Yogeshwar Dutt’s 2012 London Olympics medal upgraded to silver after Russian wrestler found fails dope test
Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze medal from the London Olympics has been upgraded to silver, the grappler confirmed via a tweet on Tuesday, as per a report from Times Now. The silver medallist from the 2012 Games – deceased Besik Kudukhov of Russia – has been stripped off his medal for using 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.
Joins Sushil Kumar as silver medal winner at the Olympics
Yogeshwar Dutt’s medal upgradation sees him join Sushil Kumar as a silver medallist in wrestling.
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.
