PARIS – The ceremony was not about doping. For clean athletes, the Olympics never are. Doping frustrates, it disheartens and it distorts, but ultimately, what the athletes who talk about doping really want is to not talk about it at all. Eight American figure skaters received their gold medals here Wednesday, Winter Olympians getting 2022 medals at the 2024 Summer Games. Russian doping was the reason for the delay, but it was not the reason for the ceremony. The Americans got gold medals because they won the team event in Beijing.
“It symbolizes a lifetime of hard work,” skater Madison Chock said. “It means a lot to us, and we’re very grateful that we got to do it.”
