Entertainment Sports Winning Women's Figure Skaters Will Get Medal Ceremony After Kamila Valieva's Surprising Fourth Place Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, Kaori Sakamoto were presented with versions of the Beijing Games' panda mascot and took the podium ahead of the medal presentation ceremony By Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble is a Senior Digital News Editor and the Sports Editor for PEOPLE Digital. She's worked at PEOPLE for over seven years as a writer, reporter and editor across our Entertainment, Lifestyle and News teams, covering everything from the Super Bowl to the Met Gala. She's been nominated for the ASME NEXT Awards for Journalists Under 30, and previously wrote for Us Weekly while on staff at Wenner Media. People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 17, 2022 10:48AM EST Share Tweet Pin Email The women's singles figure skating medalists will have a medal ceremony, which was up in the air heading into the free skate due to leader Kamila Valieva. But on Thursday morning (Eastern), the controversy-shrouded Valieva had an uncharacteristically rough skate, falling and slipping multiple times. Her free skate score — despite a first-place short program — was not enough to land her on the podium. Valieva's Russian Olympic Committee teammate Anna Shcherbakova won the gold medal with a final score of 255.95. The silver went to ROC's Alexandra Trusova with 251.73, and the bronze medal to Kaori Sakamoto. America's three skaters finished in seventh, 10th and 16th. For more on Kamila Valieva, listen below to our daily podcast on PEOPLE Every Day. The winning skaters were presented with small versions of the Beijing Games' panda mascot and took the podium after the skate. A full medal presentation ceremony is to come. Ahead of the competition, the IOC announced that, due to the doping controversy surrounding Valieva, a medal ceremony would not be "appropriate" if she were to place. "Should Ms Valieva finish amongst the top three competitors in the Women's Single Skating competition, no flower ceremony and no medal ceremony will take place during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022," the IOC said. The Beijing Winter Olympic women's figure skating medalists (from left) after Thursday's free skate: Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova of the Russian Olympic Committee and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Kristi Yamaguchi Addresses Kamila Valieva Controversy: 'Not Within the Olympic Ideals' It was revealed during this Games that Valieva failed a drug screening, reportedly testing positive for the banned heart medication Trimetazidine in December. Two other, not-banned heart medications were also found in her sample. The women's figure skating medalists. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced earlier this week that Valieva would not be suspended and could compete in the short program. In response to the situation, Valieva's attorney had reportedly argued the banned drug entered Valieva's body accidentally and likely belonged to the athlete's grandfather, who takes Trimetazidine. Olympian Karen Chen Checked in with Mentor Kristi Yamaguchi Weeks Before Her Beijing Debut Many athletes have spoken out against the decision to allow Valieva to compete, including former Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi told Today of the potential lack of a medal ceremony: "It's just a little disheartening because there is so much uncertainty in the air and even if one of them didn't make the podium, there won't be a medal ceremony so just, you know, heartbreaking to see so many Olympic moments for other athletes being taken away." To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.