Stripped Bare at the Olympics
Stripped Bare at the Olympics
The whole world is still smiling in the afterglow of the Olympics. After 16 days of awe, the 2012 Olympics came to an end with a fantastic theatrical show to send the world off to wait for the next games four years from now. However, only hours after the closing ceremony it was announced that Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Berlarus was stripped of her gold medal for doping. The chase for gold led this athlete to take a risk, which did not pay out in the end.
Ostapchuk, 31 year old shot putter, won a gold medal with a throw of 70.08 feet but this amazing display of athleticism was just a drug driven façade. She was tested twice after her medal winning performance; however, both times her sample was tainted with anabolic steroids.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped Ostapchuk of her title and redistributed the medals, bumping Valerie Adams of New Zealand from silver to gold, Evgeniia Kolodko of Russia from bronze to silver and Lijiao Gong of China walks away with a bronze. If it wasn’t enough to lose the gold medal, Ostapchuk was also asked to return a diploma decreeing the 1st place win and medalist pin. The only thing Ostapchuk walks away with is the regret, shame and disappointment of her actions.
For this athlete, her decision to dope brought on consequences she will have to live with. This was her third Olympics and quite possibly her last. As we have seen before, as new athletic talent emerges, it is difficult to stay on top. Perhaps she will be able to return in 2016 and win without doping and hopefully her one time decision to use steroids does not lead her down the dark path of drug addiction or dependence.
