Why Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat has been banned for one year

Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat has been suspended for one year by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). This is reportedly the first time that an Olympic medallist has been banned by an Indian sports federation for discipline issues.

Sehrawat became India’s youngest medal winner at the Olympics when he won the bronze in the men’s freestyle wrestling 57kg event in Paris at the age of 21 years and 24 days. He surpassed the record of PV Sindhu, who was 21 years, one month and 14 days old when she won the silver medal at the Rio Games in 2016 in badminton.

Sehrawat had defeated Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz in the bronze medal match, which was India’s only wrestling medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics and eighth overall in the sport. Only Sushil Kumar and Ravi Kumar Dahiya have won silver medals for India in wrestling at the Olympics, the remaining six medals have been bronze.

Why was Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat suspended?

But the latest ban is to jeopardise Sehrawat’s participation at the 2026 Asian Games. The Haryana wrestler, who trains at Delhi’s popular Chhatrasal Stadium, has been suspended for a year after failing to make weight at the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb (Croatia).

Sehrawat was disqualified from the World event as he failed to make weight for the opening bout against Vladimir Erogov of North Macedonia in the men’s freestyle 57kg category. He was 1.7kg above the permissible limit at the weigh-in.

The two-time junior world champion is now set to miss the Asian Games next year as the multilateral event will run from 19 September to 4 October in Japan, while Sehrawat will be banned till 22 September 2026.

A show-cause notice was issued to Aman on 23 September after he failed to make weight at the World Championships. Notices were also sent to the coaches by the WFI. The coaching staff included men’s freestyle head coach Jagminder Singh, Virendra, Narender and Vinod.

How did WFI reach Aman’s ban decision?

The one-year ban was issued after a formal hearing at WFI’s office in Delhi on 5 October, which was attended by federation chief Sanjay Singh, selection committee members, media team, coaching staff and Aman.

After Aman’s response was found unsatisfactory, the wrestler was suspended for tarnishing “the image of the nation on the global stage”.

“Your (Aman) reply, dated Sept 29, 2025, was duly reviewed by the WFI’s disciplinary committee. Additionally, clarifications were obtained from the chief coach and supporting coaching staff. Upon thorough examination, the committee found your response unsatisfactory and has resolved to impose strict disciplinary action. Accordingly, you are, hereby, suspended from all wrestling-related activities, both at the national and international level, for a period of one (1) year, effective from the date of the show-cause notice,” a WFI letter read.

“You failed to maintain the prescribed weight category (57 kg) for which you were officially selected, thereby depriving India of a potential medal opportunity and causing significant financial loss due to the expenditure incurred by the govt of India for your participation and training. This decision is final and binding. During the period of suspension, you are barred from participating in or associating with any activities organised or sanctioned by WFI at both national and international levels,” the letter added.

The coaches were let go with a warning.