Javelin thrower Goldie Sayers is set to finally receive a bronze medal from the 2008 Olympics - after the second placed athlete failed to overturn a doping ban.
Katherine Dinah “Goldie” Sayers, formerly of Ely, discovered that she will get her first and only medal from a major competition while sitting on a train last Friday.
The former athlete, who retired last year, threw a British javelin record of 65.75m in Beijing, but finished in fourth, 39cm outside the medal placings.
However, silver medallist Mariya Abakumova, of Russia, was found to have tested positive for anabolic steroid turinabol during a re-analysis of her sample from the games.
She was subsequently stripped of silver but appealed – only for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to dismiss her appeal last week.
It meant that Sayers was promoted to third place while German Christina Obergfoll will now receive silver.
The 36-year-old took to Twitter to reveal she had discovered the life-changing news while sat on a train in Taunton snacking on a cheese ploughmans.
She tweeted: “When did you find out you’d won an Olympic bronze medal?
“Me: sitting on a stationary GWR train in Taunton station eating a cheese ploughmans.”
Sayers had three Olympic appearances, five world championships, two world championship finals and multiple British records throughout her career.
The former King’s Ely pupil, who was born in Newmarket, played netball and tennis at county level, and was an under 11 national table tennis champion.
She changed her name to Goldie by deed poll when she was 17 years old, influenced by actress Goldie Hawn.
She told BBC Sport that she had the “greatest moment of her life stolen” from her as a result of Abakumova’s use of performance enhancing drugs, saying she had retired feeling “cheated and had a deep sense of injustice”.
Speaking to the Ely Standard shortly after the games in 2008, Sayers said she was “satisfied” about her placing.
“Athletes don’t throw their best all the time, and in terms of consistency I would have been about third. I did want a medal, but it didn’t happen. So I’m ‘satisfied’ rather than ‘pleased’,” she said.
To read the full interview visit: http://www.elystandard.co.uk/sport/goldie-sayers-talks-to-the-ely-standard-about-her-olympic-experience-1-250524
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