American figure skater Nathan Chen has yet to receive his Olympic team medal due to the ongoing Kamila Valieva case ©Getty Images

American figure skater Nathan Chen said that all he can do is wait for his Olympic team medal as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) blasted Russian Anti-Doping Agency's (RUSADA) "self-serving" ruling on Kamila Valieva's doping case and called for a "public hearing outside of Russia".

Chen was part of the US team that claimed silver after finishing behind the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) starring Valieva at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

But the men's singles champion and his teammates have yet to collect his medal after the ceremony was called off after it was found that Valieva, who was just 15 at the time of competition, had failed a drugs test.

insidethegames had exclusively revealed that Valieva had tested positive for trimetazidine following analysis at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory in Stockholm in Sweden, the day after the team event had ended.

A RUSADA tribunal yesterday ruled that Valieva committed an anti-doping rule violation but should bear "no fault or negligence for it" and should not have Olympic results annulled.

Speaking to insidethegames, Chen, a men’s singles champion at Beijing 2022, refused to comment on the RUSADA decision as he continued to play the waiting game.

A RUSADA tribunal ruled that Valieva should bear
A RUSADA tribunal ruled that Valieva should bear "no fault or negligence" for her anti-doping violation ©Getty Images

"I am in a position where I don’t really know about the situation," said Chen.

"Things are happening that are not entirely in our control but excited about going to the Olympics and being able to have the results that I had.

"Our whole team is together on this and we are just waiting on the results."

WADA said it would review the case but admitted it was "concerned by the finding" of the RUSADA tribunal and would "not hesitate to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as appropriate".

Travis Tygart, chief executive of USADA, has called for the RUSADA ruling to be appealed, insisting "justice demands a full, fair, public hearing outside of Russia".

"WADA and the ISU [International Skating Union] have to appeal this decision for the sake of the credibility of the anti-doping system and the rights of all athletes," said Tygart in a statement.

"The world can’t possibly accept this self-serving decision by RUSADA which in the recent past has been a key instrument of Russia’s state-sponsored doping fraud and is non-compliant."

The US team awaiting their Olympic medal include Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue, Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

Japan claimed bronze but could be promoted to silver should the ROC be stripped of their team gold.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee thanked WADA for its "commitment to reviewing this issue" and "moving the process forward as expeditiously as possible".

"As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Beijing Games, it remains very important that the figure skating team event athletes who competed in Beijing get the resolution they deserve," the statement from the USOPC read.

Russian State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova has said that the RUSADA decision to effectively clear Valieva is an "intermediate" verdict, and she expects the WADA to "play this situation in their own way".

Chen was speaking after giving a presentation on "Panasonic - Creating a Greener More Equitable Future" at the International University Sports Federation World Conference in Lake Placid.

The meeting is taking place alongside the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Winter World University Games.