Paris: Aman Sehrawat defeated Darian Toi Cruz Puerto Rico in a men’s 57kg bronze-medal match to clinch India’s first wrestling medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Friday. This was India’s sixth medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 after three in shooting, one in hockey and one in javelin. Aman’s bronze medal comes in as a sigh of relief for the Indian wrestling contingent after Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for being overweight just before her women’s 50kg gold medal match.
With this win, Aman became the seventh Indian wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics after KD Jadhav (1952), Sushil Kumar (2008, 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (2012), Sakshi Malik (2016), Bajrang Punia (2020) and Ravi Dahiya (2020). Aman won the bout 13-5 to keep the tradition of wrestlers returning home with a medal since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Sushil Kumar had finished third.
BRONZE MEDAL IT IS!!!
Our 6th medal at @paris2024 after a comfortable win for Aman Sherawat in the Bronze Medal match! #JeetKaJashn | #Cheer4Bharat pic.twitter.com/jgdYKxCSBi— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 9, 2024
On Thursday, Aman had lost to Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi in the semifinal bout to set up a bronze-medal bout with Darian Cruz. Following his win, Aman dedicated the medal to his parents and the entire country. “I want to dedicate this medal to my parents and country,” he said. Notably, Aman at 21 became India’s youngest ever Olympic medal winner.
Born in Jhajjar, Haryana, Aman lost both his parents at the age of 11. But he found his love for wrestling under coach Lalit Kumar and made a career out of it. Speaking to reporters, Aman’s sister Jyoti stated the bronze is like gold. “I am extremely happy and I cannot explain it in words. This Bronze is also like a Gold medal for us,” said Jyoti.
Among other Indian wrestlers at Paris Olympics 2024, Antim Panghal (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), and Nisha Dahiya (68kg) could not reach the medal rounds in their respective categories. Teenager Antim Pangal also landed herself in trouble for sending her sister to the Games Village on her accreditation card. She was deported along with her entourage.
It was a fast-paced bout with quick moves from the two wrestlers. Once Aman got a measure of his rival, he did not give much of a chance to the Puetro Rican. He build a healthy 6-3 lead by the end of first period with consecutive takedown moves.
As is usually the case, Aman, who thrives on a high-endurance game, first tried to wear down his opponent and then went for the kill. With dominating technical-superiority wins over Vladimir Egorov and Zelimkhan Abakarov, the Indian wrestler stormed into the semifinals without conceding a single point but was no match for Japan’s Rei Higuchi in the semifinals.
He comes from the centre that has given India four Olympic medallists — Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya. Reetika Hooda (76kg) will be in action on Saturday, and if she wins a medal, India will match its Tokyo tally.
