Kaori Sakamoto did not know how complicated it was going to be for Japan to receive its medals from the team figure skating event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and found herself wondering “why” as the doping scandal surrounding Russian skater Kamila Valieva meandered through the legal system.
As Sakamoto sat with her medal finally secure around her neck exactly 2½ years after that competition, the long wait and the uncertainty simply melted away into joy.
The Japanese figure skating team finally received its medals during a special victory ceremony held at the Paris Games on a sun-kissed day in the French capital on Wednesday. The wait ended for the United States team as well, with the Americans receiving their long-awaited gold medals.
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