By the time the Olympics arrives in Tokyo next year, wrestling would have become one of the most followed sports in India. And the mass following of this ancient sport is justified given India’s performance at the Olympics in the past decade.
India had won its first Olympic medal at the 1952 Helsinki Games. It was only after 52 years that another Indian climbed the podium. Since then India has won three more Olympic medals between 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games.
Moreover, at World Championships, India has managed to win 18 medals including five at 2019 Worlds in Nur-Sultan.
These performances were driven by individual accomplishments and here are the five best
Men freestyle wrestlers who have proven to be the best in their nation’s history.
-Khasaba Dadasaheb Jadhav:
Also known as KD Jadhav, he is the first wrestler to win an Olympic medal for Independent India. He has been a central character to many Maharashtrian folklores. Although he was not the first one to win a medal for India – Norman Pritchard won two silver medals in 1900 under colonial India – he is still the first athlete to win from independent India – a bronze at Helsinki Games. One of the traits for which the legendary Indian was known for was his nimble feet, which made him different from other wrestlers of his time.
-Sushil Kumar:
In the past decade, Indian wrestling saw a meteoric rise and emerged as one of the leading Olympic sport in the country. And the man credited for this emergence is none other than Sushil Kumar. He gave Indian the belief to win at the biggest sporting spectacular. He is the only Indian athlete to win twin Olympic medals and the first wrestlers from India to become a world champion in 2010. After missing out on the 2016 Rio Games, the 36-year-old has set his sight at the third Olympic medal when the quadrennial tournament arrives in Tokyo in 2021.
-Yogeshwar Dutt:
Now retired, Dutt has taken up politics as his new career. But in his wrestling days, the Indian grappler was no less a battle machine. In 2012, he won bronze at the 2012 Olympics. Besides this, he is two-time Asian Championships and Commonwealth Games winner too. Today, Dutt has taken up a new role of a coach and trains future Indian wrestlers at his academy in Gohana, Haryana.
-Bajrang Punia:
He is everything that Indian wrestling stands for – resilience, hard work, persistence and discipline. Nicknamed ‘Baji’, he is currently one of the top wrestling stars. His first world medal came in 2013 when he earned a bronze at 60kg. But it is from 2018, that Punia emerged as the best. Gold medal at Asian and Commonwealth in 2018, followed by silver at worlds the same was enough to announce his arrival amongst the best.
With his third Worlds medal in 2019 at Nur-Sultan, he created the history of becoming the only Indian wrestler to win three medals at the world championships.
Deepak Punia:
He is amongst the top wrestlers who will carry the weight of Indian wrestling after the likes of Punia, and Vinesh Phogat bid international wrestling adieu. He is a two-time Asian Champion. Apart from this, in 2019 he won gold at World Junior Championship and silver at World Championships. He is now waiting to prove his mettle at the Tokyo Olympics in 86kg.
