Narsingh Yadav was exonerated of doping charges on Monday after an Indian anti-doping disciplinary panel (NADA) ruled that there was no fault or negligence on the part of the wrestler and he was a victim of “sabotage”.
Yadav, who secured India a berth at the Rio Games in the 74kg category by winning a bronze medal at last year’s world championships in Las Vegas, tested positive for a banned steroid last month but now waits to hear whether he has been granted an Olympics lifeline.
A visibly happy Yadav said he is looking forward to ‘win’ Olympics medal for his nation. He also thanked PM Modi for his support.
Twitter was elated after this news broke out, with many of his colleagues and prominent personalities wishing him well for Rio Olympics, which starts from August 19.
Great news!
Congratulations to #NarsinghYadav for getting a clean chit from NADA to participate in the #RioOlympicsAll the best Narsingh!— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) August 1, 2016
Some even thought of this exoneration as a potential Bollywood script…
While this is good news, Narisingh will have to go through another test before WADA clears him.
Following the positive test, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had provisionally sent the name of Parveen Rana as his replacement to the United World Wrestling (UWW) but said it would now approach the governing body to allow Yadav to compete at the Olympics.
“We will write to both WADA and the UWW to allow Narsingh Yadav to compete at the Rio Games,” Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told reporters.
“I am sure Narsingh Yadav will go to Rio and win a medal for India.”
Men’s freestyle wrestling starts in Rio from Aug. 19, which the WFI said gives ample time for the wrestler to be reinstated.
(With inputs from Reuters)
(Feature image source: Twitter)