The Paris Olympic Games end on Sunday, and in the two weeks or more they have lasted, hundreds of medals have been awarded.
One medal that was awarded, however, dates back to 2000, when a medal was awarded at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Beverly McDonald represented Jamaica in the 200-meter race and narrowly missed the podium. However, Marion Jones of the US team was one of the athletes ahead of her.
Jones admitted to doping and was ordered to return all her medals. While all the medals were floating around, McDonald was named the bronze medalist.
But according to Yahoo Sports, McDonald was told about a decade ago that she would receive the long-awaited medal, only to learn that it had been misplaced.
Jamaican Beverly McDonald (far right) competed in the women’s 200-meter race at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and won a bronze medal that was finally awarded to her 24 years later. (Stu Forster /Allsport)
That’s crazy. You lose your keys, but you don’t lose your Olympic medal. That’s the kind of thing you put your wallet on so you don’t lose sight of it.
However, fortunately the medal was recovered and McDonald was one of ten athletes who were awarded new medals at a special ceremony in Paris.
“(It’s) a bittersweet moment,” she said. “I thought I wouldn’t be nervous, (but) when I walked out and saw the crowd, it was really incredible.”
It’s great that these athletes got to experience a medal ceremony. I think that’s something that often gets overlooked when it comes to doping or other types of cheating. Yes, it’s unfair, but it also robs an athlete who has worked hard and within the rules of the experience of standing on an Olympic podium.
This really sucks, and while the IOC has made some questionable decisions over the years, this was a cool decision to make up for other athletes’ mistakes and give deserving athletes like McDonald their Olympic moment.
