(Reuters) – Switzerland’s Fanny Smith and Germany’s Daniela Maier have both been awarded Olympic bronze medals for their performances in the women’s ski cross at the Beijing 2022 Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Tuesday.
Smith was relegated to fourth place after a prolonged review of the final in Zhangjiakou resulted in the International Ski Federation (FIS) jury deciding she had impeded Maier, who was promoted to the bronze medal position.
Smith and the Swiss ski federation appealed and in February the FIS ruled that Smith would get bronze after her yellow card for the infringement was overturned by an appeals commission.
FIS said in a statement: “The Appeals Commission found that the close proximity of the racers at that moment resulted in action that was neither intentional or avoidable.”
However, the case was then referred to CAS for arbitration.
“Following a conciliation between all parties under the CAS umbrella, FIS has agreed to adjust the ranking of that particular event by placing both athletes in third position,” CAS said in Tuesday’s statement.
Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund won the gold medal in the race, while Canada’s Marielle Thompson claimed the silver.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
