Olympic gold medalist turned coach calls for drug testing after national high school track event

After earning her delayed Olympic gold, Lashinda Demus calls for drug testing in high school track following elite performances at the Arcadia Invitational to protect clean athletes.

Aug 8, 2012; London, United Kingdom; Lashinda Demus (USA) takes a victory lap after finishing second in the women's 400m hurdles in 52.77 during the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Lashinda Demus waited more than a decade for her Olympic gold medal.

Now, the Culver City High School coach—who trains her twin sons, both standout senior 400-meter runners—wants to make sure no athlete, especially a teenager, ever has to question the fairness of their competition.

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The former U.S. 400-meter hurdler, who was retroactively awarded the 2012 Olympic title after Russia’s Natalya Antyukh was disqualified for doping, is using her platform to advocate for enhanced drug testing measures at the high school level.

Her comments come amid a flurry of national-level times posted by prep athletes this spring, many of which rival those seen on professional circuits.

In a video posted on Instagram, Demus addressed the surge of elite high school performances this season and emphasized the need for earlier drug testing.

"Majority of people believe that high school athletes should be drug tested...This is me watching all the great performances and I just recall not seeing so many fast times, and I'm talking about people that could step into the professional realm and be able to compete — like I've never seen this many people do that in high school," Demus said on Instagram.

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"If we have all these kids that are pretty much capable of running professional and have these professional marks, we probably need to start testing earlier because they potentially could be people that can make the national teams," she added.

Nick Garcia, a nationally recognized high school throws coach at Notre Dame High School, offered a more tempered view.

“I don’t really have any emotion about it,” Garcia said. “I think part of it depends on the events you coach. In throws, I don’t see a problem with widespread drug use.”

Garcia pointed out that legendary marks—such as Michael Carter’s 81-foot shot put record—still stand, and that performance improvements in many events are just as likely due to advancements in training, spikes and surfaces.

“I don’t mind testing either way,” he added, “but I haven’t personally seen anything that raised red flags in my athletes or their competitors.”

Demus, a five-time world championship medalist, reflected on the bittersweet moment of finally receiving her 2012 Olympic gold medal—12 years after Antyukh was disqualified for doping following a reanalysis of her samples.

Demus’ long-awaited upgrade etched her name into history as the first American woman to win Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles.

The milestone was finally made official last summer in Paris, where the 42-year-old stood on the podium during the first-ever medal reallocation ceremony held at the Olympic Games.

With family and fans watching, she received the gold medal that had eluded her for more than a decade—on a stage worthy of the moment.

"It seems like the right way to go about it because I would hate any athlete to go through what I just went being that I received the gold medal 12 years after competing at the Olympic Games," she said.

Here's a look back at the 2012 Olympic 400-meter hurdle race where Demus initially placed second:

She doubled down on the urgency of her message about drug testing in high school, emphasizing that the time for action is now—before the integrity of high school track and field is compromised beyond repair.

"This is the most I've seen out-of-this-world talents in high school in my whole life. You might have seen talents like this once every 10-15 years, this is every single year...I think now is the time to put this into action because we have more and more high school athletes that are becoming professionally faster," she concluded.

Demus proposed specific performance thresholds as potential triggers for drug testing—outlining a framework she believes could safeguard the sport without stifling its rising stars.

When asked how parents and athletes might respond to new testing policies, Garcia was blunt.

“It would only cause anxiety if they’re dirty,” he said. “As long as the testing is safe and legal, the response should be positive.”

As for how he would explain it to parents: “Just as part of the deal.”

"How about once an athlete breaks a certain threshold in time or whatever it is for any given sport, they are now on the list to get tested? So if we have a high school 100m runner that runs under 10.3s, maybe that should be somebody that goes in the pool."

While Garcia agreed that elite-level testing makes more sense than universal random testing, he emphasized practicality.

“I don’t think the coach who brought this up would be worried about a male sprinter who was using drugs running 11.5,” he said. “Her concern was the elite-level times. If the athlete is clean and running elite marks, they should take the test as a compliment to their hard work.”

Still, Garcia raised logistical concerns: “Who will conduct the tests? Who will cover the costs? Where and when will they take place? Testing in college is expected, but at the high school level, implementation is the real challenge.”

Zachary Shinnick, assistant athletic director at St. Lucy's and sprints coach at Damien High School and St. Lucys, echoed Garcia’s take, but also offered a tangible framework for how testing could be implemented fairly.

Shinnick was a Pan American U20 champion, an NCAA national champion at USC, and is a world record holder in the indoor 4x400-meter relay, where he ran alongside some of the top collegiate athletes of his era.

“I think if we were to start testing, it should be based on performance marks,” Shinnick said. “The easiest way would be to use whatever the Olympic or world championship standards are for that year. And once they achieve it, they are put into the random testing pool.”

Shinnick also flagged challenges around testing minors.

“There would need to be some sort of parental consent forms to fill out before entering the testing pool,” he said. “And thinking about it now—if a parent didn’t feel comfortable with their kid being tested, that could be a sign that they may be cheating.”

Like Demus and Garcia, he also acknowledged the role that modern equipment and training access plays in the rise of elite youth performances. “But if they can use the same things college and pro athletes use for training, then the elite high school athletes should get tested like college and pro athletes.”

"If we have a high school 400m runner that runs under 45.5s or 45 low maybe, they might be in the pool. Something like that, I think that's a good idea," Demus said.

Aug 13, 2013; Moscow, RUSSIA; Lashinda Demus (USA) runs 54.22 in a womens 400m hurdle semifinal to advance in the 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at Luzhniki Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

A powerhouse in her prime, Demus was one of the most dominant athletes of her generation, excelling in both the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles.

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