Feb 9, 2022 1 min read

Olympic figure skating ceremony delayed, ROC doping suspected

The Russian Olympic Committee ('ROC') may be stripped of its gold medal won in the team figure skating event after being caught in another Winter Olympics doping controversy. This comes after the event's medal ceremony, was suddenly delayed due to the need for "legal consultations," it had been confirmed by the IOC.

USA Today and Insidethegames are reporting the legal matter relates to a positive doping test from an unnamed member of the gold-medal winning ROC team. Allegedly this positive result came from pre-Games testing and is holding up confirmation of the final result by way of the medal ceremony whilst an investigation is underway.

If the development is accurate, that even one member of the team has committed an anti-doping rule violation, then the entire ROC figure skating team, under Article 11 of both the IOC Anti-Doping Rules Applicable to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and the ISU Anti-Doping Rules, could be disqualified and stripped of its gold medal. The Rules also state the matter will be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport Anti-Doping Division.

The United States were silver medalists, Japan claimed the bronze, whilst Canada finished in fourth place in the team event.

Earlier, at an IOC media conference in Beijing, the medal ceremony delay was discussed, where a spokesman Mr Mark Adams provided a one-sentence statement from the International Skating Union ('ISU') “A situation arose today at short notice which requires legal consultation with the ISU.”

Russian athletes are only allowed to compete at Olympic Games under the ROC moniker rather than their own country's flag as part of sanctions for systematic doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. However, both in Pyeonchang 2018 and seemingly in Beijing, athletes have still recorded anti-doping rule violations.

No further announcements have yet been made about the matter.