"We were expecting gold" - National Wrestling coach Jagmander Singh on Aman Sehrawat's bronze at Paris Olympics 2024
National Wrestling coach Jagmander Singh said he was expecting a gold medal from India's Aman Sehrawat, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Friday, August 9. Jagmander also assured fans that the 21-year-old will secure a gold medal in the future.
Sehrawat, who made his Olympic debut in Paris, finished in the third spot with a 13-5 win in the bronze medal bout against Puerto Rico's Darian Cruz in the men's Freestyle 57 kg·wrestling event. He emerged as India’s first medallist from the wrestling contingent at Paris 2024.
"The performance was good. We were expecting gold but we had to settle for the bronze. But I promise in the coming time, we will win gold medals for the country... Aman has promised that he will win gold in the future," Jagmander Singh told ANI.
Aman Sehrawat gained 4.5 kg weight after his semi-final bout
Virendra Dahiya, the National Wrestling coach, has revealed that the 21-year-old wrestler gained 4.5 kg of weight after his semi-final bout against Japan’s Rei Higuchi.
He had just 10 hours to reduce his weight to achieve the permissible limit, as he worked on it the entire night. Aman Sehrawat started with standing wrestling, a treadmill session, and a sauna bath to reduce his weight.
"We are happy... Aman stood on the expectations of the people of the country... Yesterday evening when the wrestling was over, Aman's weight had increased by about 4 and a half kg. After which we trained for one and a half hours, rested for 1 hour, and then did a session of treadmill, sauna bath," Virendra Dahiya said (via ANI).
In the bronze medal bout, though Cruz gained the lead, initially securing a point, Sehrawat was quick to gain his points by targeting the opponent's shoulders. In the dying moments of the bout, Aman Sehrawat looked in complete control, securing additional points, and won the match on technical superiority.
Hailing from Haryana, 21-year-old Aman Sehrawat was the lone Indian male wrestler competing at the Paris Olympics 2024. He went past Tokyo Olympics 2020 silver medallist Ravi Dahiya in the trials to gain his spot for the Paris Olympics 2024.