On Saturday evening at a packed London Stadium, 60,000 fans stood for a national anthem that should have played nearly three decades ago. Britain’s men’s 4x400m relay team from the 1997 World Championships was finally awarded their gold medals, elevated from silver after the disqualification of the U.S. team for doping violations.
The emotional ceremony unfolded during the London Diamond League meet, where World Athletics president Seb Coe presented medals to Roger Black, Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson, and Mark Hylton, who had run in the heats.
The moment, though long delayed, was powerful, an overdue recognition of one of the sport’s great injustices finally being made right.
The U.S. team originally took gold at the 1997 World Championships in Athens. But in 2008, American sprinter Antonio Pettigrew admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs between 1997 and 2003 as part of the wider BALCO doping scandal.
The confession stripped the U.S. of its 1997 world title and its 2000 Olympic gold. Pettigrew died by suicide two years later in 2010, following an overdose in his car.
The fallout took years, investigations, appeals, endless bureaucratic delays. And while medals were eventually reallocated on paper, Saturday marked the first time these athletes stood before a crowd and were publicly acknowledged as champions.
“We’re proud to be able to give these athletes their moment in front of a home crowd,” said Cherry Alexander, strategic lead for major events at UK Athletics. “It’s a chance to recognise not just their talent, but the values they stood for. This medal means even more because of how long they’ve waited for it.”
The ovation was thunderous. Fans who may not have even been born in 1997 rose to their feet in recognition. There was no bitterness in the air, only a sense of reverence, and perhaps a little justice.
