Twelve years and one day after crossing the finish line in London, Lashinda Demus will finally, rightfully, wear her gold medal in Paris.

For the first time ever, the IOC will stage a medal reallocation ceremony on-site at an Olympic Games. On Aug. 9, the now-retired U.S. hurdles star will receive a gold medal during a ceremony at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris’ Champions Park.

In 2012, Demus took silver in the women’s 400m hurdles at the London Olympics, trailing Russian Natalya Antyukh by .07 seconds at the finish line. Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic took bronze.

But eight years later, in March 2020, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) charged Antyukh and three fellow Russian track and field athletes with doping offenses, stating that the athletes used “a prohibited substance or method.” This ruling meant Demus could claim her gold. She has since embarked on a 12-year journey to attain the gold medal that eluded her in London. And her onetime dream is just days from materializing.

It was nearly 4,400 days ago at London Stadium. Demus, in the midst of a comeback journey after failing to qualify for the Beijing Games, lined up in the blocks, vying for her first Olympic victory.

The London Olympics represented Demus’ best hope for a possible gold medal. She was a year removed from giving birth to twin boys and was recovering from a torn right hamstring. This was her shot.

Demus flew off her blocks to an early lead. The American led for the first two hurdles before Russia’s Antyukh overtook the American. Antyukh steadily extended her lead to a full length by the ninth hurdle. In the end, she barely staved Demus off to win gold, edging her rival by just .03 seconds.

At the medal ceremony in London, officials draped a gleaming gold medal around Antyukh’s neck. Demus, wearing silver, listened with the world as the State Anthem of the Russian Federation played over the stadium speakers. 

Demus had fallen short of the gold. But she would proudly have “Olympic silver medalist” on her biography for the rest of her days.

A year later, the bombshell dropped: The Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Antyukh from competing for four years. It took one more year for the Athletics Integrity Unit to then officially disqualify the Russian’s 2012 Olympic victory, putting Demus in line for the upgrade of a lifetime, to the Olympic gold medal that was rightfully hers.

After negotiating for a year with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Demus then secured the Aug. 9 ceremony at the Eiffel Tower, where IOC will award her with the gold medal, plus medals to the rightful silver and bronze medalists (Hejnova and Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer).

In all, 10 athletes will receive their rightful medals at the ceremony — all who competed in 2012 Olympic events featuring Russians since charged with doping. The list includes American Erik Kynard, whose silver will become gold after Ivan Ukhov was disqualified for doping.

Historically, such reallocation ceremonies have occurred at non-Olympic events like world championships, so this Paris Olympics-based ceremony marks history.

Now age 41 and the mother to four boys, Demus will travel to Paris with her husband and children. She launched a GoFundMe page with the goal of bringing her parents, grandmother and friends to the ceremony. As of the start of the Olympics, Demus had raised $21,181, eclipsing her goal by over $1,000.

In the GoFundMe’s description, Demus wrote, “4,384 Days. It’s been a long wait. A long fight to right a wrong. When the gold medal is put around my neck in Champions Park at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 beneath the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower on August 9th -- I -- U.S. Olympian Lashinda Demus -- will finally kiss my medal as the champion of the 400-meter hurdles race from the Olympic Games London 2012.

Finally receiving the gold medal in Paris at the Olympics is a dream come true.

Demus' pro career included two Olympic appearances: the 2004 Athens Games and those 2012 London Olympics. She first burst onto the national radar in Long Beach, California, where she broke the national high school record for the 300m hurdles and the 4x400m relay.

By the time of her retirement, Demus had amassed two world titles, plus a host of national, NCAA and junior championships. She can now add Olympic gold medalist to her résumé.