International Ravi Raj pulled off an impressive victory over Delhi’s Ankit Kumar to win the men’s 74kg freestyle final in the National under-23 wrestling championships at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here on Friday.
But the Maharashtra wrestler was in a big hurry after that.
“He ran away without giving the dope test. The federation will take strict action. He took the medal and certificate and ran away,” V.N. Prasoon, the general secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India, told The Hindu here.
“I’m waiting for the NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) report and I will sign it. We will suspend all his results and upgrade the other medallists after discussing the issue.”
But the case got curiouser a little later.
“He did not take gold (during the medal ceremony), his friend took it,” revealed another official.
Indian wrestlers have done very well in the international circuit, winning Olympic and World championship medals, but wrestling is also among the sports often in the news when it comes to doping.
At the under-23 Nationals in Kochi, the NADA is testing all the gold medal winners.
