OTTAWA - Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard received her London 2012 Olympic gold and Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medals in a ceremony held today at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Girard, from Rouyn-Noranda, Que., is the first Olympic champion in Canadian weightlifting history and the first Canadian ever to win two Olympic medals in the sport.
She was initially awarded the bronze medal at London 2012 in the 63-kilogram event, but was upgraded to gold after the two athletes ahead of her, Maiya Maneza of Kazakhstan and Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia, had their medals stripped after a retest of their urine samples tested positive for a banned substance.
She was later awarded the bronze medal from Beijing 2008 after Irina Nekrassova of Kazakhstan was stripped of her silver medal for testing positive for banned substances.
Girard had initially placed fourth in the event.
Girard joins Dylan Armstrong (athletics, Beijing 2008) and Beckie Scott (cross-country skiing, Salt Lake City 2002) as Canadian Olympians to receive medal reallocations due to doping violations.
