allocation is based on the premise above. However, others believe that the medal should go by default to the Canadians on the fundamental belief that the doping of one individual on the team should invalidate the scores of the whole Russian team. Mr. Skinner (English), an assistant soccer coach at Wheeler, believes this as she was a team member. The Russian team and related organizations have also filed appeals seeking first place in the competition.
It has been over two years since the Beijing Olympic Games, and there has yet to be a medal ceremony for the team event winners. The Russian and Canadian appeals regarding the reallocation have further delayed the allocation of medals to Team USA and Team Japan. Many figure skating fans are hoping for an expedited process that sees the medals allocated fairly; however, many aren’t holding their breath in anticipation.
