The history of Olympic victories, seemingly long frozen in official protocols, continues to change. The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to reallocate medals and diplomas from the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The reason for this step was the final disqualification of a Russian track and field athlete who violated anti-doping rules.
The athlete in question is Ekaterina Poistogova (later changing her surname to Guliyeva), who won the silver medal in the 800-meter run at the 2012 Games. According to the IOC press service, all legal proceedings regarding the athlete have been completed, allowing the official results of the competition held 14 years ago to be changed.
A Long Road to the Verdict
The process of stripping the athlete of her awards took several years. As early as March 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found Poistogova guilty of using banned substances and annulled her results. The athlete herself attempted to appeal this decision. However, in May 2025, the CAS appellate body fully rejected the appeal.
With all legal remedies exhausted, the CAS decision became final. World Athletics promptly made corrections to the official results of the 800-meter race. It is worth noting that since 2021, Guliyeva has represented Turkey, however, the disqualification concerns exclusively her performances under the Russian flag.
Systemic Nature of Violations
This incident is yet another confirmation of the scale of doping problems in Russian athletics in the early 2010s. In the same 800-meter race at the London Games, two other Russian runners—Elena Arzhakova and Maria Savinova—had previously been disqualified for doping.
As a result of massive sample manipulation involving Russian representatives, the final official ranking for this discipline now consists of only five athletes who competed honestly. The IOC confirmed that all anti-doping checks regarding other leaders in the discipline are complete, and new awards will be presented to the next athletes on the list.