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Kumar has been a medals hopeful for the country in recent years and he hasn’t disappointed, bagging a silver at the London Olympics last year and a bronze in Beijing in 2008.
With the prospect of the sport being phased out of the Olympics six years from now, brands are predictably nervous. Kumar endorses Mountain Dew from PepsiCo, Eicher Motors, Ralson Tyres and Emami, besides promoting the use of eggs as brand ambassador of the National Egg Coordination Committee.
The agency managing his endorsements, Percept Talent Management, says it is in the process of stitching a few more deals for the wrestler. “Besides these brands, Kumar does a lot of transactional work, making star appearances at social or charity events. He also appeared on the cover of GQ magazine three months ago. Certainly, this decision by the IOA has brought a lot of discomfort to us. So far, none of the advertisers working with Sushil have decided to drop him but it certainly does not bode well for the sport,” says Hitesh Gossain, senior vice-president, strategy and business development, Percept.
India and America, among other countries, are lobbying hard with the IOA to reconsider. Persons in the know say it is possible the decision could be reversed, given the sport’s popularity across the world. Besides India and the US, the Commonwealth of Independent States nations as well as those in West Asia, are all regions where wrestling is popular.
In India, Kumar has been the most prominent of wrestlers, with his consistent performance at the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and the World Wrestling Championship (WWC). He has won gold at the 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 Commonwealth championships, besides taking home the yellow metal at the 2010 edition of the WWC.
Brand and sports marketing experts such as Melroy D’souza, chief operating officer of celebrity management firm PMG, says the interest in Kumar stems from his humble beginnings and the effort he has put to deliver knock-out performances in the past decade.
“The 66-kg category where he competes is tough because there are many players who chose to participate in this segment. That means you are very often wrestling with a number of players, implying you have to be both mentally and physically strong,” he says.
Kumar’s mental and physical prowess was on full display last year, when he had back-to-back wrestling bouts in his category at the Olympics in Beijing. Though he cleared many of the hurdles, emerging as the only Indian sportsman who might win a gold, he had to finally settle for silver.
