Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt is not keen to collect the upgraded silver medal from 2012 london Olympics on humanitarian grounds given that the original second place finisher's positive dope test came after his death.
"Besik Kudukhov shandaar pehelwaan the (Besik Kudukhov was a magnificent wrestler). Unke mirtyu ke baad dope test mein fail ho jana bahut dukht hai (His dope test returning positive after his death is very sad). Main khiladi ke roop mein main unka samaan karta hoon (As a wrestler, I respect him)," Yogeshwar wrote on his twitter handle.
"Agar ho sake toh yeh medal unhi ke paas rehne diya jaaye (If possible he must be allowed to keep the medal). Unke pariwar ke liye bhi samaan purna hoga (It will keep his family's honour intact). Mere liye manaviya samvedana sarvopari hai (For me humanity is above everything else)," he further wrote.
The four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Kudukhov, who had died in a car crash in 2013 in southern Russia, failed a World Anti-Doping Agency dope test conducted on his sample from 2012 before the Rio Games.
As a result, Yogeshwar, who had bagged a bronze medal in men's 60kg freestyle category in london Games, joined Sushil Kumar as the other silver-medallist wrestler from the 2012 london Games.
Yogeshwar, who had bowed out in the first round of men's 65kg freestyle at the recently concluded Rio Olympic Games, had lost to Kudukhov in the pre-quarterfinals at london.
But once the Russian advanced to the final, Yogeshwar got another chance in the repechage round and went on to win a bronze.
The 33-year-old wrestler would be handed a silver medal after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) gets the confirmation in writing from the World body (UWW).
Yogeshwar, after getting the news of his medal upgradation yesterday, had dedicated his silver to the country.
"I got to know this morning (Monday) that my bronze medal is getting upgraded to silver medal. I dedicate this medal to all my countrymen also," he had tweeted on Tuesday.
Yogi's sample will be tested
Star India wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt will have to wait to know whether his bronze medal from the 2012 london Olympics is upgraded to silver till the time his sample is cleared by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Reports emerged that the grappler's bronze would be upgraded to silver after second-place finisher of the london Games — late Besik Kudukhov of Russia — was stripped off his medal for failing a dope test.
An official confirmation is still awaited and a top Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) official today told PTI that even Yogeshwar's dope test from the 2012 Games has to be cleared before he could be handed the medal.
"Yogeshwar's tests are also being conducted and once his dope test comes out clean, then only he will be handed the silver medal," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
As per WADA's revised norms, samples taken for dope tests from international tournaments are now been stored in deep freeze up to 10 years in order to allow the use of advanced technology, available with the passage of time, to catch the dope cheats to ensure that "the clean athletes get justice even if it comes a bit late".
The IOC has been re-testing the samples collected at london as well as 2008 Beijing Olympics, besides other international tournaments, keeping in view of the new rules.
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, was found to have used a banned substance in a test conducted by the WADA.
As a result, Yogeshwar, who had bagged a bronze medal in men's 60kg freestyle category in london, is now set to join Sushil Kumar as the other Indian silver medallist wrestler from the 2012 Olympics.
Yogeshwar, who had bowed out in the first round of men's 65kg freestyle at the recently concluded Rio Olympic Games, had lost to Kudukhov in the pre-quarterfinals at london.
But once the Russian advanced to the final, Yogeshwar got another chance in the repechage round and went on to win bronze.