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| Indian Contingent for London Olympics - Wrestling |
The Bronze glory at Beijing, Bronze medallist
Sushil Kumar and his long-time friend and fellow grappler Yogeshwar Dutt are
ready for London Games. They carry Indian expectations in wrestling. They have
enough experience to make the London Olympics a memorable event. A bronze in the Beijing
Games four years ago came as a surprise but now Sushil is ready for the gold at
the London Olympic Games and bring some glory to wrestling arena in India.
Traditionally Indian wrestling isn't just a sport -
it's an ancient subculture where wrestlers live and train together and it dates
as back as Middle Ages, traces of which have been found in the Mahabharata and
Ramayana. Wrestlers used to belong to gyms called akharas, where wrestlers live
under strict rules. Wrestlers' diets consist of milk, almonds, ghee, eggs and
chapattis. The sport is on the decline, but there are still many akharas left
and some dedicated people who are working to keep this ancient part of Indian
culture alive.
As the nation prepares to head to London
for the 30th edition of the Olympics, India will hope to add to the tally of
the two bronze medals the sport has won for the country so far. Sushil Kumar
ended India's 56-year wait for a wrestling medal at the last Olympics in
Beijing. India's first-ever medal in wrestling came through the legendary KD
Jadhav, way back in the 1952 Helsinki Games. After 2008, the sport of wrestling
has progressed by leaps and bounds. The high-points definitely being the 2010 Commonwealth
Games in Delhi. Hosts India had set themselves a target of 100 medals from the
CWG and was lent a big hand by the wrestlers.
Sushil was the lone medallist in the
previous Olympics in wrestling, will look to improve upon his performance, while
his long-time friend, Yogeshwar, would like to forget his debacle of last
Olympic outing and put up an improved performance on the big stage. Yogeshwar
would not want to settle for anything less than gold in London after he missed
a sure shot medal in the dying moments of his quarterfinal bout in Beijing.
With a total of five wrestlers to
represent India at the Olympics this year, the country is hoping nothing less
than a couple of Gold from its athletes and pair of Sushil and Yogeshwar Dutt
are key-players in wrestling. Yashvir, who has closely
witnessed Sushil and Yogeshwar’s ascent to the higher echelons of the sport,
said the wrestlers have gained a lot of experience since their first Olympics
in Athens in 2004 and are focused to make the quadrennial event this time
around. Other hopefuls are - Amit Kumar, Narsingh Yadav
and Geeta Kumari.
Hoping to see Indian Wrestlers bringing some glory for
India and the wrestling game and set an example for future generation to cheer
and play wrestling
