It’s official – Christine Girard is an Olympic champion.
The retired South Surrey weightlifter learned this week from the International Olympic Committee that her bronze medal from the 2012 Summer Olympics – in the women’s 63-kg competition – is now officially upgraded to gold.
The gold and silver medallists – Kazakhstan’s Maiya Maneza and Russia’s Svetlana Tsurukaeva, respectively – were discovered to have tested positive for banned substances, with Maneza being stripped of her medal in the fall of 2016, and Tsurukeva in April of last year, leaving Girard as the only clean athlete left from the original trio of podium finishers.
It's now official! I can call myself an Olympic Champion! 🙂 https://t.co/lk0NGKM6MQ
— Christine Girard (@ch_girard) April 19, 2018
Girard first heard the podium boost was in the works last spring – days after Tsurukeva was stripped of silver – but did not hear official word from the IOC until earlier this week.
The decision was announced Thursday.
“We’re just so thrilled it’s finally official,” Girard told Peace Arch News.
“It’s the last step in a long journey – this all started two years ago. We’re really happy this moment is finally here.”
The next step for Girard – and the Canadian Olympic Committee – is to organize some type of medal ceremony, and officially get the gold into Girard’s hands. Girard still doesn’t have the bronze medal she is owed from the 2008 Olympics – in which she finished fourth, but was bumped to third due to another doping sanction after the fact – and said she will receive both medals at the upcoming ceremony.
Girard’s bronze-medal win was a big moment for Canadian weightlifting – she was the first woman to win an Olympic medal in the sport.
Now, she is also Canada’s first two-time weightlifting medallist.
