Winter Olympics: IOC 'can't comment' on figure skating speculation

2 years ago 21

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The ROC claimed the team figure skating gold on Monday night

The International Olympic Committee refused to provide any more details on the ongoing "legal issue" which has prevented the awarding of the team figure skating medals at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams would not confirm which team or athlete was involved or whether a failed drugs test was the cause of the delay.

"I can't comment on speculation that I've seen overnight," he said at the daily media briefing held in Beijing on Thursday.

"We had a situation arise at short notice that has legal implications and I'm not going to comment on a legal case in a press conference."

The Russian Olympic Committee won gold on Monday, ahead of the United States and Japan.

They had a mini ceremony at the venue, in which they were handed Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen teddy bears.

However the official medal ceremony at a plaza in Beijing should have taken place on Tuesday evening and Adams could not give any timeframe for when the medals would now be handed out.

Without confirming if it was a doping issue, Adams said on a general point: "The IOC delegated testing, management and sanctioning to the Independent Testing Authority to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. It's an active legal case and I refer you to other partners."

Figure skaters who competed in the team event have continued in their individual events and have been practising. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old whose world-first quadruple helped her team win gold, was at the National Indoor Stadium on Thursday.

An International Testing Agency spokesperson said: "The ITA is aware of the various reports circulating regarding the postponed medal ceremony for the figure skating team event.

"Any announcement connected to these events would always be publicly issued on the ITA's website and not commented on otherwise. No such announcement has been published to date."

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