‘Heartbroken’ by her rivals’ doping offenses, Shannon Rowbury is now set to receive a bronze medal – 12 years after she raced

For Shannon Rowbury, the 1,500-meter final at the London 2012 Olympics was simultaneously one of the best and worst moments of her running career.

For Shannon Rowbury, it was simultaneously one of the best and worst moments of her running career. Part of her was thrilled and exhilarated to be competing in the finals of a second Olympic Games, and the roar of the crowd was like nothing she had experienced before – so loud that it seemed as though the ground was trembling inside the London Stadium. Rowbury describes it as “the most out-of-body experience I’ve had in my entire life,” the noise only growing louder as she and her other competitors neared the finish line. But for all the absorbing spectacle, the race also had dark secret, an underbelly of corruption owing to a raft of doping violations that would emerge over time. Today, the women’s 1,500-meter final at the London 2012 Olympics is considered one of the dirtiest races in the history of track and field. Of the 13 athletes in the field, five are set to have had their results disqualified for doping violations. That includes Aslı Çakır Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, the two Turkish runners who were first and second across the line, and, most recently, Russian Tatyana Tomashova, who was moved up to the silver medal position after initially placing fourth. It’s for these reasons that Rowbury has mixed feelings about the race; only now, more than a decade on, can she begin to look at the experience in a more positive light.