While the prospect of claiming an Olympic Games medal has brought some late excitement for Kaliese Spencer-Carter, MVP Track Club president Bruce James says that she, as well as the team, remain cautious. They will await the final outcome of the case which affects that 2012 Olympic 400m hurdles final.
His comments come as Natalya Antyukh, who won the title in London had her results from July 2012 through to June 2013 expunged because of an Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) ruling released yesterday banning her for the use of a prohibited substance or method based on database evidence. It was during the same period that she won that 400m hurdles title ahead of American Lashinda Demus. Spencer finished fourth in that final in a season’s best time of 53.66 seconds and she could be upgraded to a bronze medal. A reallocation of medals would mean Demus would be upgraded to gold while third-place finisher, Czech Republic’s Zuzana Hejnova, would move up from bronze to silver.
If there is no appeal, the AIU’s ruling will become final after 45 days. The AIU will then notify both the World Athletics Competition Department and the International Olympic Committee so they can proceed with the disqualification of the athlete’s results.
With the case eligible for appeal, James said that Spencer-Carter was looking forward to the conclusion to see if the reallocation of the medals will take place.
“I spoke with her earlier (yesterday) and she is looking forward to the net result of this so she’ll know whether or not she will be awarded the Olympic medal,” James told The Gleaner. Spencer-Carter’s only outdoor individual title was at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Although she has managed to amass medals at both indoor and outdoor circuits, James did not understate how much the potential Olympic upgrade would mean to Spencer-Carter
“An Olympic medal is always very special. We will wait and see how that goes but she has won medals globally before. She is excited at the prospect and we will wait to see what the result is,” James said.
Antyukh is already serving a four-year ban because of a doping case related to evidence from the 2016 McLaren report on Russian doping with her results from July 2013 through December 2015 also stripped.
In a 2020 interview with The Gleaner in the aftermath of the McLaren report, Spencer-Carter expressed what it would mean to her should the AIU’s decision rule in her favour.
“I am a strong believer in fair play. With that in mind, I would be overly ecstatic if the system works accurately and deemed me to be the winner of the 2012 Olympic bronze medal in my discipline (women’s 400m hurdles),” Spencer-Carter said “After all, this would have been my ultimate goal from the beginning of my athletic career; and though a verdict has not been reached, and I am not celebrating in another athlete’s possible downfall, just to know that after eight years the possibility is there that I would have achieved such is truly a blessing in my eyes.”
Read More: Spencer-Carter awaits final ruling
