In the aftermath of Kamila Valieva's disqualification in a doping case, the Russian figure skating team was declared to be awarded bronze medals from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, as announced by the sport's governing body on Tuesday.
The U.S. now holds the title of Olympic champion in the team event, while Japan has been promoted to silver from bronze.
Despite the demotion of the Russian team, they still secure third place by a mere one point ahead of Canada, even after being stripped of the points earned by star skater Valieva on the ice.
Valieva was disqualified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday from all of her events since December 2021 and banned for four years in a doping case that took almost two years to resolve.
She was 15 during the Beijing Olympics and will turn 18 in April.
The International Skating Union published an amended points table from the Beijing competition that deducted Valieva’s maximum 10 points from each of her two events but did not add an extra point to the other teams below her.
The final decision on awarding medals rests with the International Olympic Committee, which the ISU said was consulted before completing its duty as the event organizer to amend the result.
"The ISU is in close contact with the International Olympic Committee and the relevant ISU member federations regarding the implementation of this decision,” the governing body said.
The decision could be open to legal challenge by Canada because other teams did not have their points increased to account for Valieva's disqualification.
Canada still receives eight points out of 10 from the women’s short program and free skate sections, where its skater was Madeline Schizas. Japan still gets nine points each time for originally finishing second to Valieva, through Wakaba Higuchi in the short program and Kaori Sakamoto in the free skate.
Canada’s overall points total remains 53, and the Russians’ tally drops from 74 to 54 – enough for the bronze medals, which Valieva's teammates will receive but she will not.
The Canadian Skate Federation could potentially challenge the ISU decision at CAS.
Skate Canada did not address the question of medal reallocation in a statement on Monday. It praised the ruling to disqualify Valieva, stating that it "underscores the significance of stringent anti-doping measures and the need for continuous vigilance in protecting the integrity of figure skating and all sports.”
A Canadian appeal to the court in Lausanne, Switzerland, could extend the case for about another year.
That would stall a medal ceremony, which did not take place in Beijing because details of Valieva's positive test for a banned heart medicine emerged hours after she skated and sealed the Russian win.
In Russia on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Valieva and her five teammates from two years ago were still considered winners.
"Upon their return from China, we honored these athletes as Olympic champions," Peskov said. "We are convinced that they will always remain Olympic champions to us, whatever decisions may be taken in that regard, even unfair ones.”
The IOC executive board has its next scheduled meeting from March 19-21 in Lausanne, at the same time Canada is hosting the figure skating world championships in Montreal.
The Olympic leadership is in South Korea for the Youth Winter Games and could address the skating medal issue there.
