PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
South Africa: SA athlete could get 2012 Olympic gold medal
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Leading South African athlete Caster Semenya could be crowned 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medal winner if disgraced Russian Mariya Savinova is stripped of her 800-metre titles.
This change comes after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent commission released a scathing report alleging the widespread use of drugs by Russian athletes.
Former WADA president Dick Pound on Monday presented the findings at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
He said five Russian coaches and athletes were recommended for lifetime bans, along with WADA Moscow lab chief Grigory Rodchenko, who allegedly destroyed 1,417 doping samples in December 2014, after the agency requested to see them.
The other four suspended athletes are 2012 Olympic 800-metre bronze medalist Ekaterina Poistogova, 400-metre and 800-metre runner Anastasiya Bazdyreva, 1,500-metre runner Kristina Ugarova and 800-metre runner Tatjana Myazina.
Savinova denied Semenya victory in both Daegu and London, where the South African runner was forced to settle for silver.
Ironically, Semenya is also no stranger to controversy. Following her victory at the 2009 World Championships, it was announced that she had been subjected to gender testing amid concerns that she was actually a male. She withdrew from international competition in 2010 when the IAAF cleared her to return to competition.
The IAAF came under fire for the manner in which it handled the matter. Prominent South African civic leaders, commentators, politicians, and activists characterized the controversy as racist, as well as an affront to Semenya's privacy and human rights.
-0- PANA CU/AR 10Nov2015
This change comes after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent commission released a scathing report alleging the widespread use of drugs by Russian athletes.
Former WADA president Dick Pound on Monday presented the findings at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
He said five Russian coaches and athletes were recommended for lifetime bans, along with WADA Moscow lab chief Grigory Rodchenko, who allegedly destroyed 1,417 doping samples in December 2014, after the agency requested to see them.
The other four suspended athletes are 2012 Olympic 800-metre bronze medalist Ekaterina Poistogova, 400-metre and 800-metre runner Anastasiya Bazdyreva, 1,500-metre runner Kristina Ugarova and 800-metre runner Tatjana Myazina.
Savinova denied Semenya victory in both Daegu and London, where the South African runner was forced to settle for silver.
Ironically, Semenya is also no stranger to controversy. Following her victory at the 2009 World Championships, it was announced that she had been subjected to gender testing amid concerns that she was actually a male. She withdrew from international competition in 2010 when the IAAF cleared her to return to competition.
The IAAF came under fire for the manner in which it handled the matter. Prominent South African civic leaders, commentators, politicians, and activists characterized the controversy as racist, as well as an affront to Semenya's privacy and human rights.
-0- PANA CU/AR 10Nov2015
