Besik KudukhovMedals awarded in men's freestyle wrestling at 60 kilograms/132 pounds at the 2012 London Olympics will stand, as investigations of two medalists who had reportedly been under review for alleged doping four years ago have been closed.
The International Olympic Committee has dropped an investigation into silver medalist Besik Kudukhov of Russia who allegedly tested positive for a banned steroid when an old sample was retested, according to the Associated Press and other sources Monday.
This news comes on the heels of an earlier announcement in September from United World Wrestling that Azerbaijan's Togrul Asgarov, gold-medal winner at 60 kilograms in London, had never been in violation of UWW's anti-doping policy.
This summer, the IOC announced it had asked the World Anti-Doping Agency to retest blood and urine samples of athletes who had participated in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. These samples, which were kept in deep freeze for up to 10 years for retesting, using newer technology not available four or eight years earlier.
In early September, some media outlets reported that both Kudukhov and Asgarov were under investigation for possible past violations fueled speculation that they might lose their medals, and that the two bronze-medal winners at 60 kilograms at the 2012 Olympics -- India's Yogeshwar Dutt, and Coleman Scott of the U.S. -- might receive higher medals.
The story took on added drama in that Kudukhov -- who also won a bronze medal at 55 kilograms at the 2008 Olympics -- had been killed in a car crash in his native Russia in December 2013. After initially saying he should be presented with the silver medal, Dutt changed his mind, saying it should remain with the Russian's family.
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