Bronze to Gold: Canadian Weightlifter’s Olympic Medals Upgraded

Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard holds up the gold and bronze Olympic medals she was awarded during a ceremony in Ottawa,.

(Photo: AP)

Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard received a 2012 London Olympic gold and 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medal in a ceremony on Monday, 3 December, at the National Arts Centre.

Girard becomes the first Canadian Olympic champion in weightlifting and the first Canadian to win two Olympic medals in the sport thanks to failed doping tests by her opponents.

Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard poses with her children Aliana left, Samuel and Philip, right, and gold and bronze Olympic medals she was awarded during a ceremony in Ottawa.

She won the bronze medal in London in the 63-kilogram event. Girard was upgraded to gold after Maiya Maneza of Kazakhstan and Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia were stripped of their medals after retests of urine samples were positive for a banned substance.

Girard was awarded the bronze medal from Beijing after Irina Nekrassova of Kazakhstan tested positive for a banned substance.