Yogi might get gold for London Oly

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 2

Days after Yogeshwar Dutt’s 2012 London Olympics bronze medal was upgraded to silver, unconfirmed reports now say that the Haryana grappler might end up securing a gold medal after the winner in the 60kg category, Azerbaijan’s Toghrul Asgarov, was also found guilty of using a banned drug.

Though there is no official confirmation from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) or the United World Wrestling (UWW) on the subject, fresh reports suggest that Asgarov, also the Rio Olympics silver medallist in the 65kg category, tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug. The tests are being done by WADA as a part of its revised ‘retrospective testing’ policy. 

Under the policy, the blood and urine samples of athletes, collected from international tournaments, are kept in deep freeze for up to 10 years for re-testing with the help of advanced technology. The WADA has been re-testing the samples of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games.

In the latest development, the re-testing of Asgarov’s samples, collected during the London Games, have shown traces of a banned substance in his body and is likely to be stripped of his medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Yogeshwar’s sample has already been re-tested by WADA and, after its official result, it would be interesting to see whether the 33-year-old from Sonepat gets the silver or the gold medal.

When contacted, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) officials could not confirm the development.

According to the UWW rules, the gold medal should go to the United States’ Coleman Scott, who was defeated by Asgarov during the preliminary stage and had later settled for bronze  after winning his repechage round. Scott was also in the top half of the draw with Asgarov and has the first claim on the gold. 

Yogeshwar lost to Kudukhov in the pre-quarterfinal and was in the lower half of the draw. An official word from either IOC or UWW would bring more clarity on the subject.

Yogeshwar exited in the first round of the Rio Olympics after losing to Mongolia’s Ganzorigiina Mandakhnaran.

Over one million apply for athletics World Championships in London 

London: More than a million people have applied for tickets for next year’s world athletics championships in London where greats Usain Bolt and Mo Farah will compete for the final time on the track. The demand for tickets for London 2017 has been fierce, with applications vastly outnumbering the 700,000 available places. The organisers said 1,047,000 tickets have been applied for. — Reuters