Twelve years after the women’s 1,500m final at the London 2012 Olympics, the last remaining Russian track medallist from those Games has been suspended. On Tuesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) handed down a 10-year ban to retired Russian distance runner Tatyana Tomashova, a two-time world champion, after her samples from the London 2012 Olympics tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Tomashova finished fourth in the 1,500m final in London, a race that has since become infamous as one of the most tainted events in Olympic history. The gold and silver medallists from that race, Turkey’s Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, were disqualified years ago for doping violations. With Tomashova’s ban, five of the 13 finalists in that race have now been disqualified due to doping.
As a result of Tomashova’s disqualification, U.S. middle-distance runner Shannon Rowbury, who originally placed sixth, will be awarded bronze.
The CAS revealed that Tomashova’s positive results stemmed from re-tests conducted in 2021 on samples she provided in June and July 2012, just weeks before the London Olympics. In addition to her ban, all of Tomashova’s competitive results from June 21, 2012, to January 2015—including those from the London Games—have been disqualified.
Russian runner Tatyana Tomashova has finally been stripped of her 2012 medal in the 1,500m at the Olympics. She’s the 5th from the top 10 finishers to have been found guilty of doping and had their result disqualified. American Shannon Rowbury originally 6th, will now get bronze pic.twitter.com/fEcdbWHtex
— Dodge (@seidodge) September 3, 2024
This is Tomashova’s second career doping offense. She was previously banned for two years in 2008 after being charged with the manipulation of drug samples and tampering with the doping control process. She was 37 in the 2012 Olympic final, and retired after the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
Russia’s track and field team originally won 18 medals in athletics at the London 2012 Olympics, including eight golds, four silvers and six bronze. Due to the extensive doping violations and subsequent disqualifications, all but four of the medals have been stripped (three in field events, and one in the marathon). The widespread doping by Russian athletes at the 2012 Olympics has been described as a “sabotage” of the Games.
