Yogeshwar Dutt's London Olympics bronze likely to be upgraded to silver

In what may come as a pleasant surprise for Indian fans following athletes' disappointing campaign at the just-concluded Rio Games, veteran wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt's bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics is likely to be upgraded to silver after his late Russian opponent Besik Kudukhov was found guilty of doping violation.

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.

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.

Earlier this month, Yogeshwar made an inglorious exit from the Rio Olympics following a first round defeat.

The development comes 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.

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.

However, the official confirmation is yet come from the world body and IOC.