After perhaps the darkest few weeks of his life, wrestler Narsingh Yadav can now finally focus on his dream of winning a medal at the Rio Olympics. The decision by National Anti-Doping Agency to clear the wrestler of the doping charges against him comes after an already dramatic timeline of events where Narsingh had to fight a bitter court battle
with the lawyers of senior grappler Sushil Kumar to validate his selection as India’s representative in the 74kg freestyle category at the Games instead of the two-time Olympic medalist. But to prove his innocence to NADA was even harder as the global body WADA adheres to strict rules against dope offenders. However, Narsingh’s lawyers were able to prove his innocence, making a case under article 10.4 of WADA code,
that there was no fault or negligence on part of the wrestler and there was sabotage involved. The case has highlighted
the ugly side of sport, especially that of wrestling and shows
us the vulnerability of an elite athlete in the country. It calls
for stricter monitoring of our sports institutions as the alleged
sabotage happened in a Sports Authority of India facility.
There shouldn’t be another Narsingh Yadav episode.
