Javelin thrower Goldie Sayers could be set for an Olympic bronze medal following reports that Russian athlete Maria Abukumova has tested positive after the re-analysis of doping samples from the Beijing Olympics eight years ago.
Sayers, who went to school at King’s Ely and holds the national record for the javelin, missed out on a medal in 2008 after coming fourth but may yet be upgraded into bronze position after the news broke that Russia could lost seven athletics medals as a result of the re-tests.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed that 31 Olympic athletes had tested positive at the Beijing games after retrospective testing, and Russian news agency TASS has claimed that 14 are Russian – including 30-year-old javelin silver-medallist Abukumova.
A retrospective punishment for Abukomova could see her stripped of her silver medal and Sayers upgraded to third.
The news comes just six months after the Ely Olympian called on the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to re-test all samples from 2008 and punish those found guilty of doping.
Sayers told the Mirror: “I am potentially due a medal from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
“It is down to the IAAF to regain the trust of the public and more importantly the trust of the clean athletes they are there to protect.
“Personally I urge them to re-award those medals that were denied to clean athletes. Ultimately, as an athlete, that is why you are competing at the elite level. To win medals for your country, especially in the Olympics Games.
“To be denied a medal through cheating is devastating. Not only professionally but financially and emotionally as well.”
Great Britain could also receive a bronze medal for the 4x400m, after Denis Alekseyev, who guided Russia’s 4x400m team to third in Beijing, also reportedly tested positive.
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