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Last night I am on my way to the loo when hubby bellows from the bedroom: "Babe! Get in here!"
I keep going, while shouting over my shoulder, "WHAT???"
"You've gotta see this! Come!"
Thinking it's something funny he's found on YouTube, I don't alter my course.
Eventually business completed, I wander up to the computer to see what all the fuss is about.
Hubby is waving at the screen excitedly, pointing, stabbing at something that looks to me like a joke.
"See!?! Didn't I tell you? Didn't I say it? She's a drug cheat. Look!"
My eyes are struggling to take in what they're seeing.
Ostapchuk, the girl-who-looks-like-a-bloke and who beat NZ's Valerie Adams to Shotput Olympic Gold has been stripped of her Gold Medal. Valerie, who won silver with a Beijing besting throw that was not good enough for some sections of the media, has been elevated from second to first.
She gets Gold, after all.
Hubby is beaming, proud of himself because he really did say it.
When Ostapchuk was standing there with the gold medal around her neck, looking for all the world like Benny Hill's twin brother, my insightful man said, "I'll bet she's been doing drugs. She's on steroids for sure. What's the bet she'll get stripped of her Gold and Valerie will get it after all?"
I kid you not. He told me so.
At the time I thought it was wishful (if rather judgemental) thinking.
I mean the poor girl couldn't help looking like a bloke, could she?
Does her mannishness automatically mean she's a steroid cheat?
Well, yes. Apparently so.
She threw the furtherest by taking drugs. She cheated. She gambled and she lost. She got found out, caught, stripped and shamed. For the sake of 63cm she is now a pariah.
Ostapchuk nicked the Gold by devious foul play, robbing Val of her Golden moment, but the memory of her moment of glory will forever be ashes in her mouth. She'll always be labelled a drug cheat. A by-word, a morality tale that "Cheaters never prosper."
No hero's welcome will await for Ostapchuk.
Val never got to hear our national Anthem played in her honour in the Olympic Stadium.
Ostapchuk stole that moment from her along with the Gold medal. that makes me sad for Valerie.
But although the Drug Cheat stole Val's Golden moment, she gets to keep something far more valuable:
Her honour, her reputation and her good name. Knowing that she continues to be a strong young woman who inspires young girls to be all they can be, overcome adversity and come out on top. The satisfaction of knowing she's a winner who doesn't need to cheat to be the best.
And Valerie gets to come home to a hero's welcome.
Something worth even more than Gold.
- News Story and Valerie Adams' reaction here
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P.S. For those who care about medal tallies, this gives little NZ, population 4 Million, a total of SIX GOLD MEDALS, only one less than Australia. Not bad huh?
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