Russian athlete loses ‘dirtiest’ Olympic race silver medal

Bengaluru — Russian Tatyana Tomashova’s result in the women’s 1,500m at the 2012 London Olympics has been officially annulled, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Tuesday.

Tomashova was banned for 10 years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in September for antidoping rule violations at the Games and stripped of her silver medal from the race, often described as the “dirtiest” in history.

She became the fifth of the 13 athletes in the final to receive a retroactive sanction for an anti-doping rule violation, the AIU said in a statement.

Tomashova, now 49, finished fourth in the race and was awarded silver after the first two finishers were later banned.

CAS banned Tomashova on September 3 and ordered that the Russian’s results from June 2012 to January 2015 be annulled.

“We are committed to protecting the integrity of athletics and, even when events have long passed, we will investigate potential violations fully,” AIU chair David Howman said in a statement.

Tomashova, twice world champion, was one of seven Russian female athletes to receive a two-year doping ban for manipulating drug samples in 2008.

Ethiopian-born Bahraini Maryam Yusuf Jamal, who finished third in London, was promoted to gold after Turkish duo Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, who finished first and second, were disqualified years later.

Tomashova’s disqualification means Ethiopia’s Abeba Aregawi now holds the silver medal and American Shannon Rowbury, who finished sixth, has been awarded the bronze.

Reuters