ZHANGJIAKOU, China –IOC president Thomas Bach offered U.S. figure skaters Olympic torches as holdover gifts while they await a resolution of the Russian doping case that is preventing them from receiving their silver medals, The Associated Press has learned.
Two people familiar with the events told the AP late Wednesday that Bach, in a private meeting with the skaters in Beijing that lasted about two hours, reiterated the IOC stance that no medal ceremonies would be held for events involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee released a statement confirming the meeting between Bach and the skaters had taken place, “however the details and content of that discussion should remain between them.”
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams repeated the USOPC’s statement at his daily briefing Thursday in Beijing and said he…
