Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt may have failed to win a medal at the Rio games. But he may end up giving India an Olympic silver medal.
His London 2012 Olympics bronze may be upgraded to silver after the second-place finisher, the late Besik Kudukhov (60kg) of Russia, tested positive for doping, NDTV reported.
According Russian agency, flowrestling.org, the four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Kudukhov's, who had died in a car crash in 2013, tested positive for a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“FloWrestling has confirmed that two giants in our sport will have their Olympic medals stripped. Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan will have his 2008 gold medal stripped, while the late Besik Kudukhov of Russia will lose his silver medal from the London Games. This is a result of the samples from those games being retested and the samples testing positive for a banned substance,” the agency announced on its website.
As a result of Kudukhov being stripped of his medal, Yogeshwar, who had bagged a bronze medal in men's 60kg freestyle category in London Games, may move up from bronze to silver and join Sushil Kumar as another silver medallist from the 2012 Olympics.
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"If a medallist has tested positive for a banned substance, then it is a standard procedure to give his medal to the next best athlete. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has to inform the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), International Olympic Committee (IOC) and United World Wrestling about the development. It might take some time for Yogeshwar to get the silver medal," Jagdish Kaliraman, former Indian wrestler, told NDTV.
"Nobody has confirmed the failed dope test of the Russian wrestler and until that is done no official announcement will be made."
Dutt, however, tweeted this morning to dedicate his silver medal to the people of India.
The Wrestling Federation of India has said that they had been informed about the decision. They, however, are yet to make an official announcement as the written confirmation from the International Olympic Committee hasn't yet arrived.
The International Olympic Committee re-tested Kudukhov's sample before the Rio Olympic games began. The samples were taken during the 2012 London games.
Yogeshwar lost his pre-quarterfinal to Kudukhov in the London games. The Russian wrestler reached the final, and Yogeshwar got another opportunity to win a medal in the repechage round.
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