Bronze for wrestler; no gold for Wilde
New Zealand wrestler Suraj Singh has been awarded a belated Commonwealth Games bronze medal after a rival’s disqualification for an anti-doping violation.
Singh, 23, from Katikati in Bay of Plenty, finished fourth in the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling event at the Games in Birmingham in July.
However, his rival for the bronze medal match, Ali Asad,
of Pakistan, has now been disqualified after testing positive to banned substances. That means Singh gets the bronze, the New Zealand Olympic Committee has confirmed.
‘‘It means a huge amount, I’ve been wrestling since I was a young kid so to get this result is really special.
‘‘I wish that I got the medal in Birmingham but I’m pretty pleased to be on the podium in the record books,’’ said Singh.
‘‘I told my family straight away, they were so happy about it and really pleased to share this moment with me.’’
Singh was presented with flowers and a New Zealand flag at a celebratory event attended by Commonwealth Games Federation president Dame Louise Martin at the NZOC offices yesterday.
The CGF is in the process of supplying a new medal to Singh.
Singh began wrestling as an 11-year-old and represents Katikati Wildcats wrestling team. He won two gold medals at the 2019 Oceania Championships.
He won’t get the chance to add to his Commonwealth Games medal tally in Victoria, Australia, in 2026 as wrestling has been dropped from the programme, with shooting reinstated after it wasn’t contested in Birmingham.
However
Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde won’t be getting the Commonwealth Games gold he believes he deserves after World Triathlon rejected an appeal against his 10-second time penalty in Birmingham.
Wilde, 25, had to settle for silver in the men’s individual sprint event in July after being penalised at the end of the cycle leg for allegedly unclipping his helmet prematurely in transition.
That allowed England’s Alex Yee to overtake him and claim gold, 13 seconds ahead of the New Zealander.
Wilde has vowed to turn the disappointment of his dismissed appeal into world championship glory ‘‘for New Zealand’’ in Abu Dhabi next week.
‘‘I know what I did and I know what I did wasn’t wrong, but at the end of the day you kind of can’t dwell on the past, you’ve just got to look to the future and I think that is what I’m doing currently,’’ Wilde said.