Paris 2024 Olympic Games: reallocated medals can be presented to athletes at the foot of the Eiffel Tower

Les médailles pourront être remises non loin de la tour Eiffel. MAXPPP – Vincent Isore

The International Olympic Committee added on Wednesday March 20 a new option for Olympic medal re-awarding ceremonies, which can now be held at the “Champions Park" of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

This measure could particularly apply to the team figure skating event of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the podium of which was reshuffled at the end of January after the suspension for doping of the young Russian Kamila Valieva: the Americans immediately made it known that they wanted to receive their gold medal in Paris.

For the moment, the IOC Executive Board has not scheduled any specific ceremony, but adopted a recommendation from its Athletes' Commission on Wednesday, increasing the possibilities for re-awarding a medal to seven.

In addition to "the following edition of the Olympic Games", for reallocations after the 2018 Olympic Games, the athletes concerned could already choose between a discount during the Youth Olympic Games, at the IOC headquarters or at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, by their national Olympic committee or their international federation, or during a private ceremony.

A free space open to all

"As an exception", the IOC Athletes' Commission has "decided to recommend the addition" of the Parc des Champions, explains its president Emma Terho in a press release. Installed in the Trocadéro gardens in Paris, this vast free space open to all was designed so that athletes can celebrate their medals with the general public.

This possibility will be offered to athletes "whose reattribution has already been approved by the IOC Executive Board before the 2024 Olympic Games, but who have not had their ceremony", and provided that "all possible avenues of appeal are exhausted by the sanctioned athletes or teams", specifies the Olympic body.

The podium of the skating event in 2022 not concerned

This last condition could prevent the podium of the team skating event of the 2022 Beijing Olympics from being held, more than two years late: at the end of February, the Russian skaters and Canadians have in fact taken the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to contest the final ranking, claiming first and third place respectively.

After the four-year suspension of Kamila Valieva, who had propelled her teammates to the lead in the event by achieving the first women's quadruple jump in Olympic history, the International Skating Federation had deducted the young girl's points from the total obtained by the Russians, demoting them to third place behind the Americans and the Japanese, and ahead of the Canadians.