Winter Olympics 2022 - IOC remains tight-lipped following team figure skating medal ceremony delay
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ByEurosport
Updated 10/02/2022 at 06:20 GMT
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) claimed gold in the figure skating team event, but the medal ceremony was delayed due to an ongoing legal issue. AP and others reported that Kamila Valieva was central to the delay. However, director of communications at the IOC, Mark Adams, said on Thursday it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing legal case.
Gold medalists Kamila Valieva, Anastasia Mishina, Aleksandr Galliamov, Victoria Sanitsina, Nikita Katsalapov, Mark Kondratiuk of Team Russia celebrate during the Team Event flower ceremony on day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital I
Image credit: Getty Images
The IOC said on Thursday it would not comment on the ongoing “legal issue” surrounding the continued delay of the medal ceremony for the team figure skating in Beijing.
AP, Reuters and others named 15-year-old Russian superstar Kamila Valieva as central to the delay.
The official medal ceremony should have taken place on Tuesday evening, but it was delayed due to “legal consultations” required with the governing body of skating.
Numerous reports named Valieva as being at the centre of the hold up after testing positive for a banned substance in January, but director of communications, Mark Adams, reiterated the IOC’s position on the matter on Thursday, saying he would not be commenting on the case.
“I am not going to comment on speculation that I have seen overnight,” began Adams.
“We had a situation arise yesterday that had legal implications and I am not going to comment on a legal case from the podium of a press conference because it would not be appropriate."
AP added that Valieva was at practice as normal on Thursday ahead of the individual competition.
Speculation has mounted on the details of the legal issue but – following overnight reports that the case may have involved a doping violation – Adams was reluctant to be drawn further.
“On the wider issue you said of a potential doping case,” he continued. “And - I think that is complete speculation – but in a general point, what I would remind you is that the IOC delegated both testing management and sanctioning in doping cases to ITA (International Testing Agency) and CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest and I won’t be having anything more to say on that.”
An appeal could potentially go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport should any athlete or team be disqualified.
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