PARIS — Vincent Zhou was planning to spend the summer as an intern at a financial services company in New York when word broke that he and his U.S. figure skating teammates would finally be awarded their medal — a gold one now — from the contested, controversial 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The Brown University student, who had moved on from a life of competition, checked the dates. He would have to ask for a week off from work.
“I said, ‘Um, I’m going to Paris to get a gold medal at the Olympics,’” Zhou joked.
Not a bad excuse, as excuses go.
Zhou and his teammates were all smiles here Wednesday, the end of a long and difficult 2½-year path to rectifying the disgrace that was the Beijing figure skating competition.
The Americans were cheated out of gold on the ice when it was later revealed Russian superstar Kamila Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance two months before the Winter Games began.
The U.S. won silver that night and will forever be denied the thrill of a full victory. As the scandal around Valieva overwhelmed the Games, the question of what to do with the figure skating team medals hung in the air.
The IOC didn’t want to hand anything out in Beijing because so much information was still unknown, let alone whatever appeals process might occur. If they gave the Russians the gold, they probably weren’t getting them back.
That meant the Americans didn’t get any medal — gold or silver. Same with Japan, which finished third in scoring, but actually second once Russia got busted. Then there were the Canadians, who finished fourth, but could be elevated to a bronze.
What seemed simple to rectify wasn’t, of course. On and on it all went, the alphabet soup of international sport making rulings and then more rulings, all while the Russians stomped their feet and delayed the process. Months passed. Then a year. Then another.
The Americans — Zhou, Nathan Chen, Karen Chen, Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubble and Alexa Knierim — were left to deal with confusion and uncertainty.
Every time they got their hopes up, some new hurdle would appear.
Meanwhile, there were lives to live. Some went off to college. Some retired. Some got married. Maddison Hubble had a child.
When team members met someone new and it came up they were in the Olympics, they were often asked if they won a medal. Well … kind of?
“I would just be like, ‘It is a long story,’” Nathan Chen said with a laugh.
Finally the word came down: Come to Paris and receive your medal. And so there the Americans were Wednesday, all wearing winter Olympic warm-ups out of place on an August Parisian afternoon.
“Easily the warmest [medal ceremony],” Nathan Chen said. “The [winter] ones are always freezing. We have hand warmers in our pockets. This time we are sweating.”
They beamed with delayed delight anyway.
Golds were draped over necks. The Star Spangled Banner was played. As a bonus, family and friends who couldn’t attend the Beijing Games due to strict COVID protocols were in the audience cheering and chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A.”
“It was very special to see my mom and dad waving and crying to me,” Knierim said.
The Eiffel Tower stood in the backdrop.
“Incredible,” Zhou said.
“Unbelievable, right?” Chen added.
No, this didn’t make up for what happened in Beijing, those dark and lonely and suspicious Olympics where no one knew what was going on, only that it wasn’t fair or honest.
Neither in some ways was even this. The IOC didn’t fully punish the Russians, they just moved them down to bronze behind the U.S. and Japan. The Canadians got nothing.
“My heart goes out to them,” Zhou said.
Of course, the Russians didn’t show up for the medal ceremony — they are banned from these Olympics for invading Ukraine. The third-place spot on the podium was awkwardly empty.
At least justice was done for the Americans and the Japanese. No, not the same as if they could have shared that joy of winning in Beijing. And no, nothing makes up for the two-plus years of bureaucracy and nonsense and lies.
But there have been plenty of athletes cheated out of medals through the years. At least this one got it right, eventually.
“I feel almost privileged in a way because there are many people who deserve the same thing and won’t get it,” Zhou said.
Besides, Paris is Paris, especially with a gold medal hanging around your neck. Certainly a worthy reason to miss a week at the office.
Source Agencies
