A touch of winter came to the Summer Games on Wednesday when the United States figure skating team finally got its gold medals as 2022 Olympic champions.
The special medal ceremony allowed the nine Americans to parade on a runway in the bright Paris sunshine, gaze at the Eiffel Tower and bask in warm cheers from the fans packed into the stands at Champions Park.
Exactly 2 1/2 years after the figure skating team event ended at the Beijing Olympics and the doping saga of the winning Russian team started the Americans got the medals that weren't awarded at the time.
I think it absolutely was worth the wait. Definitely, said Karen Chen, wearing the first gold medal of her career around her neck.
All nine American skaters came to Paris, including Evan Bates, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou. Seven of the eight members of the Japan team came to get their silver medals an upgrade from their third-place result
