“‘I should have won this.’ That was what I was thinking after that race in 2012,” former Olympic and Team USA 400m hurdler tells ESSENCE. “I rarely lost races at that time, and it was race that I lost.
That’s why it was so hard for me to get over the fact that I didn’t accomplish my goal. I knew I was more than capable of being the gold medalist.” The race she’s referring to is the , in which the University of South Carolina graduate took home silver in her specialty event behind a Russian competitor.
In 2022, a decade later, she found out—via a public press release—that she was now the official gold medalist after the winner was disqualified for doping by the International Olympic Committee. This turn of events also now etches Demus in the history books as the first American woman to claim gold in the Olympic event. “Like, I didn’t even get a personal phone call from the IOC or anything to let me know that an investigation was happening,” she says.
“It was phone calls from other people that even let me know about the announcement. But before that, I had to simply move on from the London moment, because holding on to that was detrimental to me.” “Something like that can stifle your growth.
Especially now, as a part-time high school track coach, I never want my kids to be that hard on themselves. I don’t wish that on any kid.” After contacting an international attorney based in New York, the American women’s hurdler was able to fight for.