India’s Narsingh Yadav cleared of doping charges, will compete in 2016 Olympic Games

Narsingh Yadav at the 2015 World Championships. Photo: Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

World bronze medalist Narsingh Yadav of India was cleared of doping charges on Monday by the Indian National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

The Indian wrestler tested positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition test in early July. In response to the positive test, the Wrestling Federation of India provisionally named Parveen Rana as the Olympic replacement to UWW.

The NADA panel has since been reviewing Yadav’s case as he maintained his innocence and claimed to be a victim of foul play, according to Inside the Games.

After the review, NADA determined that “there is no fault and negligence on Narsingh Yadav’s part, he is a victim of sabotage by a competitor,” NADA Director General Naveen Agarwal said. “We kept in mind that in the past, until 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."

As a result, Yadav will be reinstated to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in men’s freestyle at 74 kg/163 lbs.

“I am very happy, I can't wait to win for my nation in the Olympics. I thank the public, media and everyone who supported me and stood by the truth,” he told reporters.

His selection to the Indian Olympic Team was surrounded by controversy as Sushil Kumar, a two-time Olympic medalist at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., moved up a weight class, demanded wrestle-off and took it to court.

The court ruled in favor of Yadav, securing his spot in Rio, according to the Straits Times.

He will compete with the best in the world on Aug. 19 in Rio.