12 years later, Canadian high jumper Derek Drouin finally gets his Olympic silver medal

Twelve years after the competition ended, Canadian high jumper Derek Drouin has been awarded a silver medal from the London 2012 Olympics.

Drouin stood alongside American Erik Kynard, who was awarded the gold in the same event, as the two had their medals placed around their necks in a ceremony at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Kynard and Drouin were originally awarded silver and bronze in London, but were both upgraded after Russia's Ivan Ukhov was stripped of the gold for a doping violation.

The now-retired athlete from Corunna, Ont., said the ceremonies are especially important to celebrate athletes who never got to stand on a podium or hear their national anthems. Drouin got that opportunity when he won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"I'm pained for Erik that he missed out on that opportunity, he obviously was on the podium but there's nothing like being in the stadium amongst the people who watched you compete and listening to your own national anthem," Drouin said.

WATCH l Drouin presented Olympic silver in Paris:

Drouin was one of 10 Olympians who were presented with so-called "reallocated" medals during the ceremony at the space known as Champion's Park, at the Trocadero venue in Paris.

One by one, the athletes walked down a stage at the base of the Eiffel Tower, as highlight videos of their Oympic performances played on screen.

Drouin and Kynard stood together wearing their medals as the U.S. anthem was played, then posed for photos with their arms around each other.

Ukhov was one of 12 Russian track and field athletes who were found guilty in February of 2019 of state-backed doping. He received a doping ban, and his results from between July of 2012 to December of 2014 were disqualified, including his