Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee in action at the Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China, February 7, 2022. – Reuters pic
BEIJING, Feb 9 – The Beijing Olympics medal ceremony for the figure skating team event won by Russian skaters has been delayed due to an unspecified “legal consultation”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said today.
There were no further details given for the delay, which added to questions after four Russian skaters, including 15-year-old sensation Kamila Valieva, did not attend training.
The ceremony had initially been moved to yesterday evening from Monday before being postponed indefinitely.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team won gold on Monday with Valieva landing the first quadruple jumps by a woman in Olympic competition. The United States took silver and Japan bronze.
“A situation arose at short notice that requires legal consultation,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said.
“You can bet your bottom dollar we are doing everything that this situation can be resolved as soon as possible. I cannot give you any more details but we will do our utmost.”
Adams said the ceremony would take place as soon as possible.
‘Wait for explanations’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they would wait for official statements before commenting.
“As of now, we heard no official statements and let us judge based on them, because we are currently based on media reports only,” Peskov told a daily news briefing.
“We should either wait for explanations from sports officials, including our sports officials, or from the IOC.”
Valieva was one of the four ROC athletes, along with pairs dancers Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, and Mark Kondratiuk, who did not appear at their practice sessions today. It was unclear why.
Kondratiuk also represented the ROC team and competed in yesterday’s individual short programme. He advanced to the finals scheduled tomorrow.
Russian athletes are competing in Beijing as representatives of the ROC rather than their home nation due to doping sanctions.
The only ROC skaters to train were team ice dancers Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov.
The International Skating Union (ISU) did not provide any details on the reason for the delay other than also citing “legal consultations,” in an emailed response to Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian Olympic Committee or the International Testing Agency (ITA), which is in charge of doping controls during the Olympics. – Reuters