Russian’s podium refusal after losing ice hockey gold to country of his birth at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Silver is the prize no one wants after a Winter Olympics ice hockey final. So Ivan Fedotov didn’t wear his medal.

The Russian goaltender held his medal in his hand instead of putting it around his neck after a 2-1 loss to Finland, the country of his birth.

Watch Fedotov’s ceremony refusal in the video above

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Under COVID protocols in place for Beijing 2022, athletes picked their own medals off platters during the ceremonies.

Several Russian players took possession of their silver medals without immediately placing them around their necks.

But by the end of proceedings only Fedotov had still refused to wear the runners-up token.

“It’s hard to accept that it isn’t gold,” he said.

“I’m an all-or-nothing person, and it’s hard to accept a defeat.

“I’ll definitely put it on and enjoy that, but later on.”

Fedotov, who was born in Finland with Russian-Finnish heritage and grew up in Russia, did indeed come around.

The 25-year-old wore the silver medal - and a smile - in a photo shared to his Instagram on Sunday night.

“Thank you! To all fans for support, faith and good luck,” he wrote in Russian.

“Goalkeeping team, players, coaches and staff, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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The NHL’s absence from Beijing 2022 made Fedotov, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect who has so far played his whole career in Russia, the Russian team’s starting goaltender.

With the team scoring few goals in their games, his saves made him a star.

“He carried our team the whole tournament,” former Buffalo Sabres forward Mikhail Grigorenko said