Once he lost his opening bout to the eventual silver winner, there was no blip to portend his grasp on a bronze that has stayed elusive for India in wrestling since a long 56 years.
Sushil Kumar becomes 2nd Indian wrestler to win bronze, since Khashaba Jadhav in 1952 Helsinki Games, with a victory over Kazak Leonid Spiridonov in the men’s freestyle 66kg
Sushil Kumar never emerged on the radar as a medal hopeful going into the XXIX Olympic Games. Once he lost his opening bout to the eventual silver winner, there was no blip to portend his grasp on a bronze that has stayed elusive for India in wrestling since a long 56 years. The 66kg free-style medal came from the protege of
The 5’4” grappler, however, was not bludgeoned into submission by a defeat that would have cracked the will of most. But then Olympic medal winners from a nation that only wakes up to other sport once in four years are made of mettle that has been forged on an anvil of continuous apathy and neglect. Sushil shrugged off the setback and went on to pin down his own bit of lore.
“I was fortunate,” was his humble take, “I prayed after the first loss and I was tired after three bouts but then I knew my opponent was equally tired,” he added.
Wrestling in the Olympics is one big lottery. With only 21 qualifiers in a 32 draw, and no seedings it is just plain luck who runs into whom. In fact Sushil drew a bye in his first round before being outclassed by Ukraine’s Andriy Stadnik who then moved all the way into the final. That in turn gave him a shot in the repêchage event which figures all those who have lost to the finalists in the earlier rounds. Then he wrestled down three opponents in the span of an hour and a half to claim his medal.
In first bout of the repêchage he beat Dough Schwab of the US 7:4, then he prevailed over Albert Balyrav of Belarus 8:4 before the Kazakh Leonid Spiridonov - who was losing semifinalist in the open event - lost out in a cliff-hanger that went down to the wire.
Tied on points by the end of the three regulation rounds, the rules asked for a draw of lots to determine who would get the advantage to decide the outcome. Luck favoured the Kazakh but the India relied on his skill to change the tidings of the lot to sculpt his own fortune. He countered the third period cinch with a scissors kick after Spiridonov had hold of his leg and then affected an ankle pick to score the only point in the final round and assert his claim.
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