IOC upgrades American Demus's 2012 Games medal to gold

[March 31, 2023]   (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) upgraded American Lashinda Demus's 400m hurdles silver medal from the 2012 London Games to gold on Thursday, five months after Natalia Antyukh was disqualified for doping.

The Athletics Integrity Unit in October disqualified Antyukh's results from July 2012 to June 2013 "for the use of a prohibited substance/method" and the Russian athlete did not appeal her doping ban.

Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic was upgraded to silver and Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer received the bronze in the medal reallocation.

Also on Thursday the IOC reallocated the 2012 Olympics gold medal in the women's 20km race walk to China's Qieyang Shijie, who finished third behind Elena Lashmanova and Olga Kaniskina but both Russians were later disqualified for doping.

Chinese athletes Liu Hong and Lu Xiuzhi were awarded silver and bronze respectively.

(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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