Heartbreak for Yogeshwar Dutt.
Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt's chances of the London Olympics medal being upgraded from bronze to silver is all but over but Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Tuesday claimed it was unaware of the development.
With the International Olympic Committee deciding to drop the investigation against the deceased Russian wrestler Besik Kudukov, who won the silver medal in the men''s freestyle 60kg category at the 2012 Games, bronze medallist Yogeshwar's hopes of getting his medal upgraded has evaporated.
Kudukov, who died in a car crash in 2013, had tested positive for a banned steroid when an old sample was retested a few months ago by WADA in its attempt to deter dope cheats.
In a statement, the Russian Wrestling Federation has claimed that his sample from the 2012 Games was retested this year and found to be positive for the steroid turinabol, and his case was passed to a three-member IOC disciplinary commission. However, the committee has decided to terminate the investigation against Kudukhov.
"The International Olympic Committee will not deprive wrestler Besik Kudukhov of his silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London," vice president of the United World Wrestling, Georgy Bryusov, also the first deputy president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, said in the statement.
But Wrestling Federation of India said that it was yet to get any information regarding the new development. "We do not have any information about his medal not being upgraded," WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said.
"Before the Rio Olympics, we had been told that Kudukhov had tested positive for banned substance and Yogeshwar''s 2012 London Olympics samples would be tested before deciding to upgrade his bronze to silver. But after that we have not got any update on the matter till date," the official added.
The IOC has been re-testing samples taken from both 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the 2012 London Games and other international tournaments, using up-to-date methods to detect banned substances.
When the news of Kudukhov testing positive first surfaced and there was a chance of Yogeshwar's bronze medal be upgraded to silver, the Indian wrestler had refused to accept the medal, saying it should remain with the family of the deceased grappler. "If possible he must be allowed to keep the medal. It will keep his family''s honour intact. For me humanity is above everything else," Dutt had tweeted.
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