Sushil Kumar's Olympic bronze medal may have come as a pleasant surprise to his countrymen but the Delhi wrestler says he did not emerge out of the blue and walked away with the glory.
BEIJING: Sushil Kumar's Olympic bronze medal may have come as a pleasant surprise to his countrymen but the Delhi wrestler says he did not emerge out of the blue and walked away with the glory.
"Probably you may say that there was no expectation from the people back home and the media too. But me and my coach (Satpal) always knew I had a fair chance of winning a medal and I'm happy I could achieve that," a beaming Sushil said at the China Agricultural University here.
"While it is good not to have that burden of expectation on your shoulder, I think we can give even more provided we get better facilities," said the wrestler, taking the occasion to make a point.
"I want to dedicate this medal to my coach Satpal," said Sushil who is the current world number seven.
Sushil's pursuit for the glory paid off after he had competed as the world number four in Athens Games but was forgotten since then.
Sushil admitted things looked bleak after the opening round defeat against eventual silver medallist Andriy Stadnik but said repechage offered a ray of hope and he did not want to let it go.
"It was not easy out there. I had to compete in four bouts today, which did make me weary towards the end. I had not played against Doug Schwab (USA) and Albert Batyrov (Belarus) earlier. So they were unknown rivals for me.
"But once I got past them and had Leonid Spiridinov (Kazakhstan) against me, I sensed my chance. I said to myself 'I cannot let it go after coming so close to a medal'. And if I was tired, so was he," said Sushil.
"I thought I'll do whatever it takes and the end result is the medal is mine. It's an unforgettable moment in my life and it seems I'm living in a dream," said the grappler.
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