Star grappler Sushil Kumar on Sunday picked up a historic silver medal to provide a great finishing touch to the country’s most successful campaign at the Olympic Games, as he became the first Indian to win two individual medals at the mega event.
Boosted by his podium finish, India ended the Games with a tally of two silver and four bronze medals, bettering their earlier high of one gold and two bronzes in Beijing.
Sushil, a bronze medallist in 2008 at Beijing, fought bravely after vomiting and suffering dehydration following his semi-final victory but ended a 1-3 loser against a strong Japanese rival, Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, in the 66kg freestyle gold medal bout at the Excel Arena. The final was held inside three hours after his semi- final victory over Kazakhstan’s Akzhurek Tanatarov. The 29-year-old had also picked up a neck injury too that hampered his progress against Guangzhou Asian Games champion Yonemitsu. India’s lone runner in the men’s marathon, Ram Singh Yadav, performed poorly and finished way behind at 78th position. Sushil and Yadav were the only participants taking part on the final day of the sporting extravaganza.
Sushil, who was cheered by the flag-waving Indian spectators, was down with dehydration when he took the mat for the final and that had a bearing on his performance. “I had a stomach problem just after the semi-final, because of the dehydration. I lost weight and was feeling a little weak. But we have got a silver medal and we will try for a gold medal in the next Olympics,” Sushil said. “It was bronze in Beijing, and now it’s a silver. So , We were are gradually going up and may be in the next Olympics, I will be able to win the gold medal,” Sushil said.
“I had said about 15 days ago that we will do well. It was a question of what will be the colour of medals. I am happy that Yogeshwar (Dutt) won a bronze and our performance will keep improving,” he said.