Narsingh YadavNarsingh Yadav has been cleared by India's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) disciplinary panel, allowing him to wrestle at the 2016 Rio Olympics Monday, according to multiple media reports.
Last week, Narsingh Yadav had been replaced in men's freestyle competition at 74 kilograms/163 pounds by Parveen Rana by the Indian Olympic Association last week. Narsingh then claimed his food supplements and water supply had been sabotaged, and had filed an appeal.
"We kept in mind that in the past, till June 2, none of his samples were positive. It was inconceivable that one-time ingestion would be of benefit. Therefore the panel is of the view that the one-time ingestion was not intentional," NADA Director General Naveen Agarwal said. "The panel concludes that the athlete deserves the benefit of article 10.4 of the NADA's anti-doping code. Keeping in view that he was victim of sabotage, the panel exonerates the athlete from charges of anti-doping rules of NADA."
Upon learning that he would be wrestling in Rio, Narsingh thanked those who had supported him, and added, "I was sure that I would get justice, that's why I never stopped practicing. I knew it was a conspiracy against me. Hopefully, I will a win a medal in Rio."
Narsingh Yadav had been picked by the Wrestling Federation of India instead of two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar for the 2016 Olympics after he had earned a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. The Delhi High Court ruled in favor of Narsingh.
In reporting today's announcement that Narsingh Yadav would be wrestling in Rio, ESPN wrote, "The theatrics of the episode which played out over the past week could well put a Bollywood potboiler to shame."
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