Yogeshwar Dutt has heart of Gold ~ upgrade at London Olympics 2012

About 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees took part in the Games, with 302 medal events being held ~ it is not about Rio but about 2012 London Olympics.    After the lighting ceremony in Olympia, the Olympic  flame embarked on an eight-day journey across Greece, travelling to Crete and the north of the country via Thessaloniki, Xanthi and Larissa, before arriving on 17 May in Athens to be officially handed over to the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games in London. On 21 July 2012, the flame entered the city of London in spectacular fashion. It was flown in by a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter. Hovering 20 m above Tower Wharf, a Royal Marine Commando abseiled from the helicopter, carrying the flame in a lantern attached to him. The flame then travelled some 300 km over the week in the British capital and was carried by 982 torchbearers, passing by the city’s most famous monuments.

The London 2012 Games were centred around the Olympic Park in east London. The Olympic Village was within walking distance of all the venues in the Park, enhancing the experience for athletes and officials. The use of other prestigious venues – such as Wembley Stadium for football, the All-England Club in Wimbledon for tennis, Lord’s Cricket Ground for archery and Horse Guards Parade for beach volleyball – was also a feature of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2012 London 0lympics, was India's most successful Olympics in terms of total medal tally, having won a total of 6 medals (2 silver and 4 bronze), doubling the nation's previous record (3 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics) ~ and one never thought that there were ways to improve !!

Men's freestyle 60 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, took place on 11 August at ExCeL London. It consisted of a single-elimination tournament, with a repechage used to determine the winners of two bronze medals. The two finalists faced off for gold and silver medals. Each wrestler who lost to one of the two finalists moved into the repechage, culminating in a pair of bronze medal matches.  Wrestler, Yogeshwar Dutt did the Nation proud by winning  the bronze medal in the 60 kg category. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Silver medal there went to : Besik Serodinovich Kudukhov, a Russian freestyle wrestler who had won bronze medal in the 55 kg category at the 2008 Olympics and a silver medal in the 60 kg division at the 2012 London Games.  That man is no more ~ died in a car crash in Dec 2013.  Posthumously, he is subjected to ignominy as on 29^th  August 2016, it was announced that Kudukhov  tested positive for banned substances leading to his silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics being stripped from him.

Yogeshwar Dutt might have had a disappointing stint at the Rio Olympics, but he has something to cheer about now. Dutt’s bronze medal, which he won at the 2012 London Games, is set to be upgraded to silver. In London, Yogeshwar had lost his pre-quarter final bout to Kudukhov. When the Russian wrestler reached the final, Yogeshwar got another opportunity for a podium finish in the repechage round.

 

Although there was no official clarification from United World Wrestling (UWW) or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the Russian wrestler being stripped off the meda, the news captured the imagination of social media. Yogeshwar has risen in stature stating :

“Besik Kudukhov shandaar pehelwaan the (Besik Kudukhov was a magnificent wrestler). Unke mirtyu ke baad dope test mein fail ho jana bahut dukht hai (His dope test returning positive after his death is very sad). Main khiladi ke roop mein main unka samaan karta hoon (As a wrestler, I respect him),” Yogeshwar wrote on his twitter handle. “Agar ho sake toh yeh medal unhi ke paas rehne diya jaaye (If possible he must be allowed to keep the medal). Unke pariwar ke liye bhi samaan purna hoga (It will keep his family's honour intact). Mere liye manaviya samvedana sarvopari hai (For me humanity is above everything else).”

Great words, coming as they did, from the wrestler who was trolled by Salman Khan fans following his first-round exit from the Rio Olympics; there are also reports that some of Salman fans who mocked Yogi after his Rio debacle apologised to the wrestler, tweeting: “#Yogeshwar Dutt doesn’t need any medal, he has a heart of Gold.”  .. .. yes, he has !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st Sept 2016.