If there is a person who is to be credit for rising Indian wrestling’s stature it has to be Sushil Kumar. He is the equivalent of Sachin Tendulkar in Indian cricket. The 37-year-old has won it all the sport has to offer including the worlds championship and Olympics. But even before his career had got wings, there was a moment in life when the wrestler had thought of leaving his shoes on the mat.
The year was 2002, and Kumar was just 19, still trying to make a name for himself. He had won the national trials for the Manchester Commonwealth Games. But due to internal politics, he name was struck and instead Shokinder Tomar was selected to represent India in 60kg weight class. Moreover, the announcement of giving cash prizes to the medallist by the then sports minister, Uma Bharti had made CWG 2002 even more important. The cash prize decided was Rs 20 lakh for gold, Rs 15 lakh for silver and Rs 10 lakh for bronze.
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When Kumar got to know that his name has been omitted from the list, he and his coach Satpal knocked on the office of the sports minister and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), to make a last-ditch effort to reclaim his place on the team, But he failed. “I cried when my name was withdrawn. You should remember I was from a lower-income family and winning the cash prize would have solved a lot of problems,” he said during a webinar organised by a university.
“When I was replaced, I decided to quit mat wrestling and concentrate more on dangals as a means to earn a livelihood. But a former wrestler, Uday Chand-ji, told me not to lose heart and said: ‘You don’t know, you may get bigger chances to perform than this one’. Thankfully, I listened to him and continued. I always share this story with my near and dear ones,” Sushil added.
Cut forward to 2020, Kumar has his eyes set at the Tokyo Olympics as he seeks his third Olympics medal, preferably a gold. He has won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, silver at 2012 London Games and says he ‘wants a gold now’. “If all goes well, I will win India its first gold medal at Olympics in wrestling,” he said.