Olympic Skaters Still Missing Medals 500 Days Later
Boxes that should contain the medals of members of the U.S. figure skating team who finished in second place in the Beijing Olympics last year sit empty in a display case Thursday, June 22, 2023, in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo. The figure skaters are waiting for their medals while a doping case involving a Russian skater plays out. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
U.S. ice dancers Evan Bates and Madison Chock remember the empty feeling as they trod back to their rooms in Beijing, not long after being told that the ceremony to present their Olympic medals had been called off.
Before going to sleep, one final blow: On their beds sat empty black-and-gold boxes, with notes inside signed from IOC President Thomas Bach. “An Olympic medal is forever,” the note began. The boxes were supposed to be the perfect spot for the skaters to place the medals they never received.
Five-hundred days later, the medals remain somewhere in storage because of yet another sordid and as-yet-unresolved doping case to come out of Russia. The nine empty boxes, one belonging to each U.S. skater who finished second in the Olympic team event, are now sitting under glass as part of an exhibit at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum that opened Thursday to commemorate the 500 days since the medals ceremony in Beijing was abruptly canceled.
“As the time has gone by, it almost feels like it didn’t happen at times,” Chock said. “And when we think about it, it’s hard not to get emotional and just feel kind of sad about the whole situation, and how it’s turned out and how long it’s taking to be handled.”
In an unprecedented move, Olympic officials decided not to award medals at the games after news that 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, who had led Russia to a first-place finish, had tested positive for a performance enhancer months earlier.
That case has been subject to anti-doping and legal hearings in Beijing, Russia and Switzerland. In an ironic twist, news came Thursday — Day 500 — that the Court of Arbitration for Sport had finally set dates to hear the Valieva case and potentially settle it, once and for all. The dates, Sept. 26-29, means it could be pushing two years before the Americans receive their medals, whether they be silver or gold.
“You want to cross the finish line and be awarded for that race, or for what you have accomplished in that moment," Bates said. "The exclamation point on the sentence is not supposed to come, like, 10 sentences later, or in the next paragraph.”
For the most part, the residuals that often stem from an athlete's Olympic moment have not come their way either. For most of the skaters, the prospect of media tours, post-Olympic shows, sponsorships and the like have been waylaid. Most are well aware that many moments that were supposed to feel celebratory would eventually lead back to the same query: “Where's your medal?”
“At this stage, you can't possibly salvage what they would've earned if they had stood on the podium when the world was watching,” said Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
The Americans aren't the only people wronged in this affair. The Japanese team that finished third never received medals and the Canadian team that finished fourth could be due for them, as well, if Russia is disqualified. There's also the case of Valieva, who was 15 at the time of the Olympics and is widely seen as an unwitting victim whose health and fitness, to say nothing of her medical needs and prescriptions, were in the hands of coaches and handlers in her circle.
When Tracy Marek began as CEO of U.S. Figure Skating in January, the still-unresolved medals case was at the top of her in-box.
“In my opinion, the common American out there would be shocked right now,” Marek said. “In retrospect, they might say, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember that.’ But they would probably be shocked to know that these athletes have achieved one of sports' greatest accomplishments and they've received an empty box.”
When the case is resolved, the skaters won't be unlike the dozens of Olympians over decades who have received their medals in “alternate” ceremonies — at malls, or at subsequent Olympics or world and national championships.
Bates and Chock recalled the emotional meeting they had with Bach, the leader of the International Olympic Committee, the day after their ceremony had been canceled. They still have the Olympic torches he offered them as a goodwill gesture while the medals were sorted out.
“He assured us that when this was resolved, they would do everything to create a medals ceremony that suited our expectations,” Bates said. “To which we said, ‘Well, we would like it yesterday.'”
Five-hundred days later, they wait. Some of their teammates have decided to call it a career, knowing their best days are behind them, and that their best day of all has yet to be commemorated.
“If I could change anything about the antidoping movement, it would be, just improve the transparency and improve the time frame,” Bates said. "The shelf life for an Olympic athlete is short. We think in four-year cycles and it's almost been two years. It's such a shame this moment hasn't taken place and there's still no closure or resolution to this so many months later.”
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
* **Damage Control at the White House:** President Trump will meet with his cabinet today after widespread criticism of his comments spread following Monday's joint meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. To appease his base,Trump declared yesterday that he simply misspoke during the presser--but some critics find that hard to believe.
* **Manafort Goes to Court:** The case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is moving forward--despite a denial of his team's request for a change of location. Manafort's team asked for the trial to be moved from Alexandria to Roanoke, believing that Alexandria's more liberal base would be less forgiving and attract more press.
* **University Doctor Under Fire:** A former Ohio State University doctor is accused of molesting student athletes after complaints surfaced from several ex-wrestlers--one of whom condemned is Congressman Jim Jordan for ignoring the allegations.
* **Vacancies at Comic-Con:** The 2018 Comic-Con kicks of in San Diego tonight. But some of the usual attendees will be missing: network HBO, the Avengers, X-Men and Deadpool will be among the absent guests.
* **American League Still Number One:** The American league clung to its title as reigning champ after it defeated the National League for the sixth straight year during last night's MLB All-Star game.
Cheddar Big News' Hena Doba gives us the details.
The golf superstar signed with TaylorMade back in 2017 but was out of the game that year due to a back surgery and a reckless driving incident. Since then, things have turned around for Woods. He's preparing to play in the British Open in just a few days and his "ball striking is terrific, his putting is great, and I think he’s in a great position right now to challenge,” says TaylorMade CEO David Abeles.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
Trump Faces Bipartisan Backlash
Russian Woman Charged With Election Meddling
Hawaii's 'Lava Bomb' Injures Tourists
Deadly Fire Near Yosemite National Park Doubles
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in Helsinki, Finland, days after the indictment of 12 Russian operatives for trying to disrupt the 2016 election.
*A federal judge blasts the HHS giving them one more week to reunite 2,000 families at the border after the administration missed the initial deadline.
*Protests erupted in Chicago over the weekend after a popular barber was shot and killed by the police.
*Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon titles over the weekend. And France took home the World Cup.
Cheddar's Hope King gives us the details.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump is in England preparing for a joint news conference with Theresa May. While the duo dined last night, The Sun newspaper published a sit-down interview with the president where he criticized May’s handling of Brexit. Trump warned trade deals with England could be nixed if Brexit isn’t handled properly.
*FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from working on the Hillary Clinton email probe and the Trump-Russia investigation after text messages were discovered in which he criticized the president.
*Stormy Daniels made an encore appearance at the same strip club she was arrested at the night prior.
*A Kansas City water park will not reopen after a 10-year-old boy died on a water slide.
*Serena Williams beat Julia Görges of Germany yesterday to reach her 10th Wimbledon final.
Cheddar Big News's Jill Wagner gives us the details.
The Olympic gold medalist hosts “Wedding Cake Championship,” a new show on Food Network, with longtime friend and fellow figure skater Johnny Weir. While the new gig is worlds different from their athletic careers, there are still some similarities. “The competition part of it was fun,” Lipinski tells Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* Confusion at the NATO summit after President Trump said allies will add billions of dollars to defense spending. But French president Emmanuel Macron rebuffed those claims.
* Stormy Daniels was arrested after an alleged misdemeanor at a Columbus, Ohio, strip club. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has also been working to reunite families at the southern border.
* The U.S. Senate voted yesterday on a non-binding resolution giving it a say on what tariffs are levied and against whom.
* New evidence prompted the Department of Justice reopened the case of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1955 in Money, Miss.
* John Schnatter, founder and former CEO of Papa John’s, has resigned his chairman role after a racially-charged comment on a conference call.
* Americans made it to both the men’s and women’s Wimbledon semifinals, the first time since 2009.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner tells us the latest.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
The NATO Summit got off to a heated start as President Trump already criticized member countries for not paying their fair share of defense spending.
The Trump administration also missed its promised deadline to reunite dozens of migrant families.
A natural gas leak in Sun Prairie, Wisc., turned deadly when an explosion erupted for several hours.
Brett Kavanaugh, the president's pick for the open Supreme Court seat, met on Capitol Hill with the vice president and senators yesterday.
The NFL Players Association is challenging the anti-kneeling policy, which requires players to remain in the locker room if they choose to protest the national anthem.
Hurricane Chris makes its way up the East Coast, but shouldn't make a major impact on land.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner gives us the details.
France kicked Belgium out of the championship tournament on Tuesday. Some of the team's success so far can be attributed to its coach, Didier Deschamps, who captained the 1998 title-winning team and can convey that experience to his players, says Jeffrey Marcus, publisher of The Banter.
After Croatia's long-fought match against Russia on Saturday, the team may not have the stamina to beat England this week. "Croatia's had to play two very long 120-minute games followed by penalty shootouts," says Mike Murphy, deputy editor at Quartz. "That'll work in England's favor."
