 "Paris Olympics 2024: Wrestler Aman Sehrawat dedicates bronze to 'mom, dad, and to the whole nation'")
Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat dedicated the bronze medal that he won in the Paris Olympics men’s 57kg event on Friday to his late parents as well as to the entire nation.
Sehrawat overpowered Puerto Rico's Darian Tor Cruz 13-5 in the bronze medal playoff at Paris’ Champs-de-Mars Arena to finally open the Indian wrestling team’s account in the Paris Olympics with just two days left in the competition.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more
The 21-year-old dedicated his medal to both of his parents who had passed away when he was just 11 years old. Aman was subsequently brought up by his grandfather and would later be enrolled at Delhi’s iconic Chhatrasal Stadium, which has produced a number of world-class athletes including two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar.
“I am very happy after winning the medal. We were neck-to-neck at the start but toward the end, I got more points. I want to dedicate to my mom, dad, and to the whole nation,” Sehrawat told JioCinema after his bout.
A message from Olympic bronze medalist Aman 🇮🇳 to the people of India 🇮🇳.#roadtoparis2024 | #wrestleparis | #wrestlingparis | #PathtoParis | #wrestling | #paris2024 pic.twitter.com/tDknSapIxC
— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) August 9, 2024
Sehrawat added that he was initially gunning for gold, and that he had to quickly put his semi-final defeat behind and focus on winning bronze at the very least.
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More ShortsThe 21-year-old also set his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and vowed to upgrade his medal to a gold next time.
“It’s been a long time since I won a medal for my country. I had to do something about it. I would like to say to the people of India that I will definitely win a gold for you in 2028.
“The target was gold but I had to be content with bronze this time. I had to forget the semi-final defeat. I told myself, let it go and focus on next. Sushil pehlawan ji won two medals, I will win in 2028 and then in 2032 also,” Sehrawat said after winning the bronze medal bout.
Read | 'PRIDE OF THE COUNTRY!': Bhaker, PM Modi hail Sehrawat for winning bronze
He had begun his Olympic campaign with commanding victories over Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov and Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov before after losing his semi-final bout against eventual gold medallist Rei Higuchi of Japan, who had previously won silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Sehrawat, however, was able to bring back his ‘A’ game against Cruz, who had lost to Higuchi in the quarter-finals but managed to qualify for the bronze match via repechage after his Japanese conquerer advanced to the final.
Sehrawat’s victory ensures India’s streak of winning at least one wrestling medal at the Olympics since Sushil’s bronze in Beijing 2008 remains intact. His medal also took India’s overall tally in the Paris Games to six, matching their second-best Olympic medal haul in London 2012.
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