Paris: Minutes after winning a historic bronze medal in the Olympic Games here in the men’s freestyle 57 kg, Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat dedicated his medal to his late parents and the country.
Sehrawat defeated Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz 13-5 in the bronze medallist match. He lost against Japanese top-seed Rei Higuchi 0-10 in the semifinal on Thursday.
He thus made history by becoming the youngest-ever individual Olympic medallist from India at 21 years 0 months and 24 days.
Soon after winning the bronze medal, Sehrawat said he would dedicate it to his late parents and the people of the country.
“I would like to dedicate this medal to my parents and the people of India,” Sehrawat told the official broadcaster in India JioCinema.
According to 2020 Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Aman lost his parents when he was 11 and it was his uncle who got him admitted to the Chhatrasal akhara.
Aman was elated by his victory and said his hard work had proven successful. He was happy to have helped lift the gloom in the wrestling camp following Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from contesting the final, which denied the country a confirmed medal.
Sehrawat also saved Indian wrestling the blushes as the wrestling squad looked on the verge of returning empty-handed from an Olympic without a medal for the first time since 2008 when Sushil Kumar won the bronze medal.
–IANS