Frenchman Yannick Szczepaniak was finally presented with his Beijing 2008 Olympic Games bronze medal in a special ceremony held prior to the first evening of finals ©Twitter

France's Yannick Szczepaniak was finally presented with his Olympic Games bronze medal from Beijing 2008 in a special ceremony held prior to the first evening of finals at the United World Wrestling (UWW) World Championships here.

Szczepaniak had originally finished outside of the podium places in the Greco-Roman 120 kilograms competition n the Chinese capital but was upgraded to bronze when Khasan Baroev of Russia was stripped of his silver medal for doping.

Baroev was among those found to have tested positive from Beijing 2008 during the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) retests.

The IOC revealed in November 2016 that the sample provided by Baroev, the Olympic champion at 120kg at Athens 2004, contained banned substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone.

It meant he lost his silver medal and that the UWW had to redistribute the medals accordingly.

Szczepaniak had lost to the Russian in the semi-finals of the 120kg at Beijing 2008 and was bumped up from fifth to third place.

He was awarded his Olympic bronze by IOC member Guy Drut and was allowed to stand on a specially-made podium to celebrate a moment which had come nine years too late.

The now retired 37-year-old was given a loud cheer by the French crowd as he was given his medal.

The UWW have followed in the footsteps of the International Association of Athletics Federations, who also reallocated medals to athletes denied by drug cheats during their World Championships in London earlier this month.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and UWW President Nenad Lalovic gave speeches during the Opening Ceremony ©UWW
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and UWW President Nenad Lalovic gave speeches during the Opening Ceremony ©UWW

The presentation follow the Opening Ceremony of the Championships, including speeches from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and UWW President Nenad Lalovic, who celebrated his 59th birthday today.

Hidalgo used her speech to promote Paris 2024 as the city prepares to be officially named next month as hosts of the Olympics and Paralympics in seven years' time.

"I hope that we will see these wrestlers demonstrate their talents in Paris in 2024," she said.

"Finally, we want these Championships to be helpful for the capital.

"We want to demonstrate once again our ability to host major sporting events.

"We want to show we are a legitimate host of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"Paris 2024 is a way of building faster and all together with the sportsmen and citizens, the Paris we would like, more dynamic, ecological and more inclusive."

Hidalgo was part of a strong presence from Paris 2024 on the opening night of finals.

Their delegation included co-chairmen Tony Estanguet and Bernard Lapasset, while Drut and chief executive Etienne Thobois were also in attendance.