40-year-old Shannon Rowbury participated in three Olympic Games without much fanfare. While the Olympian won bronze in the 1500m at the world championships, she couldn’t replicate that success in the Olympics. However, 12 years after the London Olympics, things are set to change for the middle-distance runner who is now preparing for the New York marathon.

For Rowbury, the 2012 London Olympics have been a bittersweet memory. She’ll never forget the roaring crowd moments ahead of the 1500m race. However, the middle-distance runner turned marathoner also won’t forget the controversy that followed. Throughout these 12 years, Rowbury witnessed five of the 13 athletes who shared the field with her get disqualified for doping.

These included the first and second-place finishers from Turkey, Çakır Alptekin and Gamze Bulut. Knowing that she had faced unfair odds at one of the most important races of her career severely affected the Olympic athlete. However, Shannon Rowbury is set to become the first American woman with a 1500m bronze at the Olympic Games.

Earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified another athlete from the 2012 race, Tatiana Tomashova. After Tomashova’s disqualification, Rowbury finally hopes to earn the bronze medal honor at the 2028 LA Olympics. “There’s a part of me that thinks that that would be a really incredible kind of closure to this crazy journey,” Rowbury told CNN.

After Alptekin and Bulut’s disqualification, Tomashova got an upgrade from fourth place to the silver medal. However, retesting the Olympic medalist’s samples from June and July 2012 returned unfavorable results. While Tomashova had argued against using banned substances, the results found the presence of PEDs in her system.

Coincidentally, Shannon Rowbury isn’t the only athlete getting a bronze after 12 years. In May 2024, the Athletics Integrity Unit disqualified London 2012 gold medalist Mariya Savinova and silver medalist Ekaterina Guliyev for doping. Now, fellow Team USA member and 800m runner Alysia Montaño is also set to earn bronze. However, despite navigating this difficult reality, the athletes, and especially Rowbury, have not lost their love for running.

The Olympic athlete still has her competitive spirit

Shannon Rowbury retired as a professional track and field athlete in 2018. Despite her winning a medal at the world championships, the 2015 World Relay Championship, retired believing she couldn’t achieve her Olympic dream. It took the 40-year-old a long time to come to terms with that reality. However, little did she know that her opponents had an unfair advantage.

Learning that she had earned an Olympic medal delighted the middle-distance runner. However, the news also caused an emotional upheaval. “I don’t think I have the strength to really dig into it yet,” she told CNN. However, since retiring from professional track and field, the former Olympian has continued to nurture her love for running. Now, she competes for the joy of it.

In the first week of September. Rowbury competed in the San Francisco Marathon. “I’m the third! It was tough, but worth every minute,” the veteran athlete announced on Instagram. Now, the former 1500m special is preparing for the New York Marathon in November. While earning bronze at LA 2028 will the athlete full circle, for now, she just wants to enjoy indulging in her craft.