Olympic Silver Medal Finally Awarded to Tim Koleto
Tim Koleto. Author’s photo from PeacockTV.com
Olympic Silver Medal Finally Awarded to Tim Koleto
Today, my friend Tim Koleto was awarded the Olympic Silver Medal with the Japan figure skating team in Paris at the Victory Ceremony near the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine. His mother, his constant cheerleader, was there to see it.
Olympic Victory Ceremony
The “Victory Ceremony” for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was held for this special event at the Champions Park of the Jardins du Trocadéro (Trocadéro Gardens) just north of the Eiffel Tower.
Champions Park, Paris Olympics. Image: Olympics.com
The Paris 2024 Olympics website says of the Champions Park:
“This is really the DNA of Paris 2024: with it, we open the Games wide thanks to a concept that marries three key ingredients: athletes, fans from all over the world and venues in the heart of the city (here at the most emblematic site of the Games, with the Eiffel Tower as a stunning backdrop).”
Champions Park. Image: Olympics.com
Olympic Team Japan
Tim and his partner, Misato Komatsubara, competed for Team Japan in ice dancing at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, winning Bronze behind Russia and the USA. However…
Tim and Misato. Author’s photo from PeacockTV.com
What is a Reallocated Medal?
The Russian Team, which had initially won Gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, was implicated in a doping case within hours of the event.
Why was a Winter Olympic medal awarded at the Summer Olympic Games?
No medals were presented at the end of the event in Beijing in 2022. The case took almost two years to judge. One of the skaters on the Russian team was disqualified in January and barred for four years. However, it was not until days before the current Summer Olympic Games that the latest Court of Arbitration of Sports ruling guaranteed the USA and Japanese teams their overdue medals.
Sarah Hirshland, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said in a statement earlier this month:
“We are thrilled to finally honor these incredible athletes. We are especially excited that the beautiful city of Paris will join us in this celebration.”
So, the USA team moved to Gold, and the Japanese team to Silver. The Japanese figure skating team received their “reallocated medals” at the Trocadéro Gardens. The story is told in full on Reuters.
Tim and Misato, and the Japanese Team. Author’s photo from PeacockTV.com
Tim grew up and trained here in my town of Colorado Springs before he joined the Japanese team. By the way, Colorado Springs is called Olympic City USA and is home to the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum.
Colorado Springs highway sign. Image: ColoradoSprings.gov
Congratulations to Misato and Tim Komatsubara/Koleto on winning the Silver Medal in the rhythm dance segment of the 2022 Winter Olympic team event!
Misato and Tim Komatsubara/Koleto. Author’s photo from PeacockTV.com
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#ParisOlympics2024
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
