Paris (France): Aman Sehrawat won the sixth medal for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Friday beating Puerto Rico's Darian Cruz in the bronze medal match. He beat the opponent by 13-5 in the men's freestyle 57 kg weight category.
The win also ensured India's streak of winning at least a medal in the wrestling of each edition since 2008 stayed alive. However, Aman was on the verge of facing the same fate as Vinesh Phogat for being overweight. But, putting in hard yards helped him to meet the eligibility criteria.
How Aman Sehrawat lost weight before bout
After the loss against Japan's Rei Higuchi on Thursday around 6:30 PM, Aman was weighing 61.5 kg - 4.5 kg above the permissible limit. There was a panic in the Indian camp and Jagmander Singh and Virender Dahiya, two senior coaches had a tough task in hand to cut down the weight with a deadline of 10 hours as the weigh-in was going to take place on the morning of the bronze medal match. The process kicked off with a one-and-a-half-hour mat session. The session included standing wrestling and it was followed by a one-hour hot bath session.
Next, Aman hit the gym for an hour-long nonstop run on the treadmill for weight loss and to induce sweating. The 21-year-old was then given a break of 30 minutes and then engaged in five 5-minute sessions of sauna bath to reduce the weight further. The final session was over but he was still weighing 900 grams more. So, the coaches asked him to do light jogging afterwards to completely take out the possibility of being overweight.
The final act of five 15-minute sessions helped the Indian wrestler and he weighed 56.9 Kg - 100 grams less than the eligibility criteria. The coaches then heaved a sigh of relief as he was now within the permissible limit. The wrestler was fed with lukewarm water with lemon and honey and a bit of coffee to drink in between the sessions.
“We kept checking his weight every hour. We didn't sleep the whole night, not even during the day. Weight cutting is routine and normal for us but there was tension, a lot of tension due to what happened the other day (with Vinesh). We could not let slip another medal," coach Virender Dahiya told PTI.
Aman creates history by winning bronze
Aman created history on Friday as he won a bronze and became the youngest Indian athlete to win a medal for the country. He registered a victory by 13-5 in the men's freestyle 57 kg and it was the sixth medal for India in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Manu Bhaker, Neeraj Chopra, Sarabjot Singh, and Swapnil Kusale are the other athletes who won a medal for the country. Indian hockey team also won a bronze in the Paris Games.
Read More
