Great Britain's javelin thrower Goldie Sayers is all set to claim a bronze medal from the Beijing Olympics. Not only Sayers, but a number of British athletes look set to receive belated medals from the Games in 2008.
Hundreds of urine samples were retested recently and the results showed that 14 Russian athletes tested positive among 31 from the Beijing Games, according to a report in The Guardian.
As a result, Sayers and Britain's 4x400m men's relay team – Martyn Rooney, Robert Tobin, Michael Bingham and Andrew Steele -- who stood fourth, are all set to claim their bronze medals.
Sayers has come out and stated strongly against that she wants Russian athletes to be banned from the Rio Olympics 2016.
"I'd almost go as far as to say I wouldn't want to compete in Rio if Russia are competing. But boycotting it wouldn't do anything, because no one would care. And then I would be missing out on another Olympic moment. So I will aim to qualify again. However, I certainly think their athletes should be banned from Rio," Sayers was quoted as saying by the British newspaper.
"Yes, there might be a few Russians that haven't cheated, but the number of positive tests makes it pretty obvious that it is state-sponsored and endemic. The only way they will learn is if they are punished and banned."
Russian javelin silver medalist from the Beijing Games, Mariya Abakumova, is reported to be among the 14 alleged offenders. Her B sample is yet to be confirmed, and if that proves to be positive, then Sayers will claim the bronze medal.
"It's certainly been a strange 24 hours. I've swung from being really happy and excited to being really angry, and everything in between. It's always been my dream to be an Olympic medalist but you don't think you'll hear about it while driving on the M11. It's slightly different from the Bird's Nest stadium," Sayers added.
Sayers wants the International Olympics Committee to dig deep and retest each and every sample to get hold of more offenders.
"In some ways I feel quite lucky. The IOC has so far only retested samples of those athletes hoping to go to Rio, so if Abakumova had retired after having twins, the news of this potential medal would never have come out. But what about those in events where medalists have already retired?" Sayers questioned.
