IRISH racewalkers Robert Heffernan and Olive Loughnane will be upgraded to Olympic bronze and World gold medals respectively after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld six appeals filed earlier by the IAAF against Russian athletes.
Heffernan, who was World 50K champion in 2013, will be awarded the Olympic bronze medal for the 50km walk from the London Games while Loughnane is being elevated from silver to gold in the 20km at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
Russian gold medallist Sergey Kirdyapkin was one of six athletes whose punishment imposed by Russia's anti-doping agency was converted into a more telling results disqualification when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an IAAF appeal. And Russia's latest athletics embarrassment meant 38-year-old Heffernan, in training for Rio 2016, will be promoted from fourth place to third in the 50-kilometre walk.
Heffernan said: "I'm buzzing. I got a generic email off the Court of Arbitration for Sport [containing the judgment].
"I had to read it a few times just in case I made a mistake. That makes me an Olympic bronze medallist and it's unreal. It's been dragging on and people in Cork have been coming up and congratulating me on being a new Olympic medalist. A lot of people were congratulating me on the gold and I never bothered correcting them.
"I was half-living the lie. I was trying to believe it myself. Now that it's made official, I didn't know how I'd feel about it. I'm delighted, I'm over the moon. It's something that as long as I've been doing sport and as a kid I've been dreaming of, winning an Olympic medal, and now to have one it's hard to take in."
Gold will go to Australian Jared Tallent and silver to China's Si Tianfeng. The CAS ruling states that “all competitive results obtained by Mr Sergey Kirdyapkin from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 are disqualified” and “all competitive results obtained by Ms Olga Kaniskina from 15 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 disqualified.”
So in accordance with article 40.9 of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules, Heffernan will get a bronze medal, while Loughnane now becomes World champion, although somewhat belatedly.
Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, president of Athletics Ireland said: “I'm delighted to hear about this long-awaited ruling and, most importantly, that Robert and Olive will now get the medals that they deserve.
“This now completes the set of European, World and Olympic medals for Robert to put him up there with one of Ireland's most successful athletes. Hopefully Robert can go to Rio and win a medal to get the proper experience and feeling he deserves standing on the podium,” concluded the Portstewart native.
Loughnane retired aged 36 after finishing 12th in the women’s 20K Walk at the London Olympics four years ago. Her second place, now a victory, at the 2009 World Championships was the high point of her career. It was also the only medal she won on the international stage despite appearing regularly at European and World Championships as well as four Olympic Games.
Heffernan’s bronze in London makes him the most medalled male athlete in Irish athletics history. Apart from his 50K gold in Moscow in 2013 and now his 50K bronze in London, he also has a European bronze from the 20K in Barcelona in 2010. Both the latter pair were gained subsequent to the disqualification of Russian walkers.
The 38-year-old Cork man is still in training and as recently as last weekend qualified in Slovakia for the 20K at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio. That could bring his career to a close but then again that may be underestimating the durability of the teak-tough Togher walker.
Athletics Ireland CEO John Foley, who had written letters voicing his concerns to the IAAF on December 8 2014 and January 27 2015, was also delighted with the news.
“This is truly wonderful news for both Olive and Robert. Ireland is a small country. Winning World and Olympic medals are a significant honour for the athlete, the federation and a country as a whole. It continues the great success we have had as a nation in athletics. I’m delighted with the news and that justice is being served.”
The CAS release on Thursday read: “The appeals concern one element of decisions issued by the disciplinary committee of the Russian Anti-doping Agency (RUSADA) in anti-doping cases brought against the athletes, based on irregularities observed in the athletes’ biological passports.
“The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) claimed that RUSADA had incorrectly applied the applicable anti-doping rules adopted by IAAF to implement the provisions of the World Anti-Doping Code with respect to the disqualification of competitive results (disqualification of results split in different periods).
“The IAAF challenged what it felt was a “selective” disqualification of results, submitting that all results achieved by the athletes from the date of their first abnormal sample to the date they accepted a provisional suspension should be disqualified.”
