Not sure if I should be happy about London silver after Rio loss: Yogeshwar

Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who returned home empty-handed after a first-round loss at the recently concluded Rio Olympics, says he has some good news to share with the country. But he is not sure whether to be “happy or sad”.

After reports suggested that Dutt’s bronze medal from the London Olympics maybe be upgraded to silver, the grappler tweeted on Tuesday that “he wanted to dedicate” the honour to the country.

The development came after Russia’s Besik Kudukhov, who finished second in the 60-kg freestyle event in the 2012 Olympics, tested positive for a banned substance, reports said.

Dutt told HT that he did not know whether he should be too elated since the news came close on the heels of his poor show in Rio.

“Don’t know whether to feel happy or sad about this news,” said the 33-year-old wrestler who lost to Ganzorigiina Mandakhnaran of Mongolia in the first round in Rio.

“The Russian wrestler who won silver is dead now. I have never thought of such things, to get benefits out of someone’s misery. But I have been told of the reports of him failing the dope test. But it has not been made official yet.

“London was four years ago, it is my past. Now I’ve been told my medal will become silver. It doesn’t change much for me,” he said.

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The wrestler, however, felt the news will make his supporters happy.

“It will be some good news for my supporters, fans of wrestling and the country who were all disappointed by my loss in Rio this time. Even I was very disappointed, you work hard for years and then you fail to perform when it matters,” he said.

The International Olympic Committee has been retesting samples collected from the Beijing and London Olympics using enhanced techniques to expose dope.

Besides Kudukhov, Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan, who won gold in the 120kg division in Beijing, and three other wrestlers have failed the tests.

READ: Yogeshwar Dutt: Not the first Indian to benefit from ‘retrospective testing’

The Wrestling Federation of India says they have yet to be notified about Dutt’s upgrade, but they are expecting a communication soon from United World Wrestling, the governing body.

Kudhukhov, who died in a car crash in 2013, had beaten Dutt in the pre-quarterfinals in London. The Russian progressed to the final, where he lost to Toghrul The Indian reached to his medal glory through the repechage route.

Dutt said his next big tournaments will be the Asian Championships scheduled to be held in New Delhi next May and the World Championships to be held in Paris in August.

“Next Olympics is out of question for me so my next big focus is on the Asian and the World Championships,” he confirmed.