New Delhi: Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, made India proud by declining to accept the upgraded silver medal that has been offered to him after his opponent failed in a dope test. Yogeshwar declined the medal quite magnanimously to uphold the family honour of his rival.
This is an unparalleled tale of two Olympian wrestlers.
Yogeshwar had lost his pre-quarterfinal bout to Besik Kudukhov of Russia at the 2012 London Olympics. When the Russian wrestler reached the final, Yogeshwar got another opportunity for a podium finish in the repechage round. He defeated Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico, Masoud Esmaeilpour of Iran and Ri Jong-myong of North Korea to claim bronze. Unfortunately, Besik died in a car accident in 2013.
Yogeshwar, who failed to win any medal at the recently concluded Rio 2016 Olympics, was informed that Besik Kudukhov of Russia who defeated him at the 2012 London Olympics was disqualified after a dope test and the former’s medal was upgraded to Silver.
For Yogeshwar, this was supposed to be something to lift his spirits after the failure at the 2016 Olympics. But the way he responded to this glad news has made him a true Olympian of all times.
Yogeshwar, said that he wanted Besik Kudukhov’s family to keep the silver medal as he wanted to respect the honour of Kudukhov family.
