Zhou, who performed in the men’s free skate in the team event — Nathan Chen performed in the short program — was still processing the news on Tuesday afternoon.

“I could hardly believe it, it’s been such an unchartered territory,” he told TeamUSA.com when reached via telephone at Brown University, where he is a full-time student. “The proceedings (with CAS) were quite opaque. Even the athletes directly involved really did not know what was going on. We didn’t know what to think; we didn’t know what to expect. And so finally sharing the news after two years was completely unexpected.”

The news is especially poignant for Zhou, who was unable to compete in the individual men’s event in Beijing due to a positive COVID-19 test prior to the short program. After seriously considering retirement, he fought through depression to win a bronze medal at the 2022 world championships, held a month after the Games.

“I’m experiencing emotions that I can’t put a name to, and there are so many layers to the story,” Zhou said. “I have not been able to unpack all of it, especially as I’m still just going about my classes and my schedule. (The Olympics) were a different world. And I don’t have a tangible item or physical activity related to (skating) going on right now. So it just feels kind of surreal all around.”

It has yet to be determined where, and when, the medal ceremony will be held. In a communication on Monday, the ISU confirmed it had disallowed Valieva’s results in the women’s portion of the team event. However, it let the results of the other members of the ROC team stand. Under this scenario, Team USA wins gold, while Japan takes silver and ROC the bronze. Canada, whose team placed fourth in the event, has announced that it is considering an appeal to CAS.

“There is no scenario at this point in which Team USA is not the gold medal winners, and so we’re focused on getting those gold medals awarded to Team USA,” Hirshland said. “Even in my conversations with the IOC last night, they are as eager as we are. And the number one priority is to allow the team (members) to really weigh in and ensure that they have the opportunity to help us craft what that celebration should look like.”

Possibilities discussed include a ceremony at the upcoming world championships in Montreal, as well as this summer’s Paris Games.

“It doesn’t have to be a ceremony with all three of the gold, silver, bronze (medals) awarded in the same place at the same time,” Hirshland said. “So we’ve got a bit of flexibility to think about what’s going to be best for Team USA, independent of what may be best for Japan, and ultimately ROC or Canada.”

Chock called having a ceremony in Paris this summer “a dream scenario.”

“I remember when all of this initially happened, the first thing that came to everyone’s mind was well, we would love to have a true Olympic medal ceremony,” she said. “And so for us, that would be a medal ceremony at the Paris Games this summer.”

Zhou, too, sees the Paris Games as good choice, but he is open to suggestions, so long has his parents, siblings and support team can be there to savor the moment with him.

“My honest answer is I don’t know,” he said. “I find a lot of people are saying 2024 Olympics, but those are summer Olympics. Some people are saying 2026 Olympics, but that’s so far away, and it doesn’t feel right to delay it another two years. Some people are saying the world championships in Montreal.

“I think I will just go with the flow. I will take anything that I can get at this point because it’s been 721 days. It’s been 721 days of nothing.”

Lynn Rutherford has covered five Olympic Games, including the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing for TeamUSA.com. Based in New York, she is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

After Two-Year Wait, Team USA Figure Skaters Are Awarded Olympic Gold

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