Ten years ago, 400-meter American hurdler Lashinda Demus finished seven hundredths of a second behind gold medalist Natalya Antyukh of Russia at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Demus told reporters after the race that she would not stop until she won a gold medal, according to NBC Sports. Demus was injured and didn’t compete in 2016, but she is now listed as the gold medalist for that race after Antyukh’s race results from July 2012 through June 2013 were stripped due to doping violations, per NBC Sports.
The report came out in October, and Antyukh has not appealed the disqualifications, bumping Demus to the number-one spot in the 2012 race. Antyukh has been serving a four-year doping ban.
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Demus’ World Athletics page now lists her as a gold medalist, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not yet changed its results.
When asked about the results change, the IOC press office told reporters that the reallocation of medals is not automatic, according to NBC Sports.
“As a general rule, each reallocation is submitted to the IOC [Executive Board] for approval once the athletes/teams sanctioned have exhausted all their remedies of appeal and when all procedures are closed.”
Demus, who, at the time, was the third-fastest woman in the event and held the American record with a time of 52.47, said she has mixed emotions.
“Hearing the news didn’t impact my mood or feelings being that it has been 10 years since it has happened,” she said, according to NBC Sports. “I do believe that if, in fact, there was doping involved with anyone in the Olympics that they should be stripped of their medal. With everything being said it looks like this is the case for my race. I’m not afraid to say that I then deserve the official title, medal, recognition, and missed compensation that goes along with it all. I wouldn’t want any athlete to go through this same situation and I hope that keeping athletes honest in our sport stays at the forefront for those who sacrifice a good part of their life to be great at it.”
Retroactively, Demus was the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic 400-meter hurdles race. In 2016, Dalilah Muhammad won, and Sydney McLaughlin, the world-record holder (50.68), won in Tokyo in 2021 (2020 Games).
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, the author of The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a seven-time marathoner with a best of 3:31—but she is most proud of her 1:32 half, 19:44 5K, and 5:33 mile. Her work has been published in The Boston Globe, Popular Mechanics, The Wall Street Journal Buy Side, Cooking Light, CNN, Glamour, The Associated Press, and Livestrong.com.
