WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — The medal ceremonies at the Olympics and Paralympics are so meaningful, watching athletes’ hard work pay off. But what happens when that honor is delayed?
A Walton County woman, Chelsea Hammond Ross, has waited nearly two decades to get her flowers. The event planner values precision, perfection and a sensational centerpiece.
"These are my spikes that I used in the 2008 Olympics," Ross said. "They are one of a kind."
In the Beijing Games, she competed in the long jump on the world stage. While she was excited for the Beijing Olympics, she said there were whispers competitors may be using drugs. One of the competitors was coming off of a two-year drug ban, and others in the field had been accused of doping.
"I'm walking with my bookbag, and we are going to drug test, and I'm like, 'one of you is going to fail your drug test, I am going home with a metal.' I didn't know it was going to take 16 years for it to finally come out," Ross said.
Sixteen years after Ross finished fourth in Beijing, the third-place finisher was disqualified and sent to jail for doping. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ross finally received a bronze medal from 2008.
"You know how everyone likes to bite their medals?" Ross said. "It wasn't until after we bit it several times that we realized this was in someone else's mouth."
Despite the time it took to get her medal, her integrity never wavered.
"It's really painful," Ross said. "You feel cheated. You feel like something was completely stolen from you that was yours, that you worked so hard for, that you did it the right way."
While she lost award money and sponsorship deals in 2008, Ross said building her career and family here in Georgia is the real win.
"This is much more impactful, that I was able to share this with my children, the impact that it will have on them for a lifetime, it has no price," Ross said.
Ten Olympians who competed back to the Sydney games in 2000 were awarded their medals at the ceremony. Each medal reallocation is decided on a case-by-case basis, but the International Olympic Committee said these ceremonies are really important to highlight competing with integrity in the sport.