US figure skaters at Olympics deprived of their medals is ‘frankly unfair,’ USOPC exec says

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The decision to withhold the medals won by American figure skaters in the team event competition while an investigation into the Kamila Valieva scandal is ongoing is "frankly unfair to the athletes," U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) CEO Sarah Hirshland said Thursday.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) determined it will not award any medals from competitions Valieva takes part in after it is determined whether she failed a drug test leading up to the Beijing Games. It means Team USA, which won silver in the team competition, will not get medals until the investigation is over.

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United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland speaks during a press conference at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

"There's no question that our team wants to go home with the medals in their hands," Hirschland told The Associated Press. "That's just a reality we're all dealing with right now."

The 15-year-old figure skater tested positive for three different substances meant to improve heart function in a sample taken before her arrival to Beijing, according to The New York Times. Documents reviewed by paper revealed that the lab in Stockholm that first detected the presence of trimetazidine in her sample taken on Dec. 25 at the 2022 Russian Figure Skating Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia, also showed evidence of two other substances not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

According to a brief filed by the WADA, Valieva listed the substances on a doping control form: L-carnitine and Hypoxen.

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