Rio Olympics 2016: United World Wrestling clears Narsingh Yadav for Games
With just a few days to go to the Rio Olympics, United World Wrestling, the governing body for the sport of wrestling, has finally given the entire country the news that they have been waiting for. After months of controversy surrounding his participation in the games, Narsingh Yadav has finally been given the clean chit to board the flight to Rio after he got cleared of doping charges that were bestowed upon him in a recent set of drug tests conducted by NADA.
The president of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Singh, confirmed today that these charges have been relieved as no trace was of the banned substance was found in his body after the retest was done.
The 26-year-old wrestler qualified for the Olympics after winning a Bronze Medal at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships. But just months before the start of the Olympics, there was much debate as to whether he or the much celebrated Sushil Kumar would be heading to Rio as both represent the same 74 kg weight category.
Sushil demanded a trial to decide who heads to Rio but Narsingh who had won the quota himself refused to put his place at the Olympics at stake. The matter was eventually dragged to court and Narsingh came up trumps.
Also read: Narsingh Yadav says his focus is now firmly on being at his best and wants to bring glory to the nation
That wasn't the last hurdle in his way as soon after, in a random set of tests conducted by NADA, it was discovered that the wrestler had tested positive for a banned substance and would thus not be allowed to participate in Rio.
The WFI and the wrestler claimed sabotage and an FIR was filed against a junior wrestler who was charged with mixing a banned substance is Narsingh’s food. But with just days to go, Narsingh was cleared for competition and now seems set to participate in the Olympics.