Aman Sehrawat scripted history on Friday as he won bronze in the men’s 57 kg freestyle bronze medal playoff. Not only this, he became the first wrestler to clinch a gold medal for India in Paris in 2024. Sehrawat has also become the youngest wrestler in Indian history to win an Olympic medal.
Sehrawat won bronze, India’s sixth medal at Paris 2024, with a 13-5 win over Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz in the third-place contest.
“It’s been a long time since I won a medal for my country. I had to do something about it. I would like to say to the people of India that I will definitely win gold for you in 2028,” Sehrawat said.
“The target was gold, but I had to be content with bronze this time. I had to forget the semi-final defeat. I told myself to let it go and focus on the next. Sushil Pehlawan ji won two medals; I will win in 2028 and then in 2032 also,” he added.
Who is Aman Sehrawat?
Born on July 16, 2003, Aman Sehrawat is the youngest Indian to have won a medal. He hails from Birohar, in Haryana’s Jhajjar district. Sehrawat started his sport’s journey with mud wrestling. He drew his inspiration from Sushil Kumar’s silver medal in the 2012 Olympics and joined the Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi at the age of 10.
Unfortunately, both his parents died when he was eleven years old, and after that, he was raised by his grandfather. Sehrawat won gold at the U-23 Asian C’ships and became the first Indian to do so. In 2023, he won gold in the Asian Wrestling Championships and then bronze at the 2022 Asian Games. In January 2024, Sehwat won gold in the men’s 57 kg event of the Zagreb Open.
After these many achievements, he participated in the 2024 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Istanbul and secured India’s quota for the Paris Olympics. Sherawat is the only Indian male wrestler to qualify for the Parsi Olympic 2024.
Paris Olympics 2024
He started his Paris 2024 campaign by defeating Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov and Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov via technical superiority. However, he lost to top-seed Rei Higuchi in the semifinals. He then won the bronze medal match against Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz.
Speaking after his bronze win, Sehrawat dedicated his win to his parents. “This medal is for them,” Sehrawat said. “They don’t even know that I became a wrestler, that there’s something called the Olympics.”
