Olympic Wrestler Turns Down Silver Medal

Yogeshwar Dutt's opponent tested positive for doping after his death
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 31, 2016 6:51 PM CDT
Olympic Wrestler Turns Down Silver Medal
India's Yogeshwar Dutt is having his bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics elevated to silver after his opponent had a positive doping test. The catch: He doesn't want it.   (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

It's not often an Olympian turns down a medal, but that's exactly what Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt is trying to do. Yogeshwar won bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London, Indian Express reports. But the wrestler who beat him, Russia's Besik Kudukhov, was discovered to have been doping by the IOC, which was testing old samples. That means Kudukhov's medal will be vacated, and Yogeshwar will be awarded the silver. But it's more complicated than that. Kudukhov, who Yogeshwar describes to India Today as a "good friend," died in a car crash in 2013. "I am feeling very strange," Yogeshwar says. "I knew him well."

On Wednesday, Yogeshwar said he wanted Kudukhov's family to keep his medal to keep their "honor intact," PTI reports. He says it's "very sad" that Kudukhov had to test positive for doping after his death. He says his friend was a "magnificent wrestler." "I respect him," he says. (A 7-year-old girl found an Olympic gold medal in the trash.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X