Kelly Sotherton admits it was difficult to keep her emotions in check on Thursday as she received an Olympic bronze medal ten years after competing at Beijing 2008.
Sotherton initially finished fifth in the heptathlon but disqualification for Ukraine’s Lyudmila Blonska and Russia’s Tatyana Chernova means the Briton becomes a three-time medallist – following bronzes in the Athens 2004 heptathlon and the Beijing 2008 4x400m relay.
Sotherton received her medal at the Team GB Ball on Thursday night and admits the memories came flooding back.
“I knew I was going to be a lot more emotional getting this medal than the 4x400m bronze because the heptathlon was my event,” she said.
“A lot of guts, blood, sweat and tears went into this and because I came into the sport late I made sure I made the most of every opportunity to win medals.
“This medal was hard fought after all the injuries I had that year, missing almost 20 weeks of training, so all those memories and emotions came flooding back.
“This now means my athletic career is over and I can close that chapter.”
Beijing marked Sotherton’s final Olympics as injury ruled out of a home Games in 2012 and she believes the disappointment at initially missing out had a prolonged effect.
It is, however, a second Olympic medal of the year for the 41-year-old, who received her 4x400m relay bronze at this year’s Muller Anniversary Games.
It takes Team GB’s Beijing haul to 50 medals and that could still grow, with the British Olympic Association still waiting on confirmation of the amended results and reallocated medals from the women’s javelin.
“I went to Beijing on the front of the plane and came back on the back,” Sotherton added.
“I remember being asked when we landed back in the UK how I felt and the answer was ‘bloody awful – I’ve just come fourth and fifth’.
“I then made different decisions to if I had won medals in Beijing. I trained harder, then too hard and I became injured and missed London 2012.
“I might have made better decisions and won more medals so missing out ten years ago really had an impact.
“As soon as I knew that she [Tatyana Chernova] had cheated I knew it was my medal and it was only a matter of time but it’s been anxious over the last 18 months.
“Clean sport is incredibly important and I want to make sure that my story isn’t repeated and doesn’t happen to anybody else. We need to protect the athletes and the sport and the integrity of our sport.” Sportsbeat 2018