Georgia Tech great Chaunte Lowe’s bid for an Olympic medal may finally be achieved. One month after the 2008 bronze medalist in the high jump, Anna Chicerova of Russia, was stripped of her medal after a re-test of her sample tested positive for steroids, the International Olympic Committee announced Thursday that the fourth- and fifth-place finishers had also failed drug re-tests.
Lowe, who finished sixth in Beijing, could be in line to be awarded a bronze medal, her first. Lowe would become the first female Tech athlete to earn an Olympic medal.
Lowe sent this tweet Thursday: “So I guess I am an #Olympic Medalist now. The 3 people that finished immediately in front of me in 2008 tested positive giving in me bronze!”
The IOC has made no announcement regarding the bronze medal.
Lowe, 32, has competed in the past four Olympics in the high jump. She did not make the final in 2004, was sixth in 2008 (before the recent findings), sixth in 2012 and fourth in Rio de Janeiro in August. She was agonizingly close to winning gold. She failed to clear two meters when a successful attempt at that height would have earned her gold.
She was gracious in defeat, embracing gold medalist Ruth Beitia of Spain moments after her final failed jump.
Chicherova, Russia’s Elena Slesarenko (fourth) and Ukraine’s Vita Palamar (fifth) all tested positive for turinabol.
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