Seven years after she crossed the finish line, Olive Loughnane has received her World Championship gold medal for the 20k race walk, writes Stephen Barry.
Loughnane was beaten to the line by Olga Kaniskina in 2009, but the Russian has been among a raft of athletes implicated in a major doping scandal.
The Cork-based athlete took silver on the podium in Berlin, but her upgrade to a gold medal has been recognised in a medal ceremony at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
Loughnane, who retired from competitive athletics in 2013, took to the top-step of the podium to receive her medal from IAAF President Seb Coe.
GOLD for @OliveLoughnane - Seven years after the Berlin World Championships, Olive is recognised as the race winnerhttps://t.co/XCCy0AEPTg
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 6, 2016
Amhrán na bhFiann was played as the Irish flag was raised to the top of the flagpole for the four-time Olympian.
Our golden girl! @OliveLoughnane pic.twitter.com/5dqkBwbsVx
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) July 6, 2016
Loughnane isn’t the first Irish race-walker to belatedly receive a medal due to Russian dopers. Rob Heffernan received Olympic 50k and European 20k bronze medals from races originally won by Russian athletes.
