American hurdler Lashinda Demus, is a well-known name in track and field. Winner of the World Title in 2011, and Demus was the first American woman to win the Olympic 400-meter hurdles title. But the 40-year-old didn’t win at the London Olympics in 2012, because she finished 0.07 seconds behind Russian athlete Natalya Antyukh. The latter however, has recently been implicated in the Russian doping scandal.

Natalya Antyukh was finally penalized recently. Now that the tables have turned, Lashinda Demus has received her due. She will be reallocated her hard-earned Olympic medal from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), even though she’s retired.

A real hurdle for Lashinda Demus

On Thursday, at age 40 and more than a decade after the 2012 London Games, Lashinda Demus was finally recognized as an Olympic champion. As a result of the Russian doping scandal, Natalya Antyukh was disqualified, and the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdle was legally transferred to Demus. Antyukh was involved in the second doping case of her career in 2011. Track’s Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) decided in October to nullify all of Antyukh’s results between July 2012 and June 2013 based on data from a Moscow testing laboratory’s database.

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According to a report by the Associated Press, several athletes who earned podium finishes at the time also benefited from the decision to revoke Antyukh’s gold. The Czech Republic’s Zuzana Hejnová won the silver medal, while Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer was awarded the bronze.

A career to be remembered

In 2016, Lashinda Demus retired from track and field athletics. The American hurdler may have had a brief career, but she certainly made her mark on the history books of the sport. The former hurdler is now settling into retirement in Palmdale, California. She has twin sons, and her mother also happens to be her coach.

To name just a few of her many accomplishments, she won the 2002 NCAA Outdoor title, the 2003 NCAA Indoor 400m title, the 2006 Outdoor Visa title, the 2009 World Outdoor 4x400m gold medal, the 2011 World Outdoor gold medal, and the USA Outdoor 400mH title four times. Finally, she got her first Olympic gold medal for the 2012 London Games, which she acquired recently.

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The ten-year wait for the medal was quite well worth it for Lashinda Demus.