Russian Olga Yegorova, at the centre of a drugs scandal over the past month, was booed by spectators when she was presented with her 5,000 metres gold medal at the world championships on Sunday. The world indoor 3,000 metres champion was heckled by sections of the crowd and did not run the customary victory lap after winning the race on Saturday. The Edmonton crowd gave her another cool reception during the medal ceremony and after the Russian national anthem was played.
Yegorova tested positive for the blood-boosting drug EPO (erythropoietin) after the Paris Golden League meeting last month, but was cleared to compete because the test did not conform to International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards.
The 29-year-old Russian, who denies using the stamina-boosting drug and passed another test for the substance at the championships, won the race with ease. Ethiopia's Ayelech Worku, who won the bronze medal, did not attend the ceremony. But local organisers said her absence was an administrative error and not a protest.
"The bronze medallist did not intentionally miss the presentation and it was not a protest as some people have concluded," they said in a statement. "According to her manager she was given the incorrect time of the medal ceremony by the Ethiopian team officials. Her manager added that she is truly sorry to have missed the awards."
"It was a question of communications," said Istvan Gyulai, general secretary of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). "We could not find her in the stadium. We had to go ahead with the ceremony. The ceremony was originally scheduled to have taken place yesterday."
Olympic champion Gabriela Szabo had threatened to boycott the 5,000 if Yegorova was allowed to compete but decided to run, finishing out of the medals in eighth.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
