Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics

The figure skating events at the 2022 Winter Olympics took place from 4 to 20 February at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, ice dance, and the team event. Nathan Chen of the United States won the men's event; Anna Shcherbakova, representing the Russian Olympic Committee, won the women's event; Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China won the pairs event, and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the ice dance event. The figure skating events were overshadowed by scandal when it came to light that a positive test confirming the presence of a banned substance was received from a sample submitted by Kamila Valieva of Russia. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Valieva had to be allowed to compete in the individual women's event while the investigation was on-going. The team representing the Russian Olympic Committee originally finished in first place in the team event; however, the medal ceremony was postponed after Valieva's test results were announced. After nearly two years of litigation, Valieva's scores were stricken, and the newly-tabulated results awarded the gold medals to the team from the United States.

WWW beijing2022.cn/en/olympic...

Background

In 2016, an independent report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed allegations that the Russian Olympic team had been involved in a state-sponsored doping program, active from at least late 2011 through August 2015. On 9 December 2019, the WADA banned Russia from all international competitions after it found that data provided by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had been manipulated by Russian authorities in order to protect athletes involved in its doping scheme. Under a ban imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Russian athletes could not use the Russian flag or anthem in international competition and had to present themselves as "Neutral Athletes" or a "Neutral Team" at any world championships until 16 December 2022. On 19 February 2021, it was announced that Russian athletes would compete under the name of the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
A total of five events were contested: men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, ice dance, and the team event. Beginning with this season, the International Skating Union changed the name of the women's event from "ladies' singles" to "women's singles".

Qualification

A total of 144 quota spots were available to athletes to compete in figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Each National Olympic Committee was allowed to enter a maximum of 18 skaters, with a maximum of nine men or nine women. The results of the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships determined 83 total spots: 24 entries each in men's and women's singles, 16 in pair skating, and 19 in ice dance. The remaining quota spots were allocated based on the results of the 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy.

Nations

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Team event

Skater

Armenia|2022 Winter

Team event

For the team event, scores from the 2021 World Championships and the 2021–22 Grand Prix Series were tabulated to establish the ten top nations. Each nation compiled a score from their top performers in each of the four disciplines.

Nation

Total

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Entries

Countries began announcing their selections following the 2021 World Championships. The International Skating Union published a complete list of entries on 26 January 2022. Skaters or teams denoted with ● were eligible for the team event only.
;Note

Competition schedule

All times are in local time, according to the official schedule.

Date	Time	Event
4 February	9:55	Team event (men's short program)
4 February	11:35	Team event (ice dance rhythm dance)
4 February	13:15	Team event (pairs' short program)
6 February	9:30	Team event (women's short program)
6 February	11:50	Team event (men's free skating)
7 February	9:15	Team event (pairs' free skating)
7 February	10:30	Team event (ice dance free dance)
7 February	11:35	Team event (women's free skating)
8 February	9:15	Men's short program
10 February	9:30	Men's free skating
12 February	19:00	Ice dance rhythm dance
14 February	9:15	Ice dance free dance
15 February	18:00	Women's short program
17 February	18:00	Women's free skating
18 February	18:30	Pairs' short program
19 February	19:00	Pairs' free skating
20 February	12:00	Exhibition gala

Records

The following new record high scores were set during this competition.

Date	Skater	Event	Segment	Score
4 February		Team event (Pairs)	Short program	82.83
8 February		Men's singles	Short program	113.97
12 February		Ice dance	Rhythm dance	90.83
14 February		Ice dance	Total score	226.98
18 February		Pair skating	Short program	84.41
19 February		Pair skating	Total score	239.88

Kamila Valieva controversy

The medal ceremony for the team event, originally scheduled for 8 February, was delayed over what International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams described as a situation that required "legal consultation" with the International Skating Union. Media outlets reported on Wednesday that the issue was a positive test, administered in December 2021, for trimetazidine by Kamila Valieva, which was officially confirmed on 11 February. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency, under suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2015 for its years of serving solely to hide the positive doping results of Russian athletes, cleared Valieva to compete on 9 February, a day after the December test results were released. The IOC and the International Skating Union appealed that decision.
On 14 February, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Valieva be allowed to compete in the individual women's event, on grounds that preventing her from competing "would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances", though her gold medal in the team event was still under consideration. The favorable decision from the Court was made in part due to her age, as minor athletes were subject to different rules than adult athletes. The IOC announced that the medal ceremony would not take place until the investigation was over and there was a concrete decision of whether to strip Russia of their medals.
In mid-November, the WADA requested that CAS take up the review of the case, seeking a four-year suspension of Valieva, which would exclude her from competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and to disqualify all of her results dating back to the date of her positive drug test. WADA President Witold Bańka wrote that "the Russian Anti-Doping Agency did not meet a WADA-imposed Nov. 4 deadline to deliver a verdict on Valiyeva's case." In January 2023, RUSADA cleared Valieva of any wrongdoing. Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency stated bluntly: "WADA and the ISU have to appeal this decision, for the sake of the credibility of the anti-doping system and the rights of all athletes. The world can’t possibly accept this self-serving decision by RUSADA, which in the recent past has been a key instrument of Russia’s state sponsored doping fraud and is non-compliant. Justice demands a full, fair, public hearing outside of Russia."
On 29 January 2024, the CAS disqualified Valieva for four years retroactive to 25 December 2021 for the positive test for trimetazidine, which they ruled constituted an anti-doping rule violation. On 30 January 2024, the ISU, among other actions, subtracted Valieva's points from Russia's score in the team event without changing any other scores, and re-allocated the medals, upgrading the United States and Japan to gold and silver, respectively, while downgrading Russia to bronze. The American and Japanese teams finally received their medals at a ceremony which took place on 7 August 2024 at at the Jardins du Trocadéro during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.