Another chapter of the Indian wrestlers’ journey from ‘Akhaadas’ to the mat unfolded at the Paris Olympics 2024. Their performance was yet again for the world to see as to what the wrestlers have in them. This is the fourth straight Olympics that one of India’s medals at the Olympics had a wrestler’s name on it. India’s first-ever wrestling medal in the Olympics was won by KD Jadhav in the 1952 Games in Helsinki. It took India 56 years to bag another medal when Sushil Kumar won the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics 2008. Ever since, there has been no stopping for the Indian wrestling contingent who have ensured the country’s tricolour flag is raised high till now.
However, in Paris Olympics 2024, hopes were somewhat lower. As the wrestlers were already fighting a ‘dangal’ outside the wrestling mat. A protest that lasted for a year-and-a-half saw the top wrestlers from the country taking to the streets of Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with allegations of sexual assault. They won the battle off the mat and now was the turn to fight on it. Many big names and Olympic medallists could not qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024. With just six, this was the lowest number of wrestlers, heading to Paris amongst the 117-member Indian contingent.
But before we talk about their performance in 2024 Games, let us have a look at what they did in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Paris Olympics 2024: | Full Coverage | Medal Tally
2 medals in wrestling during Tokyo Olympics
Ravi Kumar Dahiya was the star of the campaign, winning a silver medal in the men’s 57 kg freestyle category. His performance was outstanding, especially in the semifinal where he made a stunning comeback from a 2-9 deficit to pin his opponent. Although he couldn’t win the gold in the final, his silver medal was a great achievement and showed his potential as one of India’s top wrestlers.
Bajrang Punia also made the nation proud by winning a bronze medal in the men’s 65 kg freestyle category. Punia is an experienced wrestler with many international titles, and he showed his class in Tokyo. Despite carrying an injury, he fought hard and won his bronze medal match convincingly, demonstrating his strength and determination.
On the women’s side, Vinesh Phogat was a strong contender in the 53 kg category but faced a tough exit in the quarterfinals. Although she did not win a medal, her efforts and determination throughout the competition were commendable. She remains one of India’s top wrestlers and a role model for many.
Overall, India’s wrestling campaign at Tokyo 2020 was a resounding success. The medals won not only boosted the country’s medal tally but also inspired a new generation of wrestlers. The future of Indian wrestling looks bright, with a strong pipeline of talent emerging.
Coming to the Paris Olympics 2024, the woman-led wrestling contingent with just one male wrestler lived up to the reputation.
Aman Sehrawat wins bronze in wrestling
Aman Sehrwat became India’s youngest Indian Olympic medallist at the age of just 21. In fact, he earned the qualification in the men’s 57kg freestyle event by upstaging silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya. He was also India’s almost last hope for a wrestling medal. He did not disappoint as he began his campaign with back-to-back wins on technical superiority.
In the round of 16, he beat Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov and then Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov in the quarter-final. In the semi-final, he was beaten by the top seed and the eventual gold medallist Rei Higuchi of Japan to set up a bronze medal clash with Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz. In the medal round, Aman started slow and trailed behind in the score before turning the match around to win 13-5.
It was the only silver-lining to India’s wrestling campaign in the Games. A few days before Aman’s win, the nation suffered heartbreak with the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the gold medal match in 50kg category. She became the first woman wrestler to reach the final of the wrestling event and was on the verge of becoming the first to win an Olympic gold. She was found 100 grams overweight on the day of the final and missed out on a silver as well. However, she appealed to being awarded joint-silver as she was well-within the permissible weight when she fought her way to reach the final.
Another heartbreak was Nisha Dahiya’s exit, who was on her way to winning the quarterfinal of the women’s 68kg freestyle with an 8-1 lead. Less than 60 seconds were left on the clock, and she suffered two quick injuries and her opponent capitalised to beat her 10-8 win.
Antim Panghal was another big medal prospect for the country and, in fact, she qualified for the 53kg category in which Vinesh usually took part in. However, her campaign ended with a quarterfinal exit and was caught up in a controversy afterwards as she gave her accreditation to her sister to enter the Olympic village.
Reetika Hooda was the first-ever Indian wrestler to qualify for the heavy-weight category in wrestling. The 22-year-old Reetika stormed into her quarterfinal bout of the 76kg freestyle with some brilliant attacking and defensive skills against Hungary’s Bernadett Nagy in their Round of 16 clash. However, Reetika Hooda suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Kyrgyzstan’s Medet Kyzy Aiperi by 1-1 on points via a countback rule.
After what the Indian wrestlers went through last year, this was a commendable performance and we would look to change the colour of the medal in the LA Olympics 2028.
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Source Agencies
