Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s 2012 Olympics Bronze Upgraded To Silver
NEW DELHI : Yogeshwar Dutt, who failed to win a match at 2016 Rio Olympics, has some very good news. His London 2012 Olympics bronze has been upgraded to silver after the second-place finisher’s, the late Besik Kudukhov (60kg) of Russia, sample tested positive for a banned substance.
In a tweet, Yogeshwar said his medal has been upgraded from bronze to silver. “Today morning I came to know that my Olympics medal has been upgraded to silver. I dedicate my medal to all my countrymen,” he tweeted.
As per 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 in southern Russia, sample tested positive for a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
As a result, Yogeshwar, who had bagged a bronze medal in men’s 60kg freestyle category in London Games, will move up from bronze to silver and join Sushil Kumar as another silver medallist from the 2012 Olympics.
“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.
When Yogeshwar, who had bowed out in the first round of men’s 65kg freestyle at the recently concluded Rio Olympic Games, would be handed a silver medal will be confirmed only when the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) gets it in writing from the World body (UWW).
Before the Rio Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) re-tested Kudukhov’s sample, which was collected during the 2012 London Games. Samples are now stored for up to 10 years to use advanced testing methods to catch dope-tainted athletes.
In 2012 Games, Yogeshwar lost his pre-quarterfinal to Kudukhov. The Russian wrestler reached the final, and Yogeshwar got another opportunity to win a medal in the repechage round. In repechage he beat Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico, Masoud Esmaeilpour of Iran and Ri Jong-myong of North Korea to clinch bronze.
