12 years later, American Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus will get gold medal at ceremony in Paris
There’s no making up for what Olympic hurdler Lashinda Demus lost on the day she finished .07 seconds behind a Russian opponent who, everyone found out later, was doping.
What the American 400-meter hurdles champion will get is a great day under the Eiffel Tower where she’ll be presented with the gold medal she was denied 12 years ago at the London Olympics.
Demus, now 41 and the mother of four boys, said so much time had passed that she wasn’t all that excited when she learned last year that the medal first captured by Natalya Antyukh would go to her.
“But one thing I did know was that I was on an international stage,” Demus said. “And whatever happens, I wanted to receive this upgrade on an international stage.”
With the help of a lawyer and the determination not to take the IOC’s first offer — normally a presentation at a national or world championship — Demus negotiated a deal to receive the medal on Aug. 9 at the Paris Olympics, at the Champions Park in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.