From being the only male wrestler representing India at the Paris Olympics 2024, to becoming the country’s youngest Olympic medallist, Aman Sehrawat has come a long way.
The 21-year-old defeated Puerto Rico’s Darian Toi Cruz 13-5 in the bronze play-off in 57kg freestyle category at Champ de Mars Arena at the Paris Olympics 2024.
It was not easy though. Aman Sehrawat weighed 61.5kg after his semifinal defeat on Thursday—4.5kg more than the permissible limit—but, in the next 10 hours, he worked tirelessly to shed 4.6kg. The Indian camp was determined to avoid a repeat of what happened to Vinesh Phogat, who was disqualified from the women's 50kg final for being overweight by 100g in the weigh-in ahead of the title clash.
Overcoming challenges is not something new to Aman Sehrawat. Orphaned by the age of 11, he found his calling at the wrestling academy at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi. The stadium, which had produced Olympic medallists such as Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia, and Ravi Dahiya, became Aman Sehrawat’s second home as he was enrolled in a residential programme.
"This medal is for my parents. They always wanted me to be a wrestler. They didn’t know anything about the Olympics," he said after the win.
Aman Sehrawat showed promise from the word go, and went on to win the World Cadet Championship bronze in 2018. Four years later, the teenager announced himself on the senior circuit, winning a bronze at the Asian U-20 Championship and gold at the Asian U-23 Championships. Later that year, he won gold at the World U-23 Championships.
His bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics 2024 helped India maintain the streak of winning medals in wrestling at every Olympics since 2008, when Sushil Kumar won the bronze.
