Chaunte Lowe has been to the Olympics three times, but never medaled — until November 17, 2016.
So I guess I am an #Olympic Medalist now. The 3 people that finished immediately in front of me in 2008 tested positive giving in me bronze!
— chaunte (@chauntelowe) November 17, 2016
She originally placed sixth in the women’s high jump.
This year, the International Olympic Committee did a reanalysis of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Summer Games and disqualified 16 athletes from the 2008 Beijing games for use of performance enhancing drugs.
Two of the DQs were women’s high jumpers, Elena Slesarenko and Vita Palamar, who originally placed fourth and fifth, respectively. They both tested positive for the drug Turinabol.
The original winner of the bronze, Anna Chicherova, was stripped of her medal shortly after the 2008 Games, after testing positive for the same drug.
So now, eight years later, Lowe has a bronze medal.
The new medal list is:
Gold: Tina Hellebaut (Belgium)
Silver: Blanka Vlasic (Croatia)
Bronze: Chaunte Lowe (USA!!!)
Better late than never. Congratulations, Chaunte!