Yogeshwar Dutt's 2012 Olympic silver medal hopes quashed

All hopes of Indian Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012 would be upgraded to a silver one were squashed by the Russian Wrestling Federation (RWF) earlier on Monday. The International Olympic Committee has apparently dropped the investigation against 2012 silver medallist, Besik Kudukhov, regarding the use of a banned substance.

It was earlier reported that the Russian wrestler Kudukhov, who won the silver medal in the 60kg category at the Olympic Games in London, had tested positive for a banned substance. The Russian had lost to Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan in the final in 2012 as he bagged the silver medal with Yogeshwar Dutt claiming the bronze.

However, the retesting of his sample had brought up new conjectures that he might have used banned substances. This triggered hopes among Indian wrestling fans that Dutt may receive the silver if Kudukhov was stripped off his medal.

The tests revealed the use of a steroid, named turinabol, which is a banned substance. The IOC disciplinary committee had taken on the investigation but according to reports, the investigation was concluded with no action being taken.

According to reports in the Times of India (TOI), a senior official of the Wrestling Federation of India confirmed that no official confirmation has been received regarding the matter. The IOC, however, did not make any official statements regarding the same.

"We had received only one communication so far that Kudukhov had tested positive and Yogeshwar's samples from 2012 would be tested before reaching any decision. But this was before the Rio Olympics. Post that there has been no communication in this regard," the official said.

Kudukhov, who died in a car crash in late 2013 in southern Russia, had posthumously tested positive. Yogeshwar Dutt even went on to claim back in August, that his bronze had been upgraded to a silver medal. He, however, maintained that accepting the medal would be disrespectful towards the Russian and his family.

Dutt had commented, "It will keep his family honor intact. For me, humanity is everything."

The RWF released a statement yesterday as Georgy Bryusov, first deputy president stated in a release, "The International Olympic Committee will not deprive wrestler Besik Kudukhov of his silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London."

Here is a video of Yogeshwar picking up a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games.