U.S. figure skating team awarded gold medals in Paris after a 2-year delay

PARIS — Finally. At long last.

In a ceremony at Paris's Champions Park, near the Eiffel Tower, members of the U.S. figure skating team were honored with Olympic gold medals.

"That was amazing, more than I could have ever dreamed of," said a grinning Vincent Zhou, speaking to reporters after the ceremony. "Everything has come full circle now."

The event Wednesday — which unfolded at the Paris Summer Olympics — followed two years of controversy and legal wrangling sparked by a doping scandal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games involving star Russian skater Kamila Valieva.

During those Olympics, Valieva led her Russian team to a gold medal win with a masterful routine. After Valieva competed, however, it was revealed that she had tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug in the months before the Winter Games.

Nine Americans were granted the gold medal, after a final ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month upheld a four-year ban for Valieva while disqualifying her Beijing performance.

During a packed outdoor ceremony a crowd cheered, held up American flags and chanted "USA! USA!" as the names of the nine American athletes were read out.

Those honored are Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue,, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim, and Vincent Zhou.

Speaking Wednesday, American skater Alexa Knierim said their performance on the ice in Beijing deserved to be finally recognized. "It was electrifying and it was part of our team’s effort to win gold," she said. "I wouldn’t have done anything differently."

Nathan Chen, one of the stars of the American team, said being honored at a special event in Paris could never replace the proper medal ceremony that should have happened in Beijing.

But he said the ceremony here did allow the team to come together in a way that brought closure.

"Our Olympics was the Beijing Olympics, so it would have been cool to have it in Beijing," Chen said. "But at the same time, we just wished we could celebrate a medal ceremony together, at an Olympics. We got that wish."

Members of Japan's figure skating team, which originally placed third, were also honored at the ceremony with the silver medal. Russia, which fell from first to third, was not present to receive the bronze medal.