Lashinda Demus lost the 400-meter hurdles in the London Olympics by .07 seconds to a Russian opponent who was later found to be doping. Now, 12 years later, she will be presented with the gold medal that Natalya Antyukh cheated to win -- she was later stripped of the medal.
Demus refused the IOC’s first offer and with the help of a lawyer wrangled a deal to be presented with her medal under the Eiffel Tower at Champions Park at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 9, CBS News reported.
She said she wanted to receive the medal on an international stage because she was on an international stage when she lost to someone who had broken the rules. This will be the first time the IOC has presented a “reallocation” ceremony at a Summer Olympics, CBS News reported.
Among the others slated to receive medals that day will be Zuzana Hejnová of the Czech Republic and Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica, who finished behind Demus in the 400. Also in the group of 10: American high jumper Erik Kynard, who finished second to a Russian found to be doping, The Associated Press reported.
Now 41, she will bring her husband and four boys with her. She has started a GoFundMe page hoping to make enough to bring her parents along.
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