You may recall that a teeeeeny little doping scandal in Beijing resulted in the team figure skating scores being re-tallied, with the U.S. taking gold and Japan moving into silver. (Canada lost the appeal for bronze, because they only invalidated Kamila Valieva’s scores and not those of the whole Russian team, so they got to stay in third place. Boo! Hiss!) Well, those athletes FINALLY got to have a medal ceremony of sorts, and it was a doozy, in front of a raucous crowd at the Eiffel Tower. Honestly, this might have been the best possible outcome. Yeah, sure, the venue in the moment is a nice idea, but how about a free trip to the SUMMER GAMES???? In PARIS???!?!?!?
Let’s get all the winners in the frame:
For the U.S., and not in the correct order in EITHER photo I don’t think, it’s Madison Chock, Nathan Chen, Karen Chen, Brandon Frazier, Vincent Zhou, Zachary Donohue, Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell, Eric Bates, and Alexa Knierim. For Japan, it’s Riku Miura, Yuma Kagiyama, Ryuichi Kihara, Kaori Sakamoto, Wakaba Higuchi, Tim Koleto, and Misato Komatsubara. Congratulations to you all, and I sincerely hope you DID get to fly over for free and see whatever Olympic events your hearts desired. And that they sent the bill to Russia. Or, sorry, “Russian Olympic Committee.”
