High jumper Erik Kynard becomes 2012 Olympic gold medallist as IOC approves medal reallocation
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Erik Kynard
United States high jumper Erik Kynard will be awarded the gold medal for the 2012 London Olympics. The development comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved reallocating some results from those Games because of doping cases. Kynard’s 2.33m jump was placed second behind Russia’s Ivan Ukhov in London.
Years following the gold medal triumph, Ukhov was found to be part of the Russian state-backed steroid doping program. The Russian was banned for four years back in 2019 at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Ukhov went back to the same court last year with an appeal hearing but failed to overturn the ruling.
Three athletes win the silver medal as Erik Kynard takes gold
With Eric Kynard’s medal upgraded to men’s gold, the three bronze medalists in 2012, Derek Drouin of Canada, Robbie Grabarz of Britain and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, will now get silver medals. The trio was tied at the 2.29m mark and were all awarded the bronze medal.
Interestingly, Qatar’s Barshim was also tied for the gold medal at the Tokyo Games before he famously shared it with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi. Erik Kynard’s gold medal adds to the glorious record the US has enjoyed in men’s high jump at the Olympics. It is the 14th gold for the US in the event.
The IOC executive board signed off on reallocating the medals and final results for five events from the London Olympics, including the men’s and women’s high jump. The IOC also reallocated the bronze medal for the women’s high jump event from a Russian athlete. Svetlana Shkolina was disqualified for doping and Spain’s Ruth Beitia will now get the bronze.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
(1496 Articles Published)