Why the US Figure Skating Team Just Got a Gold Medal at the Summer 2024 Olympics

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Under the Eiffel Tower in the summer heat, the US Figure Skating Team stepped up to receive their well-earned gold medal — just a little late and in the wrong season. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics champion were awarded their medals on August 7, two years after they competed, because the team that originally earned the top spot was disqualified after a doping scandal.

According to CNN, the Russian Olympic Committee originally won gold in the 2022 team event, with the US and Japan winning silver and bronze respectively. But no medals were awarded for that event because Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old Russian figure skater, was allowed to compete despite testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. The Court of Arbitration for Sport opted to hold medals until they'd reviewed the case, ultimately banning Valieva from the sport for four years. The decision, which came down last month, also included dropping Russia down to third place, bumping US figure skating to gold medal status.

So, the nine-person team — met with loud cheers — reassembled in Paris to claim the medal they were denied in Beijing two years ago.

The team consisted of Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim, and Vincent Zhou. Shortly after the Beijing Games, Nathan Chen told Teen Vogue that not receiving a physical medal at the Winter Olympics was unfair. “We all deserve a medal ceremony. We deserve to get that medal and we deserved to get that medal before we left,” he said at the time.

While not experiencing the medal ceremony in Beijing was upsetting, told NPR that the Paris ceremony was a redemption.

“We just wished we could celebrate a medal ceremony together, at an Olympics,” he told NPR. "We got that wish."

Still, the wait was long. Evan Bates told the Associated Press that it's unclear why it took two years for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to make their call. “I think two years is too long for this decision to be made, and we may never know why it has taken this long,” Bates said in July. “We’re just looking forward to getting some closure after a long waiting period.”

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue