‘BETTER LATE THAN NEVER’
White Rock weightlifter awarded gold medal six years after London Summer Games
It’s better late than never for weightlifter Christine Girard.
On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee officially confirmed that six years after the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Girard is to be awarded the gold medal in the women’s 63-kilogram weight class.
The two women who finished above Girard — Maiya Maneza of Kazakhstan and Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia — were stripped of their gold and silver medals, respectively, after a 2016 retest of samples showed they had cheated by taking steroids.
Girard had been awarded bronze in London.
“Better late than never,” Girard said in a phone interview from her home in White Rock.
“It’s really good that dopers are getting caught. It means the sport in general will get cleaner. It takes time, but it is always worth it.”
Girard still doesn’t have her gold medal in hand. She said she’s working out the details on receiving the medal with the Canadian Olympic Committee.
“I can’t wait to organize the ceremony and receive that medal around my neck and finally feel like a real gold champion,” she said.
By winning gold, Girard becomes the country’s first Olympic champion in weightlifting, according to the COC.
Girard said she found out officially a few days ago that she was the gold medallist when COC president Tricia Smith read an official letter from the IOC to her over the phone.
At the time, Girard was playing with her three children in the living room of her home.
“That was a pretty special moment,” she said about receiving the confirmation of her gold medal.
Girard said eliminating doping from sports in general and weightlifting in particular won’t be easy. “It’s a long battle,” she said.
“It is not something that’s easy to change. I see it as changing some countries’ values. Canada choose to be clean and to advocate to clean sport, and other countries choose otherwise.”
Girard said there’s more doping in weightlifting because of the direct correlation with improved performance.
“What matters is that those dopers are getting caught and things are changing,” she said. “I think that’s what we need to focus on and celebrate: clean athletes succeeding.”
Girard’s top finish officially doubles Canada’s gold medal count to two in the 2012 Games to go along with five silver and 11 bronze. The other gold medallist was Rosie MacLennan in trampoline.
Girard grew up in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., and moved to White Rock in 2008. Girard, along with her husband Walter Bailey, are the co-founders of the Kilophile Weightlifting Club.
Girard said the celebration of her gold medal is for everyone who believes in clean sports.
“It’s the success of our country, our values and who we are,” she said.
In July 2016, silver medallist Tsarukaeva was suspended when her retest found steroids. Earlier, gold medallist Maneza had been suspended when her retest also showed the presence of steroids.
At that point, Girard was unofficially the gold medallist in the 63-kg class from the 2012 Summer Olympics.
But it can take years for medals to be officially removed and the appeals process to run its course before the IOC officially reaches a decision.
Other Canadian Olympic athletes have had to wait years for their medals.
In 2008 at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, shot-putter Dylan Armstrong finished fourth. It took more than six years for him to receive his bronze medal after the athlete who finished ahead of him in third place was caught doping.
In the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Beckie Scott won bronze in cross-country skiing. After the two athletes who finished first and second tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, Scott was first upgraded to silver and then to gold in two separate ceremonies, the last coming in 2004.