Winter Olympic bosses offer torches instead of medals amid teen doping scandal

Officials at the Winter Olympics have offered US figure skaters Olympic torches as holdover gifts until the Russian doping scandal is resolved.

The US side finished with the silver behind the Russians, who have 15-year-old prodigy Kamila Valieva in their ranks.

However, since the Russian Olympic Committee claimed the gold medal a positive test for a banned substance from Valieva has come to light.

As a result, there was no medal ceremony at the Olympics, and the skaters are still waiting for their medals to be awarded.

But the IOC's President Thomas Bach has now offered Olympic Torches as placeholders until medals are awarded.

The 15-year-old tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication, as well as two other substances that aren't on the banned list.

However, the combination of the three substances prompted "a lot of red flags" according to the United States anti-doping chief Travis Tygart.

Despite the positive result, Valieva was allowed to continue to compete at the games as banning her would cause 'harm'.

The decision has been controversial to both fans of the sport and Valieva's competitors.

Do you think Valieva should have been allowed to continue competing at the Olympics? Let us know in the comments section

After the team event, Valieva went into the women's as the favourite for gold over her two compatriots.

Valieva finished her routine in tears on Tuesday morning, but she scored well enough to finish on top of the standings.

The women's free skate concludes on Thursday.