London Olympics bronze upgradation will cheer fans after Rio debacle: Yogeshwar Dutt

Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt on Tuesday said the probable upgradation of his bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics into silver would serve as a pleasant surprise to his fans after the recent debacle in the Rio Olympics, where he made a shocking opening-round exit in the men's freestyle 65kg event.

"I came to know of this development in the morning. It is a good thing as it will cheer fans after the debacle in the Rio Olympics. I want my countrymen to be happy and not get disappointed because of me. I would like to dedicate this to the entire nation," the 33-year-old wrestler told ANI.

Pointing out that ups and downs are part and parcel of life, Yogeshwar vowed to keep working hard in order to achieve glory in the upcoming tournaments.

"Ups and downs are part of life, but an athlete should keep working harder to achieve his or her goal. I will train hard and try to win medal at World and Asian championships," he said.

The development comes after Russian opponent Besik Kudukhov was found guilty of doping violation in the wake of the decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to retest samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 Games.

According to reports, two-time Olympic medallist Kudukhov has been stripped off his silver medal in the 60kg freestyle category at the 2012 Games. The Russian died in a car crash a year later.

The International Olympic Committee stores doping samples for 10 years so they can be retested when new improved testing methods become available, meaning drug cheats who escaped detection at the time can be caught years later.

As a result, Yogeshwar will join Sushil Kumar as the second Indian wrestler, and only the fifth Indian ever to win an individual silver medal at the Olympics.

However, the official confirmation from United World Wrestling (UWW) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) is still awaited.