PARIS — There was no three-step podium. No American flag floating into the air. No endorsement deals awaiting. No packed stadium ready to roar. But there were, on Friday here at Trocadéro, at last, gold medals around the necks of Lashinda Demus and Erik Kynard — medals they earned 12 years ago.
Demus was a hurdler, and Kynard a high-jumper, at the 2012 Olympics. Each took silver behind a Russian later found guilty of doping. After years of appeals and procedural delays, Olympic officials confirmed that, eventually, they would receive their rightful golds.
What they would not receive, though, was a moment.