Yogeshwar Dutt’s London Games bronze upgraded to silver

Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze medal from the London Olympics has been upgraded to silver after second-place finisher late Besik Kudukhov of Russia was stripped of his medal for failing a dope test.

“This morning I came to know that my Olympics medal has been upgraded to silver. I dedicate my medal to people of the nation,” Yogeshwar tweeted.

As per Russian agency, flowrestling.Org, four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Kudukhov, who died in a car crash in 2013 in southern Russia, was found to have used a banned substance in a test conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

As a result, Yogeshwar, who bagged a bronze in the men’s 60kg freestyle category at the London Games, has now joined Sushil Kumar as the other silver medallist wrestler from the 2012 Olympics.

Yogeshwar, who bowed out in the first round of the men’s 65kg event at the Rio Olympic Games, had lost to Kudukhov in the pre-quarter-finals at London. But once the Russian advanced to the final, Yogeshwar got another chance in the repechage round and went on to win bronze.