The results of the London Olympics are still changing more than 12 years later.
Shannon Rowbury of the United States took another step toward a long-delayed bronze medal on Tuesday when Russian runner Tatyana Tomashova was officially disqualified from the women's 1,500 meters final at the London Games.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping cases in track and field, said Tomashova had not filed an appeal against a doping ban she was given at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in September.
That means the decision is “final and binding" in the records of World Athletics, and the International Olympic Committee has been informed, the AIU added.
"We are committed to protecting the integrity of athletics and, even when events have long passed, we will investigate potential violations fully,” AIU chair David Howman said in a statement. “I believe this outcome will still be meaningful for those who are justly recognised as a consequence.”
Tomashova’s disqualification should also raise Abeba Aregawi into the silver medal position. She was competing for Ethiopia at the time and later represented Sweden.
Tomashova was given a 10-year doping ban in September. The court said at the time that she tested positive for anabolic steroids in samples she gave in June and July 2012, weeks ahead of the Olympics in London. The AIU has said the case was based on records that emerged much later indicating doping cover-ups at what was then the Moscow anti-doping laboratory.
The women's 1,500 final from the 2012 Olympics ranks among the most tainted events in Olympic history following more than a decade of doping revelations and legal battles.
The original gold and silver medalists from Turkey, Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, have long since been disqualified and banned for doping, and so have other athletes. Tomashova was originally the fourth-place finisher and Rowbury crossed the line sixth.
There might be another long wait for the medals.
The IOC has final approval to reallocate medals. Medal presentation ceremonies can be held at a world championships or a future Olympics. The next Summer Games is in 2028 in Los Angeles. The IOC board is set to meet next month.
Rowbury is now aged 40 and retired from racing, and worked as a broadcaster at the Paris Olympics analyzing track races for NBC.
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FILE - Shannon Rowbury of the United States, right, celebrates her win in the women's 3000m during the Diamond League athletics meet at The Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, Friday, July 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
FILE - Shannon Rowbury of the United States, center right, sixth from the winner, competes in the women's 1500-meter field during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza, File)
Ukraine fired six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, days after U.S. President Joe Biden eased restrictions on Ukrainian use of American-made weapons in the war that has reached its 1,000-day milestone.
Ukraine claimed it hit a military weapons depot in Bryansk in the middle of the night, though it didn't specify what weapons it used. The Ukrainian General Staff said that multiple explosions and detonation were heard in the targeted area.
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry said the military shot down five Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, and damaged one more.
The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said. The falling debris sparked a fire, but didn’t inflict any damage or casualties, it said.
Neither side's claims could be independently verified.
The announcement came after Biden authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the longer range weapons after Russia deployed thousands of North Korean troops in the conflict.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported a third Russian strike in three days on a civilian residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child.
The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region late Monday hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the town of Hlukhiv and wounded 11 others, including two children, authorities said, adding that more people could be trapped under the rubble.
Ukrainian civilians have repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles during the war, while on the battlefield it is under severe Russian pressure at places on the about 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where its army is stretched thin against a bigger adversary.
On Sunday, a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions struck a residential area of Sumy in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounding 84 others. On Monday, a Russian missile barrage sparked apartment fires in the southern port of Odesa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 43.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the series of aerial strikes proved that Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn't interested in ending the war.
“Each new attack by Russia only confirms Putin’s true intentions. He wants the war to continue. Talks about peace are not interesting to him. We must force Russia to a just peace by force,” Zelenskyy said.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The graphic above shows the long-range U.S. ATACMS missile system components. The U.S. will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied longer-range weapons to conduct strikes inside Russian territory. (AP Digital Embed)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Nov. 19, 2024, rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian strike in Hlukhiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2024, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to parliamentarians at Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 19, 2024, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens to the national anthem before his speech at Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)
