The Isle of Wight's Kelly Sotherton is hopeful she will get her chance to stand on a podium and receive her belatedly awarded Olympic medals.

The 40-year-old former heptathlete is set to be upgraded to third place at the 2008 Beijing Games after the International Olympic Committee announced yesterday the disqualification of Russia's Tatyana Chernova for testing positive for a steroid.

"I'm pretty sure our sport, British Athletics, and the BOA (British Olympic Association) will manage to sort out some kind of ceremony - not just for me, but the likes of Goldie Sayers and both 4x400m teams that have lost out and now won medals," Sotherton said.

"Hopefully we'll get our opportunity to stand on some kind of podium and receive our medals. That would be the dream."

Sotherton finished fifth in the heptathlon in 2008 but climbed to third after the previously announced doping ban of Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska and now Chernova.

Chernova's positive is the latest in a long line from the IOC's re-analysis of stored anti-doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 Games.

Sotherton, who won a surprise bronze medal in the heptathlon at the 2004 Games, had already been upgraded to a bronze in the 4x400m relay in Beijing thanks to the belated disqualification of the teams from Belarus and Russia.

Britain's Goldie Sayers learned last year that she would be awarded javelin bronze from the 2008 Olympics when Russia's Mariya Abakumova was stripped of silver, and the men's 4x400m relay team were also given a belated third place when Russian sprinter Denis Alekseyev tested positive.

Sotherton said she was trying not to be bitter towards Chernova, but admitted she would have been a lot better off financially if she had come away from China with two bronze medals she was later awarded.

"I always had suspicions about Chernova. I'm trying to look at it from a different angle so I don't get too angry about it. It's still horrible, I still don't like it, but I'm trying to think of the position she was in," she said.

"I was a Nike athlete. I lost my contract two years after that Games. I didn't win a medal. I would've come back with two, my contract would have probably nearly doubled.

"I would have been a lot better off, but that's done now. Whether I get recompense for that, I don't know. It's not what I'm looking for, but it would be helpful."

The saga has also taken an emotional toll, with Sotherton adding: "My mum when I spoke to her this morning was really emotional. I feel emotional just saying that. For nine years, she knew, I knew.

"Hearing your mother cry because she's happy for you but sad is an emotional one.

"I feel for the family and friends that have gone through this emotion with me."

Sotherton retired from athletics in 2012 having won medals at Commonwealth, European, Olympic and world level, indoors and outdoors.

Chernova, 29, has already lost a 2011 world title, 2012 Olympic bronze and 2013 World Student Games gold for a retrospective positive test from the 2009 world championships.