Kuch kar dikhana hai: Sushil Kumar

London: “Kuch kar dikhana hai,” Sushil Kumar, who is through to the 66kg freestyle wrestling final, kept saying before his day arrived at these Olympics. Flag-bearer of the Indian contingent, Sushil had been relegated to the background till the last the day of the Games and lived through India’s roller-coaster ride over the past fortnight building up his motivation with patience. “He had been quiet, kept largely to himself but resolute. He kept saying, ‘medal jeetna hai,’” said an official from the contingent. [caption id=“attachment_415475” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] When the day of his event finally arrived, Sushil was like a man possessed. Reuters[/caption] When the day of his event finally arrived, Sushil was like a man possessed. He beat the Beijing gold medallist Ramzan convincingly, got the better of Uzbek Navuruzo Ikhtiyor in the quarters in a tight bout, but touched really great heights in beating Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan in the semis. He won the first period 3-0, lost the second 0-3 and was trailing 0-3 again in the third. Just when all seemed lost, Sushil effected a remarkable turnaround to clinch six points, finishing the series with an aeroplane-spin a la Dara Singh. Sushil, who won a bronze at Beijing, will become the first Indian to win two individual Olympic medals— unless, of course, one considers Norman Pritchard’s two silvers at the 1900 Olympics. Pritchard was English, but born and brought up in Calcutta and had participated in many local and state meets, winning several championships. He happened to be in Paris during the 1900 Games, competed in the 200m sprint and 200m hurdles and won silver in both. His medals have been a bone of contention between India and Britain, who have claimed the silver for themselves. Historians say that Pritchard was British, but the IOC assigns the medals to India. In any case, Sushil becomes the first from independent India to win two medals, an extraordinary achievement by any yardstick for a country starved of medals.