Alysia Montaño will be elevated to a bronze medal due to doping by her competitors. This emotionally wounds her.
For any athlete, receiving their first Olympic medal is an unforgettable and euphoric experience. But for Alysia Montañana, it wasn't what she had hoped for.
Weeks ago, late at night in a hotel room far away from her home, Montañana learned that her fourth-place finish at the 2012 Olympics in London was going to be upgraded to bronze. However, instead of joy, she felt emptiness and sorrow.
This was a moment that should have happened 12 years ago, in front of a packed audience with her loved ones watching from the stands. Instead, all Montañana could do was lay down and stare vacantly at the ceiling as the hours passed.
She describes this supposed moment of triumph as a "stab in the gut, in the heart, really." Montañana first placed fifth in the womens' 800-meter final in London, just half a second outside the medal zones.
In first place was Marriya Savinova, who was on a different level on the final straight. Second place went to Ekaterina Guliyev (once known as Ekaterina Poistogova), who just managed to edge out Kenya's Pamela Jelimo for bronze.
Both Savinova and Guliyev have been identified in a 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as beneficiaries of Russia's state-sponsored doping program. Montañana's performance at the London Olympics is finally getting the recognition it deserves after all these years.
In 2017, Savinova was stripped of her gold medal, while Guliyev is expected to lose her silver, upgraded from bronze. Guliyev, now competing for Turkey under her husband's surname, is facing a two-year ban and has the option to appeal the decision until May 13.
The 38-year-old Montañana has been experiencing a mix of emotion since learning she could be awarded a bronze medal. From initial joy to eventual sadness to a grief that feels like losing something irreplaceable.
The moments she mourns most are those that will never come back. The embraces, the cheers, the hometown parade.
This is not the first time Montañana has been awarded medals she missed out on. In 2011 and 2013, she was given bronze medals for her world championship performances after Savinova lost her gold.
While competing, she had her suspicions about her Russian rivals but couldn't prove it. The changes in some athletes' performances seemed incomprehensible and the ease with which the Russians would pass her on the track made her feel like she was racing against robots.
In 2019, six and eight years after winning her two world championship medals, Montañana and her family were invited to Doha, Qatar, for the re-staging of the medal ceremonies she never had. But the audience was sparse, and the fireworks display left her feeling even more empty.
Montañana now hopes to receive her Olympic medal at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, with her family, friends, supporters, and sponsors there to witness her moment - unlike American shot putter Adam Nelson, who was given his gold medal next to a Burger King, nine years later than planned due to a rival's doping violation.
She also wishes to recoup some of the financial losses she suffered by not receiving an Olympic medal earlier. One of her current sponsors, Clif Bar, has already agreed to pay Montañana a bonus for finishing third in 2012, even though she partnered with the company after the London Olympics.
Montañana estimates that she has missed out on payments totaling "well over seven figures" as a result of being denied an Olympic medal.
Winning a medal at a significant competition can significantly increase an athlete's income when it comes to negotiating appearance fees or future deals. As Montano explains, an athlete's value rises when they have such prestigious accolades.
"Every time I enter a conversation, people talk about my achievements, and you can feel the difference between being a medalist and not being one in terms of income," tells Montano.
"My bargaining power would have been sky-high if I had come off the 2011 World Championships as a bronze medalist," she continues.
Montano urges harsher punishments for athletes caught doping, expressing concern about potential cheaters stealing the spotlight from deserving athletes.
"We need a more challenging path for athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs to return to the sport," she says.
She also believes in greater financial penalties for doping athletes. "There should be significant fines for those who choose to dope, and it's crucial for them to suffer financially if they want to rejoin the sport," argues Montano.
CNN requested comments from the International Olympic Committee and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding compensation for athletes who receive medals posthumously.
Montano's career was marked by various challenges, including missing out on medals and potential earnings, which caused a sense of solitude.
In 2019, she revealed that Nike threatened to terminate her contract and withhold payment if she wished to have a baby. This led the company to adjust its maternity policy to ensure no financial disadvantage would be experienced by female athletes for 18 months, which was an additional six months beyond the previous policy.
"I've felt a lot of trauma related to track and field," admits Montano, who last raced in 2017. Her love for running remains unchanged, though, and she believes the sport has a beneficial impact on her lifestyle and emotions.
"Once I put on my running shoes and begin running, all my problems and feelings of isolation dissipate. My adrenaline kicks in, my blood starts flowing, and my mind clears," she describes.
Although receiving an Olympic medal in 2028 would signify a time gap of 16 years since her last elite race, it might still provide closure for Montano. "I hope it'll feel like a chapter we can close differently than being stuck on the same sentence," she concludes.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
