The Beijing Olympics medals have not been awarded to US skaters since last year.

More than a year later, the American figure skater team still awaits their Beijing Olympics medals. Evan Bates, an ice dancer, stated Friday that it was painful to miss an “irreplaceable”.

The United States placed second in the team competition behind Russia, but the medal ceremony was canceled due to the Kamila Valieva doping scandal.

The International Olympic Committee refused to award medals until the case involving then-15-year-old, who was a key player for the Russian team, had been investigated.

This was the first Olympic medal not to be awarded for an event.

Bates claimed that the matter is still unresolved, more than a full year later.

“The worst disappointment is that the moment has passed and it is irreplaceable,” said Bates. He is currently competing alongside Madison Chock at the Japan world championships.

“We left without medals, but that’s not our fault. I’m proud of Team USA for how they’ve behaved over the past 12 month.”

Valieva was astonished when the Russian team won at the Beijing Games last February. They were ahead of the USA, Japan, and Canada.

Valieva was informed that she had tested positive for banned substances in December.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), ruled that she could participate in the singles event for women at the Games.

She was still charged with doping. The IOC decided to not award medals for the US team event.

Chock stated that she and Bates were competing in this week’s world champions in an effort to “get a nice gold here to soften the medal-shaped hole”.

She said, “It’s definitely an unfortunate event that happened.”

“We hope the process continues, and we’re going be patient and know things will work out for us.”

Bates stated that the US team was closer to each other because of the story.

He said, “The bond between us has been strengthened because we have gone through this together.”

“It’s kinda forged our friendship.”

amk/leg