The deferment of Olympics due to coronavirus pandemic gave the second lease to the two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar. He has been eyeing for his third Olympic medal but after missing out on the chance in 2016, he is now ready to bid his chance for 2021 extravaganza. But this would be his last Olympic.
The wrestler will turn 37 next month and by the time the Summer Games come about, he will be 38. His coach Satpal Singh has revealed that it would Sushil’s last Olympics. “If he does make it, Tokyo will be his last Olympics,” he told the New Indian Express.
“One year is very long in an athletes’ life, so the Tokyo Games being delayed by a year will make some difference. But Sushil is very disciplined. Even now he’s working hard towards maintaining his strength and endurance and will resume training as soon as he can. He knows Tokyo is his last chance, and he has a burning desire to win a gold for India,” he added.
Sushil eyes to bid chances for the Tokyo Games in the 74kg freestyle category. His biggest challengers for the place in the Indian team would be Praveen Kumar, Jitender and Narsingh Yadav.
He lost his position to Narsingh in 2016. But the latter failed to compete at the Rio Olympics after failing the doping test. His four-year ban will, however, end in July this year making him eligible to compete in the international tournament. This would turn into a two-horse race for the qualification for the Olympics.
“We will see how the qualification pans out,” said Satpal. He added that Sushil will leave for Russia for training once things normalise.
“Because of the worldwide lockdown, there’s no clear roadmap right now. As soon as things start opening up, he will be going to Russia for training. He feels that he can still fight with the same power and bring back a medal for India. If an athlete doesn’t feel that way to continue at all?”
Olympics will be held next year from July 23 to August 9 in Tokyo. So far, India has booked four quota places – Bajrang Punia in 65kg, Deepak Punia in 86kg, Ravi Dahiya in 57kg and Vinesh Phogat in 53kg.
India will bid chances in the remaining 14 weight classes next year at the two Olympic Qualifiers. The Asian Qualifiers will be held from March 26 to 29 in Xi’an, China, while the World Qualifiers will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria from April 30 to May 3.
