Silver lining: IOC approves Olympic medal upgrade for Canada’s men’s relay team at Tokyo Games
Canada’s men’s 4×100-metre relay group from the Tokyo Olympics has formally been upgraded to silver 9 months following they raced to bronze.
The International Olympic Committee rubber-stamped the update all through Thursday’s conference of the executive board.
Jerome Blake of Burnaby, B.C., Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney of Toronto, and 6-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont. posted a time of 37.70 seconds in Tokyo to complete guiding Italy and Fantastic Britain. Good Britain’s final result was scrubbed in February soon after the Courtroom of Arbitration for Activity dominated in opposition to lead-off runner Chijindu Ujah, for a doping violation.
“To retroactively get upgraded to a silver medal on our working day off kinda feels weird,” Brown explained in a YouTube movie in March. “We did not go out there and run any more quickly, we did not do anything at all diverse on the track. It is practically simply because of a disqualification, so that feels a little unusual.”
Brown explained he was information with his bronze he was sympathetic with Britain’s other relay group users.
“Those guys were being out there operating their butt off way too and they ought to have that medal just as much as we do,” Brown explained. “To go from remaining that close to gold (Italy edged the Brits by .01 seconds) to now strolling away with no medal at all, nah person, which is tricky. My coronary heart goes out to them, I really feel poor for them and that will make it tricky for me to rejoice getting a silver medal, actually.”
Observe | Men’s relay group races to Olympic podium:
Andre De Grasse led Canada to a third area complete in the Tokyo Olympics 4x100m relay, right before Excellent Britain was stripped of their silver medal due to a favourable test by British sprinter Chijindu Ujah.
‘We are delighted’
Canadian Olympic Committee president Tricia Smith referred to as the Canadian sprinters “outstanding ambassadors” for Canada and the Olympic motion.
“We are delighted that they will be upgraded to the silver medal they earned,” she said in a assertion. “Whilst it is really disappointing that we are nevertheless observing doping instances robbing athletes of their second at Games, this reinforces the significance of integrity and safeguarding cleanse sport.”
Athletics Canada mentioned it’s still to be established how the athletes will acquire their silver medals.
The Canadian team’s medal depend from Tokyo 2020 is now 7 gold, seven silver and 10 bronze.
“Now I have an Olympic bronze medal, I will have an Olympic silver, and all I need to have is an Olympic gold in Paris 2024 to complete the established,” Brown said.
The system for upgrading medals immediately after a doping violation can be painstaking.
Canadian Dylan Armstrong completed fourth in shot put in 2008 in Beijing and so never ever experienced the chance to stand on the Olympic medal podium. Yrs afterwards, he was upgraded to bronze immediately after Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus was disqualified for doping. Armstrong eventually gained his medal — Canada’s initial in shot set at an Olympics — at a ceremony in his hometown of Kamloops, B.C., in 2015, 7 many years following the precise levels of competition.
Very last November, Canada’s Derek Drouin noticed his medal from the London Olympics upgraded to silver thanks to a doping disqualification, 9 yrs after he won bronze at all those Games.
Canada has climbed the medal podium in the relay in back-to-back again Olympics. Brown, De Grasse and Rodney have been associates of the bronze medal-successful workforce at Rio 2016. De Grasse, who has 6 Olympic medals, grew to become Canada’s most decorated male Olympian in Tokyo. Brief-observe speedskater Charles Hamelin would equal that mark with his gold at the Beijing Game titles in February.
Swimmer Penny Oleksiak, with 7 Olympic medals (one gold, two silver and 4 bronze), is Canada’s all round medal leader.
