Nathan Chen said the Kamila Valieva doping scandal at the 2022 Olympics was a 'shock' but that 'some sort of a distraction is a given'

• Nathan Chen said the Kamila Valieva doping scandal at the 2022 Olympics was a "shock."
• But "knowing that there's going to be inherently some sort of distraction is a given," he told Insider.

Olympic figure skater Nathan Chen said that the Kamila Valieva doping scandal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was "a shock" but that he was prepared for the distraction.

"At the Olympics, everyone is there to do their job and very focused on trying to do the best that they can," Chen told Insider while promoting his new partnership with Invisalign. "Knowing that there's going to be inherently some sort of distraction is a given, and being able to adapt to that is how we've sort of trained for the past many years."

Valieva, a now-16-year-old Russian Olympic Committee figure skater, was at the center of a doping scandal at the Beijing Games after a blood test returned positive results for a heart medication sometimes used to boost performance.

The drug, trimetazidine, is a heart medication banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency that can prevent "a lack of oxygen in the tissue during exercise, staving off fatigue in endurance sports," Insider previously reported. Russian Olympic Committee doctors and coaches claimed Valieva was taking the medication for an unreported heart condition.

Chen, who won gold in the men's individual figure skating event, said that he doesn't think the Valieva scandal impacted individual performances, but rather the vibe at the Games.

"Of course, it was kind of a shock to a lot of the skating world, and a lot of the decisions were completely out of this athlete's hands," he told Insider. "So it was difficult for us to make our own decisions in regards to that."

At the time, the Olympic committee ruled that Valieva was allowed to keep competing but would not be awarded any medals she earned until the investigation into the case was closed.

Valieva's Russian Olympic Committee figure skating team earned gold in their event, but the medal ceremony has yet to be held. It was canceled under the Olympic committee's ruling and has held the two other medal-earning teams — the US earning silver and Japan bronze — back from their ceremonies as well.

Valieva ultimately placed fourth in the women's individual skating event, meaning that ceremony was allowed to proceed.

Chen said he wishes his team could have gotten their medals together in Beijing rather than scattered all over the globe.

"I think being a part of such an amazing US team, it would've been an amazing opportunity to receive our medals there and celebrate that as a team," he said of their pending silver medal. "Now that we're all spread across the country really, and even the globe. So the whole team isn't localized in one location anymore, so it's a little bit less of a celebration."

If the investigation finds Valieva and the Russian Olympic Committee guilty of doping to boost performance, the ROC will be disqualified from their win, resulting in a gold medal for Team USA.

"We definitely are excited to hear the results and see where the team medal will lie," Chen said.