On Tuesday, former Great British athlete Kelly Sotherton found out that she had recieved her second Olympic bronze medal within the space of five months, and her third Olympic bronze medal overall.
Finding out that I’ve just got another Olympic medal. Yes I had tears. Happy Ones at this time! Hi pic.twitter.com/TAR5I4QQCd
— Kelly Sotherton (@KellySotherton) April 25, 2017
The former heptathlete had won bronze at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, with a personal best score of 6424.
At the 2008 games, Sotherton posted an even better score than her 2004 effort, totalling 6517 points. Unfortunately, Sotherton had finished fourth, behind Russian athlete Tatyana Chernova tested positive for a banned steroid.
Chernova had won gold in the 2011 World Championships but was stripped of that gold for doping, resulting in a gold medal for Jessica Ennis-Hill.
Last month, Jo Pavey was told that she would be awarded a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships after the turkish athlete that finished third was disqualified for doping.
And yesterday, the IAAF announced that the Russian 4x400m Women’s relay team that won gold in the 2013 World Championships will also be stripped of gold for doping, giving the Great British quartet of Christine Ohuruogu, Eilidh Doyle, Shana Cox and Magaret Adoye into silver medal position.
The recent changing of medals have raised some questions in athletics about how many more athletes have missed their day in the sun.
Speaking to the BBC about the news Sotherton said “Until now I felt my career could have been better.“
She added, “I left Beijing in tears because I thought I had failed. But I am a lot happier now because I feel my career has more meaning to it and I am worthy.”
“I would swap all three medals for a gold, obviously, but to win three Olympic medals, regardless of what colour they are, is an achievement and I feel very happy about that.
Five months earlier, Sotherton and her teammates Christine Ohuruogu, Marilyn Okoro and Nicola Sanders were bumped up to bronze in the Women’s 4x400m after Belarus and Russia had been disqualified for doping.
Sotherton has now won nine medals for Great Britain alongside the three Olympic bronzes. These include a bronze at the World Championships in 2007, three silvers at the European Indoor Championships and a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
