“Like Weight Had Been Lifted” – Olympian Madison Chock Opens Up About the Emotional Triumph of Winning Gold After Kamila Valieva’s Ban

The Olympic year is bringing back a lot of previous Olympic memories. As the adrenaline-fueled event is approaching, fans are preparing to bless their eyes with class-apart displays. Since it’s not an annual event, athletes toil for years to make big strides on this stage. But if athletes face minor adversities where they’re not to blame, the essence of the grandeur gets spoiled. Something similar happened years ago, especially with ice dancer Madison Chock and the team.

The multi-sport event was held in February, at the 24th edition of the Winter Olympic Games. 109 events across 15 disciplines. But the US figure skating team had faced a blow on account of a failed doping test of a Russian athlete, whose team stood on the gold podium that day. Fast forward to now, did the US get justice finally?

Madison Chock opened up on long-awaited justice

Today’s X handle has welcomed the athletes who didn’t get a chance to celebrate the gold podium in 2022. On the show, Madison Chock said, “I think its been very unexpected in ways we didn’t have much information and people would always ask us, ‘oh do you know anything?’ no, as much as anyone else knows and I just didn’t realize how much they have been weighing on me, probably weighing on all of us, and so we found out the news and it almost felt like weight had been lifted to feel this closure from the Beijing Games”. 

Kamila Valieva, the 17-year-old Russian figure was caught when she failed a doping test. As the news resurfaced, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), International Skating Union (ISU), and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have collectively put a four-year ban on her till 2025. So, naturally, the Russian gold finishers of Beijing came down to a sad bronze. Let’s see what another US skater Evan Bates had to say about clean sports.

Justice to the Clean Sport Movement

“For the legacy of clean sport, this is a landmark case“, said the legendary skater Evan Bates. He further added,  “It has brought some justice to the clean sport movement and I think clean athletes around the world will find some joy and solace in knowing clean sport matters.”

READ MORE: “So Proud”: After Securing Olympic Gold, US Figure Skater Karen Chen Garners Love From the Internet

Removing Valieva’s scores, the International Skating Union (ISU) has placed Russia in the second runners-up position. Japan has the silver place and is awaiting its official medal ceremony. Even Madison Chock looks forward to the “dream scenario” of receiving the medal in the Paris Olympics 2024.

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