Sean McGoldrick could get gold medal
Welsh amateur boxer Sean McGoldrick could have his Commonwealth Games medal upgraded to gold after Sri Lankan Manju Wanniarachchi failed a drugs test.
McGoldrick was narrowly defeated in their bantamweight final by way of a countback, with many people thinking that the Newport fighter had actually done enough to win the bout. Instead the win was handed to Wanniarachchi who becomes the latest in a number of athletes to test positive at the 2010 games in Delhi, including the likes of Samuel Okon and Damola Osayemi.
After Wanniarachchi clinched first place he returned to his native Sri Lanka a national hero after winning their first gold medal in 72 years however, following his failed drugs test, he now looks set to be stripped of that medal.
As a result McGoldrick’s silver medal looks set to be upgraded to the gold which is good news for the 18-year old but perhaps not the way he would have liked to have won. This was a thought that was reiterated by Wales coach Colin Jones who said; “It's very sad news for boxing. Nobody ever expects to be awarded the gold by default, but I think the whole nation was behind Sean and probably one hundred per cent of the nation thought he'd won it any way."
It is another disappointing twist to the disastrous games that saw bridges collapse, swimming pools contaminated and a half-built athletes’ village.
Wanniarachchi has become the fifth athlete overall to fail a drugs test and has the opportunity to request a B sample if he feels that the test results were wrong. A statement from the Commonwealth Games Federation said: “The 'A' sample of Mr Wanniarachchi, who took the gold medal in the bantamweight competition on October 13th, was found to contain 19-norandrosterone, a prohibited anabolic agent under category S1 of the WADA list of prohibited substances and methods.
"In accordance with the CGF anti-doping standard (ADS), Mr Wanniarachchi has been notified of the finding through the Sri Lankan Commonwealth Games Association.
"The athlete now has until November 4th to respond to the finding, after which the formal hearing process will commence."
Tags: