2012 Olympic 800m silver medallist may finally lose her medal

The 2012 Olympic silver medallist in the 800m, Ekaterina Guliyeva, may finally have to relinquish her medal, according to a report in Russia’s Sport-Express.ru and InsideTheGames.com. Guliyeva finished third in the race, behind her compatriot, Mariya Savinova, and South Africa’s Caster Semenya, but was upgraded to silver (and Semenya to gold) when Savinova was found guilty of doping. Guliyeva was also found to have been doping at the 2012 Games, and has been given a two-year competition ban by the Russian athletics federation, effective until March 27, 2026.

Poistogova-Guliyev could lose Olympic medal in historic doping case

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At the time, Guliyeva competed using her first husband’s name (Poistogova). In 2015 she was suspended, with all results from July 17, 2012 to Oct. 20, 2014 disqualified. But she appealed her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which, in 2017, upheld the two-year ban, but declined to make it retroactive to 2012.

In 2019, Guliyeva married 2017 200m world champion Ramil Guliyev, who was born in Azerbaijan but competed for Turkey, and eventually became a Turkish citizen. She became pregnant, travelling freely to meets with him as a spectator, giving birth to a daughter in 2020. At Tokyo 2020, Russian athletes could only compete as neutral athletes, but now, Guliyeva could compete for Turkey. She had been training and competing in Turkey, with a view to qualifying for the Paris Olympics in 2024; the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide whether she gets to keep her medal.  

Russian doping ban lifted, but Ukraine war keeps athletes out

If Guliyeva’s 2012 result is disqualified, Pamela Jelimo of Kenya will be declared the silver medallist and Alysia Montaño of the U.S. will be upgraded to bronze.

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from World Athletics events.