The Case of the Missing Olympic Gold Medals
The most important and uncertain Olympic event this year is happening this week. It might just result in a gold medal for Americans and humiliation for Russians. And nobody can watch it.
A closed-door hearing into a doping case that upended the last Winter Olympics begins Tuesday in Switzerland, with the teenage figure skater at the heart of the matter videoconferencing in from Russia. The case will inch international sports organizations closer to finally deciding who actually won the Olympic team figure skating event in Beijing in February 2022—though the athlete’s fate is only a tiny part of the ultimate set of considerations that have left medals in limbo for 18 months already. The Court of Arbitration for Sport is considering whether to void all results obtained by Kamila Valieva on or after Dec.
25, 2021, the date she tested positive for a banned heart drug while winning the Russian national championships. The International Skating Union and World Anti-Doping Agency want her results wiped out—including from the Olympic Games. The problem is that the one result that matters isn’t a result obtained solely by Valieva at all, but that of the team representing the Russian Olympic Committee.
She clinched victory for the ROC in the team event hours before the news came of her positive test. The revelation prompted the International Olympic Committee and International Skating Union to postpone the team medal ceremony, since there was no way to tell who would ultimately be deemed the rightful recipients. They don’t know even now.
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