Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt's bronze medal from the London Olympics may be upgraded to silver amid reports that the silver medallist from the 2012 Games-- deceased Besik Kudukhov of Russia--has been stripped off his medal for using banned substance, says a report in The Times Of India, adding that as per Russian agency, flowrestling.org, the four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Kudukhov, who had died in a car crash in 2013 in southern Russia, has been found positive for dope test conducted 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, may move up from bronze to silver and join Sushil Kumar as another silver medallist from the 2012 Olympics. However, the official confirmation will have to come from the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Olympic Committee.
However, sources in United World Wrestling (UWW), the governing body, told The Indian Express that the samples of five wrestlers, including Russia’s Besik Kudukhov (60 kg) and Uzbekistan’s Artur Taymazov’s (120 kg), have tested positive for banned substances. “Kudukhov failed a dope test in re-tests of samples collected during the London Games. In Taymazov’s case, the re-tests date back to samples collected from the Beijing Games (2008). Kudukhov is a silver medallist and Taymazon a gold-medal winner. They will lose their medals. With Kudukhov testing positive, Yogeshwar Dutt of India will get the silver.” They said to The Indian Express.
Once the upgrade is officially announced, Yogeshwar will join wrestler Sushil Kumar and shooter Vijay Kumar as silver-medallists for India from the London Games. When contacted by The Indian Express, Yogeshwar said he did not wish to comment at this stage.
