On this day in 2008, Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar won his first Olympic medal at the Beijing Olympics. In the bronze medal match of 66kg freestyle event, Sushil beat Kazakhstan’s Leonid Spiridonov 3:1 and became the second Indian after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav to win an Olympic medal in wrestling.
Recalling the day, Sushil said that medal has “completely changed the Indian wrestling as well as his life”. “On this day 20th August 2008.. I won My first medal at the Olympics. My medal to glory.. Medal that completely changed the Indian wrestling as well as my life.. #memories #beijingolympics #medaltoglory,” Sushil tweeted.
Later on, in the 2012 London Olympics, Sushil changed the colour of his medal and clinched a silver medal and became the only Indian (since independence) to win two individual Olympic medals.
A three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and a former World Wrestling Championships winner, Sushil earned most of his stripes defying the odds on the back of his iron will. (ANI)