The London 2012 Women’s 1500m Olympic Final is considered the worst race in Olympic history. Yet it turned out to be marred by extensive doping scandals which continue to affect the athletics community up to this day. On that date, in the women’s 1500m final, Turkey’s Asli Cakir Alptekin claimed the gold medal. Her fellow countrywoman Gamze Bulut won the silver and Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain captured the bronze. The race would soon be eclipsed by a wave of revelations that most of his opponents were doping like crazy.
Alptekin was ecstatic about her victory, but the jubilation was short-lived. In May 2013, they found irregularities in her blood profile that went back to 2010 and, after the fact, suspended her. This shocking admission was almost tangential to the tidal wave of evidence that led to a widespread doping pattern among many athletes. Tatyana Tomashova of Russia made an impressive move to fourth in the middle of the race. Following Alptekin’s disqualification, she was promoted to the silver medalist spot. She was given a ten-year ban after testing positive for anabolic steroids. The prohibited drugs were found in retests of samples stored from the London 2012 Olympics.
The London 2012 Olympics served as the highest profile test case for this anti-doping testing regime. During the daily 16-day event, officials tested upwards of 5,000 individuals. The International Testing Agency showed real courage by stripping medals from 31 competitors across 11 different countries by 2022. As we celebrate these achievements, this action underscores the serious obstacles that remain against doping in athletics.
As I asked former athletes to illuminate the lasting impact of these scandals, a resigned sadness quickly turned to anger. Lisa Dobriskey, who finished fourth in the race, noted, “I think these Games came too soon. People will be caught eventually.” She continued out of necessity. She said she had to “detach” herself from the sport in light of these discoveries.
American middle-distance runner Shannon Rowbury commented on what it’s like to compete in that sort of environment. “When you’re competing against someone who’s cheated, their bodies don’t behave the way a normal, clean body would when everybody else is fading,” she stated. Rowbury lamented that justice can take time but expressed hope: “Even after 13 years, justice can be served.”
Despite the controversies surrounding the race, some voices in the sports community urge caution against post-race insinuations regarding athletes’ performances. Jonathan Edwards remarked, “Don’t think post-race insinuations by athletes who’ve been beaten achieve anything at all.”
The intricacies of anti-doping initiatives are highlighted well by April Henning’s comments on current testing issues. “This is the nature of anti-doping. It’s all a shot in the dark because athletes are incentivized to do it as quietly and discreetly as possible,” she explained. Henning further asserted that “the most sophisticated and successful doping programme in the world is the one we don’t know about.”
The London 2012 Women’s 1500m Olympic Final serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing battle against doping in sports. Athletes train fiercely to earn their shot at greatness and honor on an international stage. Integrity and fairness problems have consistently undermined the very basis of competitive athletics.