Yogeshwar happy with London silver lining amid Rio gloom

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

After the disappointment of the Rio Olympics, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt has something to cheer about. Dutt was crestfallen after his first-round exit in Rio, but the surprise news that his 2012 London Olympics bronze medal could be upgraded to silver has come as a “breath of fresh air” for the Haryana grappler.

Late Russian wrestler Besik Kudukhov, who had defeated Dutt in the pre-quarterfinals in London, is likely to be stripped of his silver medal for failing a dope test. Kudukhov had died in  a road accident in 2013.

Although the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is still waiting for an official confirmation from the United World Wrestling (UWW), Dutt has reacted to the news by thanking his “lucky stars”.

After confirming on Twitter that his medal has been upgraded from bronze to silver, Dutt told reporters that he would like to dedicate his medal to the people of India for believing in him.

“I came to know about it this morning. No one knew of the re-tests on the samples collected during the London Games. This news has taken me by surprise. This is all luck and I did not expect such a thing to happen after the Rio disappointment. I welcome this development and would like to urge the doping authorities to eradicate this menace from sport. Obviously, I would have liked to win the medal, but then, we can’t get everything,” Dutt said.

“I had trained hard for Rio but failed to bring home a medal. I am really disappointed with my performance. I will use this loss as motivation and work harder for future tournaments,” he added.

WFI officials said they had learnt from the UWW that Dutt would be “surely” getting the silver medal, though the official confirmation was awaited.

“The decision was to be announced some two months back but it was delayed due to the Rio Olympics. We have learnt from the UWWW that Dutt is 100 percent getting the silver,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said.

“There were two bronze medallists in London – Dutt and United States’ Coleman Scott. Since Dutt was defeated by Kudukhov, he would be awarded the silver medal. Had Azerbaijan’s Toghrul Asgarov (gold medallist) failed a dope test, Scott would have secured the silver as he was defeated by Asgarov,” explained Tomar.