Gold medal prospect suddenly weighs on 2012 Olympian
Suspension of Russian pair saddens potential Canadian champion
Even though White Rock weightlifter Christine Girard is over the moon about the prospect of trading her 2012 London Olympic Games bronze medal for gold, she has mixed feelings about the reasons for the exchange.
“It’s pretty big for me and my sport,” said the 31-year-old Girard on Wednesday after learning that because of positive drug tests both the gold and silver medallists will lose their medals in the 63 kg division, making her — unofficially, at least — the Olympic champion.
“I’m overwhelmed. But, at the same time, I feel a bit sad and worried for the future of my sport because there’s so much positive testing.
“Weightlifting has been in the (Olympics) forever and I’m scared. I don’t know what will happen. But on the positive side, we can see there were good athletes there who were clean. So, hopefully the countries that were using drugs will see that they don’t need it to get there.”
It was announced earlier Wednesday by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) that because of the reanalyses of samples from the London Olympics, silver medallist Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia was suspended following the retests. Earlier, gold medallist Maiya Maneza of Kazakhstan was also suspended after retesting.
Wednesday’s announcements also nullified the medals of several other weightlifters, mainly from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
Girard noted that the weightlifters who finished fourth and fifth in her class were also suspended for doping.
Although Maneza and Tsarukaeva were suspended following the retests, it could be a few years before Girard gets her gold medal because of the appeals process. Girard hasn’t yet received any official confirmation from either Olympic officials or the IWF.
Girard, who finished fourth in the 63-kilogram division at the 2008 Olympics, prepared for the London Olympics in the carport of her home in White Rock with her husband — Richmond RCMP Const. Walter Bailey — as a coach.
They had built a gym in their carport which she used in the mornings. In the evenings, she trained at the Semi Weightlifting Club in White Rock.
Girard had moved to White Rock from Quebec in 2010 when Bailey was transferred to the Richmond detachment.
Girard met her husband when the pair were competing at the 2005 junior world championships in South Korea.
Girard admitted she didn’t know if she could have beaten Maneza and Tsarukaeva if they hadn’t doped.