Narsingh Yadav given clean chit from doping charges; may take part in Olympics

The 74kg freestyle wrestler had tested positive for a banned steroid.

August 01, 2016 05:34 pm | Updated November 29, 2021 01:25 pm IST

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has given a clean chit to wrestler Narsingh Yadav from doping charges, thereby allowing him to participate in Rio Olympics.

The 74kg freestyle wrestler, who bagged a bronze medal in last year’s world championship to qualify for the Olympics, tested positive for a banned steroid in an out of competition test conducted by the the NADA.

Ending the suspense of the last few days, NADA DG Naveen Agarwal read out a statement clearing Narsingh.

“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,” Mr. Agarwal said while reading out the verdict.

"I thank the public, media and everyone who supported me and stood by the truth," the wrestler said.

The NADA had collected Narsingh’s samples at the national camp in Sonepat a few weeks ago.

Narsingh has been claiming that he has been framed in the scandal by rivals, who, he alleged, spiked his food supplements and meals.

Following the doping storm, Parveen Rana was named as Narsingh’s replacement in the 74kg category, a move that has been approved by United World Wrestling.

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