Russian Tatyana Tomashova receives 10-year ban for doping, medals stripped

Russian middle-distance runner, Tatyana Tomashova, received a 10-year ban from the sport. Her silver medal that she won in the 1500-metre event at the 2012 Olympic Games has been disqualified.

Tomashova tested positive in 2021 for anabolic steroids. Samples were retested from her out-of-competition test on June 21, 2012 and July 17, 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reported.

Tatyana Tomashova banned: Runner in 2012 'dirtiest race' gets 10-year ban
Russian athlete Tatyana Tomashova is banned for 10 years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and is stripped of her London 2012 1500m silver medal for doping.https://t.co/OaVlyCrAbO

— Anti-Doping Database (@Dopinglist) September 3, 2024

Tomashova was one of six athletes of the top nine in the London 1500m final to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The two-time world champion finished in fourth place. However, was upgraded after the Turkish runners Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut were disqualified for doping. In what is dubbed, “the dirtiest race in history,” Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Jamal crossed the line third but was given gold due to the others doping.

Abeba Aregawi who runs for Sweden, but is Ethiopian, tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2016 but avoided a ban. She received the bronze medal in a special ceremony at the Paris Olympic Games. That medal will now be upgraded to silver.

Canadian Hilary Stellingwerff was one position away from making the final but was robbed of the opportunity by these dopers. American Shannon Rowbury, who finished one position ahead of Stellingwerff during the semi-final received bronze, Stellingwerff had no chance to compete for a medal.

“I heard yesterday she’s been disqualified, which is not a surprise given she had served a previous ban leading into those Games,
but my first thought was being gutted for someone like Shannon Rowbury who now moves up to bronze and never got to stand on the podium. I would have made the final with those athletes who doped were removed. Seeing so many women test positive after the fact shows positive steps are being made to curb doping, but it still stings to think about the missed opportunities in the moment: the women who missed medals and for those of us who missed the final, that will always be tough,” shared Stellingwerff.

Russia was found to have a doping program administered by the Russian Athletics Federation and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. The country was banned from international competition for systematic doping. Currently, the country is banned for its war on Ukraine.

Final results

	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	4:10.74
	Abeba Aregawi	Ethiopia	4:11.03
	Shannon Rowbury	United States	4:11.26
4	Lucia Klocová	Slovakia	4:12.64
5	Lisa Dobriskey	Great Britain	4:13.02
6	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	4:15.60
7	Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	4:16.57
n/a	Morgan Uceny	United States	n/a	DNF
DSQ	Aslı Çakır Alptekin	Turkey	4:10.23	DQ (doping)
DSQ	Gamze Bulut	Turkey	4:10.40	DQ (doping)
DSQ	Tatyana Tomashova	Russia	4:10.90	DQ (doping)
DSQ	Natallia Kareiva	Belarus	4:11.58	DQ (doping)
DSQ	Yekaterina Kostetskaya	Russia	4:12.90	DQ (doping)

Results Heat 1

1	Abeba Aregawi	Ethiopia	4:04.55	Q
2	Tatyana Tomashova	Russia	4:05.10	Q
3	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	4:05.39	Q
4	Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	4:05.40	Q
5	Hannah England	Great Britain	4:05.73	Q
6	Hilary Stellingwerff	Canada	4:05.79	Q
7	Shannon Rowbury	United States	4:06.03	q
8	Lucy van Dalen	New Zealand	4:07.04	q
9	Lucia Klocova	Slovakia	4:07.79	q, NR
10	Corinna Harrer	Germany	4:07.83	q
11	Marina Munćan	Serbia	4:11.25
12	Tereza Capkova	Czech Republic	4:12.15
13	Anzhelika Shevchenko	Ukraine	4:12.97
14	Natalia Rodríguez	Spain	4:16.18
15	Tuğba Karakaya	Turkey	4:29.21
—	Btissam Lakhouad	Morocco	—	DNF

Heat 2

1	Lisa Dobriskey	Great Britain	4:13.32	Q
2	Siham Hilali	Morocco	4:13.34	Q
—	Aslı Çakır Alptekin	Turkey	4:13.64	Q
3	Nuria Fernández	Spain	4:13.72	Q
4	Kaila McKnight	Australia	4:13.80	Q
5	Jennifer Simpson	United States	4:13.81	Q
—	Ekaterina Martynova[22]	Russia	4:13.86
6	Genzeb Shumi	Bahrain	4:14.02
7	Meskerem Assefa	Ethiopia	4:15.52
8	Eunice Jepkoech Sum	Kenya	4:16.95
9	Sonja Roman	Slovenia	4:19.17
10	Eliane Saholinirina	Madagascar	4:19.46
11	Renata Pliś	Poland	4:19.62
12	Chancel Ilunga Sankuru	Democratic Republic of the Congo	5:05.25
—	Ingvill Makestad Bovim	Norway	—	DNS

Heat 3

—	Gamze Bulut	Turkey	4:06.69	Q
1	Morgan Uceny	United States	4:06.87	Q
—	Natallia Kareiva	Belarus	4:06.87	Q, SB
—	Yekaterina Kostetskaya	Russia	4:06.94	Q
2	Mimi Belete	Bahrain	4:07.01	Q, SB
3	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	4:07.29	Q
4	Nicole Sifuentes	Canada	4:07.65	q
5	Zoe Buckman	Australia	4:07.83	q
6	Faith Kipyegon	Kenya	4:08.78
7	Genzebe Dibaba	Ethiopia	4:11.15
8	Janet Achola	Uganda	4:11.64
9	Isabel Macías	Spain	4:13.07
10	Anna Mishchenko	Ukraine	4:13.63
11	Betlhem Desalegn	United Arab Emirates	4:14.07
12	Gladys Landaverde	El Salvador	4:18.26	NR

Semi-finals Heat 1

—	Aslı Çakır Alptekin	Turkey	4:05.11	Q
—	Yekaterina Kostetskaya	Russia	4:05.32	Q
1	Morgan Uceny	United States	4:05.34	Q
2	Lisa Dobriskey	Great Britain	4:05.35	Q
3	Shannon Rowbury	United States	4:05.47	Q
4	Hilary Stellingwerff	Canada	4:05.57
5	Corinna Harrer	Germany	4:05.70
6	Mimi Belete	Bahrain	4:05.91	SB
7	Hannah England	Great Britain	4:06.35
8	Nuria Fernandez	Spain	4:06.57	SB
9	Lucy van Dalen	New Zealand	4:06.97
10	Kaila McKnight	Australia	4:08.44

Heat 2

1	Abeba Aregawi	Ethiopia	4:01.03	Q
—	Gamze Bulut	Turkey	4:01.18	Q, PB
2	Tatyana Tomashova	Russia	4:02.10	Q
3	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	4:02.18	Q, SB
4	Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	4:02.30	Q
—	Natallia Kareiva	Belarus	4:02.37	q, PB
5	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	4:02.99	q, PB
6	Lucia Klocova	Slovakia	4:02.99	q, NR
7	Siham Hilali	Morocco	4:04.79
8	Zoe Buckman	Australia	4:05.03	PB
9	Nicole Sifuentes	Canada	4:06.33
10	Jennifer Simpson	United States	4:06.89