“Deserve to Get That Medal”: Nathan Chen Disheartened For Not Receiving His Medal Due to Russian Conflict at Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

Nathan Chen became the Olympic champion after his stunning performance to the tunes of “Rocket Man”. He earned the top score and grabbed the Gold Medal at the Men’s Figure Skating Programme at the Beijing Winter Olympics. However, this was not his only medal.

The United States team finished second in the Team event. But as it was the Russian team that finished first, the medal ceremony for the same was not held and the US team too did not receive their silver medals. This was very frustrating, as the athletes worked really hard and earned their rightful place on the podium.

Now, Nathan has spoken openly about this issue and expressed how he thinks they rightfully deserved the medal.

Nathan Chen waiting on his silver medal along with Team US

Nathan Chen went into this Olympics with a different motto. He wanted to have fun and enjoy the experience of the mega sporting event, rather than fully concentrate on winning medals. He knew that this one edition of the Olympics will not define his career and so, at that moment, it was all about pursuing his passion.

READ MORE: US Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Chen Makes a Doubtful Claim on His Future in Figure Skating Post Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

Chen won the Gold Medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics. But he also led team USA in the Team event and won bagged the silver medal. However, due to a Russian figure skater testing positive for a banned substance, the medal ceremony was not held. It was decided earlier if the Russian figure skater was part of any podium finish, then the medal ceremony for that event would not take place.

This means that Nathan and his teammates haven’t yet received their deserving silverware.

“We all deserve a medal ceremony. We deserve to get that medal and we deserved to get that medal before we left,” said the 22-year-old World Champion.

Chen and his teammates even wrote an appeal to the International Olympic Committee. However, the decision wasn’t reversed, and the athletes had to leave without the medal that they rightfully won.

Chen opens up about Vincent Zhou testing positive for Covid-19

The United States team was shocked to find out that their team member, Vincent Zhou, had tested positive for Covid right before the team event. Zhou is an extremely talented figure skater, and it was not easy to perform without him. He was an integral part of the team.

“My heart goes out to this kid…I can’t even imagine how difficult it must have been. He clearly is a person who takes covid very seriously and did a lot to prevent it, so it just seems so crazy that this happened to him,” said Chen.

What frustrated Nathan more was that the team wasn’t allowed to contact Vincent at all. And even though he had tested negative by the time of the closing ceremony, Zhou wasn’t allowed to attend it.

WATCH: Rare Footage of Nathan Chen Goofing Around with Team USA At Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

Do you think it is right of the IOC to not award team USA a prize that’s rightfully theirs, even due to conflicts not concerning them?