Russian middle-distance runner Tatyana Tomashova may be stripped of her 2012 Olympic 1500m silver medal after being found guilty of a second anti-doping violation and being banned for 10 years. American Shannon Rowbury, who originally finished sixth in the 1500m Olympic final at the London Olympics, may receive the bronze medal after three women ahead of her have been disqualified for anti-doping offenses.

Here’s what you need to know:

– The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced an arbiter determined Tomashova is now banned for 10 years and loses all her results from June 21, 2012 to Jan. 3, 2015 after her out-of-competition drug test samples from June 2012 and July 2012 have been re-tested and come back positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

You can read the full decision below:

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in the arbitration procedure between World Athletics (WA) (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF)) and the Russian middle-distance runner Tatyana Tomashova (the Athlete) concerning the re-tests of out-of-competition doping controls that the Athlete underwent on (i) 21 June 2012 and (ii) 17 July 2012 (the 2012 Samples) which were established by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in December 2021 to contain substances (anabolic steroids) prohibited on the 2012 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

The Sole Arbitrator in charge of the matter found to her comfortable satisfaction that Ms Tomashova committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) in relation to the 2012 Samples through violations of Rule 2.2 of the 2021 WA Anti-Doping Rules (WA ADR) (Use or Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method). Turning to the sanction, taking into account a previous ADRV committed by Ms Tomashova in 2008, the Sole Arbitrator determined the appropriate sanction applicable to multiple ADRVs to be the imposition of a ten-year period of ineligibility, commencing on this day, the date of the CAS decision, as well as the disqualification of all competitive results obtained by Ms Tomashova from 21 June 2012 until 3 January 2015, with all resulting consequences, including the forfeiture of any titles, awards, medals, points and prize and appearance money.

The CAS acted as first instance decision-making authority for this matter, substituting for the Russian Athletics Federation, currently suspended by WA.”

– Tomashova initially finished fourth in the 1500m final at the London Olympics, which was contested on Aug. 10th, 2012. As a result of the CAS ruling, Tomashova is disqualified from the London Olympics.

– Turkey’s Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, who were the original 1500m Olympic gold and silver medalists, have also been disqualified for doping.

– Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Jamal has been upgraded from bronze to gold. Tomashova was upgraded to silver. Abeba Aregawi, who represented Ethiopia in London but then switched allegiances to Sweden in December 2012, was moved up from fifth place to bronze.

– Before the London Olympics, Tomashova had already served a two-year ban in 2008-2010 for “tampering with the doping control process” and manipulating urine samples. She returned to racing in 2011.

– Tomashova is still the 2003 and 2005 World champion at 1500m. She was also the 2006 European champion and 2002 European bronze medalist in the 1500m. The 49-year-old has not competed since 2016.

UPDATE (Nov. 19) – The AIU announced Tomashova has been officially been disqualified by World Athletics from the 2012 Olympic 1500m final for doping and will lose her silver medal. It is now on the IOC to reallocate the medals.

"World Athletics and the AIU have proceeded with the next steps: having the World Athletics’ Competition Department disqualify Tomashova’s results and thereafter notifying the IOC that World Athletics has modified the relevant results and rankings on their website," the AIU said in a statement. "The IOC may now proceed with the reallocation of medals and the update of the IOC database."

What Does This Mean For The Medals of The London Olympic Final?

– The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision could be appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. If Tomashova chooses not to appeal or loses in her final effort to hold onto the medal, the International Olympic Committee will have to approve the revised results and medal reallocation.

– Arewgawi is expected to be upgraded from the bronze to the silver medal.

– Rowbury would be upgraded from fourth to bronze. This would have been the second global championship medal for Rowbury in her career after her 2009 World Championship 1500m bronze medal and would have made her the first American woman to medal in the 1500m at the Olympic Games.

She would join 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Simpson as the only two American women to medal in the event at the Games. Rowbury was fourth in the 1500m at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

"I've kind of been in shock all day," Rowbury said in an Instagram video shared on Wednesday. "I just had a call with a dear friend who has supported me all along the way, who was with me in London, and it kind of hit home how much it means for this moment to actually be here. I don't know what comes next. I haven't gotten that information yet but I'm trying to learn it. The most important thing I want to say to everyone is: Thank you. I'm just grateful that this moment that I thought would never happen, that justice is actually being served. And from the bottom of my heart, I'm grateful to everyone who has been in my corner along the way."

The Dirtiest Race In Olympic History

– Tomashova is now the fifth woman from the London 2012 Olympic final to be disqualified for anti-doping violations. Her compatriot Yekaterina Kostetskaya (originally 9th place in 4:12.90) and Belarus’s Natallia Kareiva (originally 7th in 4:11.58) have been banned and disqualified from the results.

– Aregawi, who won the 1500m gold medal the following year at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, is also not without controversy. Although she just received her reallocated bronze medal at a ceremony at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 9th, Arehawi was provisionally suspended in Feb. 2016 after testing positive for meldonium in an out-of-competition test. The ban was later lifted and she was cleared by the Swedish Sports Confederation’s Doping Commission in July 2016 since they could not prove she had used the substance after it had been added to the World anti-Doping Agency’s banned substance list on Jan. 1 of that year.

Aregawi did not compete from 2015 to 2024 but ran 31:05 for 10K on the roads in June.

Here’s a look at the original results from the London 2012 Olympic 1500m final:

1. 🇹🇷 Asli Cakir Alptekin - 4:10.23 🥇

2. 🇹🇷 Gamze Bulut - 4:10.40 🥈

3. 🇧🇭 Maryam Yusuf Jamal - 4:10.74 🥉

4. 🇷🇺 Tatyana Tomashova - 4:10.90

5. 🇪🇹 Abeba Aregawi - 4:11.03

6. 🇺🇸 Shannon Rowbury - 4:11.26

7. 🇧🇾 Natallia Kareiva - 4:11.58

8. 🇸🇰 Lucia Klocova - 4:12.64

9. 🇷🇺 Ekaterina Kostetskaya - 4:12.90

10. 🇬🇧 Lisa Dobriskey - 4:13.02

11. 🇬🇧 Laura Weightman - 4:15.60

12. 🇰🇪 Hellen Obiri - 4:16.57

🇺🇸 Morgan Uceny - DNF

Here’s a look at the revised results of the London 2012 Olympic 1500m final:

1. 🇧🇭 Maryam Yusuf Jamal - 4:10.74 🥇

2. 🇪🇹 Abeba Aregawi - 4:11.03 🥈

3. 🇺🇸 Shannon Rowbury - 4:11.26 🥉

4. 🇸🇰 Lucia Klocova - 4:12.64

5. 🇬🇧 Lisa Dobriskey - 4:13.02

6. 🇬🇧 Laura Weightman - 4:15.60

7. 🇰🇪 Hellen Obiri - 4:16.57

🇺🇸 Morgan Uceny - DNF

🇹🇷 Asli Cakir Alptekin DQ 💉

🇹🇷 Gamze Bulut DQ 💉

🇷🇺 Tatyana Tomashova DQ 💉

🇧🇾 Natallia Kareiva DQ 💉

🇷🇺 Ekaterina Kostetskaya DQ 💉

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