Good will out

On Saturday I returned to the London Stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the first time since the London 2012 Olympics.

The occasion was the British Athletics Müller Anniversary Games.

The weather was perfect, five hours of well choreographed track and field events, lots of newer British talent which are clearly going to make a name for themselves and for the UK in world athletics moving forward.

There are much, much worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon in July.

But what made the day incredibly special was seeing a long term wrong righted. Unknown to many in the stadium before it was announced (me included) was an Olympic medal’s ceremony to award the British javelin athlete, Goldie Sayers, the bronze medal she rightfully won at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

In 2016 the second placed Russian was disqualified because of a positive test for anabolic steroid turinabol so bronze became silver and Sayers became bronze.

The atmosphere was electric and Sayers had the twin compensations of a home crowd witnessing it and the national anthem which she wouldn’t have received in Beijing.

For once the phrase ‘better late than never’ was a reality but more than that it was reminder that cheating has no place in life in general or sport in particular. Justice was done and we all got to share a very special, if late, moment.