Russian Runner Will Be Stripped of 2012 Olympic Gold Medal for Doping
The move means that American hurdler Lashinda Demus, who finished 0.07 seconds behind Natalya Antyukh, will be bumped up to receive first-place honors.
Stu Forster/Getty Images
Natalya Antyukh, the Russian running champion, was found to have doped in competition and was stripped on Monday of her victories from July 2012 through June 2013—a period that includes her 400-meter hurdles win at the 2012 London Olympics. The ruling was made by track and field’s Athletic Integrity Unit, relying on data from a Moscow laboratory database, and lines American Lashinda Demus up to receive first-place honors, pending International Olympic Committee approval. Demus finished 0.07 seconds behind Antyukh in the Aug. 8, 2012, race. Czech runner Zuzana Hejnová will be bumped up to silver, while Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer will become an Olympic bronze medallist. Antyukh was already serving a four-year ban instituted last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which disqualified all her results from June 2013 onwards. Now 41-years-old, the Russian first became an Olympian in 2004, winning a bronze in the 400-meter dash and a silver in relay.
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