NEW DELHI — India's anti-doping agency Monday revived wrestler Narsingh Yadav's hopes of Olympics glory by clearing him of consuming a banned substance, declaring his food had been spiked by a rival.
The 26-year-old Yadav's hopes of competing in Brazil this month appeared dashed after he tested positive for a banned substance and faced a National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) panel hearing in New Delhi last week.
But a NADA official who addressed journalists Monday said the panel had concluded Yadav had not been aware of his one-time ingestion of the banned substance and instead endorsed his claims of sabotage.
"The panel concludes that the athlete deserves the benefit of Article 10.4 for the anti-doping rules of NADA, as there is no fault or negligence on his part and he is a victim of sabotage done by a competitor," said NADA director general Navin Agarwal.
"Keeping in view the facts and circumstance, the panel exonerates the athlete from charges of violating anti-doping rule of NADA," he added, without naming the rival suspected of spiking Yadav's food.
Yadav, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist in the 74-kilogram freestyle category, appeared at the NADA hearing along with his lawyers.
He was backed by the Wrestling Federation of India, which supported his claims of being a victim of sabotage.
Yadav earned his place to Rio after winning the World Championships bronze and was picked ahead of India's double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar.
A beaming Yadav, who addressed the media after the NADA panel's decision, said he now hoped to win a medal in Rio.
"I thank everyone who have backed me and stood by the truth," he said.
India, which has a dismal medal record at the Olympics, is ranked third on a global list of doping offenders compiled by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Following the positive test, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had provisionally sent the name of Parveen Rana as replacement for Rio to the United World Wrestling (UWW) but said it would now approach the governing body to allow Yadav to compete at the Olympics.
"We will write to both WADA and the UWW to allow Narsingh Yadav to compete at the Rio Games," Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told reporters.
"I am sure Narsingh Yadav will go to Rio and win a medal for India."
Men's freestyle wrestling starts in Rio from Aug. 19, which the WFI said gives ample time for the wrestler to be reinstated.
Nadal still doubtful
Rafael Nadal has conceded he is not yet sure that he will be able to represent Spain at the Rio Olympics as his fitness concerns linger.
The 2008 gold medalist withdrew from the French Open with a wrist injury and missed Wimbledon.
"I will not be at the best level in any of the categories," Nadal told journalists after arriving in Brazil Sunday. "I have not competed for two months and I have not trained a lot."
"I will train a few days here to see what I can do and then decide what is best, to be more positive for me and the team," he said.
Nadal's Spanish teammate David Ferrer acknowledged last week that the 14-time Grand Slam champion's fitness situation was "delicate".
Village security beefed up
Security at the Olympic village has been tightened following the theft of a computer and team shirts from the Australian delegation during a fire evacuation, team officials said Sunday.
Australia chef de mission Kitty Chiller told reporters that a laptop and team jerseys were stolen when the facility was evacuated for a small blaze Friday.
"There was one laptop taken from one of our cycling officials on the fifth floor. Our IT equipment in our operational space had also been rifled through but nothing had been stolen," Chiller said.
Chiller said during the evacuation she had noticed three fire marshals apparently stealing the Australia team shirts.
"When I arrived, which was halfway through the evacuation, I saw three fire marshals — I don't know who they were — walking out with team shirts," she said.
"I thought maybe they have helped evacuate people and we've given them a shirt. It doesn't seem to be what happened.
"We don't know how many team shirts were taken and, yes, that's concerning."
After the fire, Chiller said Rio 2016 organizers had increased security throughout the Olympic village.
"There is a much greater security presence than there had been at the start when there were a lot of contractors and workers in the village, getting the building done in time," she said.
"Rio 2016 engaged a private security force and we now have private security and every building has (that) on either side of the doors. The security presence is there."
Rio's crime rate has been one of the biggest concerns heading into the Olympics. China revealed Friday members of its Olympic delegation had already fallen victim to theft.
