Doha: Mutaz Essa Barshim's bronze from London 2012 Games has been upgraded to a silver medal, it was announced yesterday.

Qatar's reigning Olympic and World champion finished third in a three-way tie and was awarded the bronze medal along with Canada’s Derek Drouin and Britain's Robbie Grabarz after clearing 2.29m in the final on August 7, 2012 at London's Olympic Stadium.

The development upgrades Barshim's Olympic medal tally to two silver and one gold. The former World-Athlete-of-the-Year went on to win the silver at the Rio Olympics with a jump of 2.36m and shared the gold with Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi, four years later in Tokyo after both champions cleared 2.37m in a thrilling final on August 1.

Russian gold medallist Ivan Ukhov was the initial winner in London, but was proven years later to have taken part in the Russian state-backed steroid doping programme.

American Erik Kynard will finally get his gold medal for his leap of 2.33 meters which placed him second behind Ukhov.

The International Olympic Committee executive board on Friday signed off on reallocating the medals and final results for five events from the London Olympics, including men’s and women’s high jump.

It was one of several reallocations approved at Friday’s meeting of the International Committee’s Executive Board due to confirmed doping cases.

Source: Qatar Olympic Committee