Orphaned at tender age of 11 years, and facing an existential crisis along with his little sister, Aman’s grit and determination turned misfortunate into opportunity with support and encouragement from his kin
In his bronze medal win in the men’s 57 kg weight category, the grappler at 21 years and 24 days age eclipsed badminton star PV Sindhu’s previous record of being the youngest Indian at 21 years, one month and 14 days when she bagged the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics
From being born in a rural family of humble means, orphaned at the tender age of 11, and facing an existential crisis, to a 21-year-old becoming the youngest ever Indian to win an individual Olympic medal on debut, Aman Sehrawat is an epitome of grit and determination, having turned misfortunate into opportunity with support and encouragement from his kin.
Also being the youngest male wrestler at the Paris Summer Games at 21 years and 24 days, Aman, known for his pacy and aggressive style of wrestling, came up against the wall in the semifinals of the freestyle 57 kg weight category, losing the bout to the accomplished top-seed wrestler, Japan’s Rei Higuchi.
But far from being disheartened by the reverse, Aman displayed exceptional composure in the bronze medal playoff to get the better of Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz, a Pan American Games bronze medallist, with a convincing 13-5 scoreline.
Earlier, the young Indian wrestler registered back-to-back wins on technical superiority with victories over Macedonia’s Vladimir Egorov, a former European champion, in the round of 16 and former world champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania in the quarterfinal.
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Sehrawat eclipsed badminton star PV Sindhu’s previous record of being the youngest Indian at 21 years, one month and 14 days when she bagged the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Indian wrestlers’ Oly medal winning streak unbroken since 2008
In winning the medal, Aman Sehrawat, a resident of Birohar village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, and the only male member in the Indian six-member wrestling squad, ensured that the Indian wrestlers’ streak of winning a medal in every edition of the Olympics since 2008 remained unbroken.
Apart from Vinesh Phogat’s pending appeal for being considered for a (shared) silver medal in the 50 kg weight category after being disqualified for being over the required weight by just 100 grams ahead of her gold medal bout, none of the other four Indian women wrestlers participating in their respective weight categories could win a medal.
Nisha Dahiya (women’s 68kg) was eliminated in the quarterfinals, Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg) and Anshu Malik (women’s 57kg) faltered at in the very first round, and under-23 world champion Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) unfortunately lost in the quarterfinals to top seed Kyrgystan wrestler Aiperi Medet Kyzy despite being tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time, considering that the latter scored the last technical point.
According to United World Wrestling (UWW) rules, in case of tied scores after a bout, the winner is decided on the basis of three criteria – one, higher value of holds; two, least amount of cautions; and three, who scored the last technical point.
In Reetika’s case, the third rule came into play. In the tied contest, Reetika gained a point first and later Aiperi gained a score-levelling last technical point, deciding the bout in her favour.
The only Indian two-time Olympic medallist wrestler, Sushil Kumar was the first to break the glass ceiling by winning the bronze in Beijing (2008), and since then Yogeshwar Dutt (2012), Sakshi Malik (2016), Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia (2021) had kept the tradition intact.
Aman Sehrawat’s bronze is India’s eighth wrestling medal in all Olympics. Sushil Kumar and Ravi Kumar Dahiya won silver medals at 2012 London and 2020 Tokyo, respectively. The remaining six medals are bronze.
Latest in list of Olympic medallists to emerge from Chhatrasal Stadium
Sehrawat has joined the list of Olympic medallist male wrestlers Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia as the latest grappler to emerge from the acclaimed Chhatrasal Stadium of Delhi.
Aman dedicated his feat to his late parents. “This medal is for them. (Before passing away) They didn’t even know that I have become a wrestler, that there’s something called the Olympics,” he shared.
Showing remarkable confidence and vision, the 21-year-old said: “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 a gold for you in 2028.
“The target was a gold (medal at Paris), but I had to be content with bronze this time. I had to forget the semifinal defeat. I told myself, let it go and focus on the next. Sushil pehalwan ji won two (Olympic) medals, I will win in 2028 and then in 2032 also,” he declared.
Tragic childhood
Aman Sehrawat’s earlier life was tragic with the then 11-year-old left alone in this world with his little sister, and facing an existential crisis, following the death of both his parents in quick succession. Fortunately for him one of his uncle Sudhir Sehrawat, and his grandfather Mangeram took up the responsibility of looking after them.
Sudhir was able to convince young Aman not to despair despite the personal loss of losing his parents at a tender age, and devote his attention and energy to wrestling, which was his favourite childhood indulgence in the village mud pits. The boy’s deep interest in wrestling had begun to turn into passion at age 10, inspired by watching the exploits of ‘pehalwan’ Sushil Kumar in his bronze medal winning performances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He had been initiated into modern mat wrestling at Chhatrasal Stadium even prior to his parents passing away, though without their knowing, but encouraged by his uncle, the stadium became his second home from there on and his wrestling journey gained firm footing.
Announced arrival
By the time he entered his teens, Aman was already showing promise in the game. Finally, he announced his arrival in his late teens, winning the gold in the 2019 Asian Cadet Championships in Nur-Sultan (later renamed Astana), the capital of the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.
Graduating into the senior category, he won his first National Championships in 2021.
This was only the beginning of his accelerated career, as he went on to become the first Indian to win gold at the Under-23 World Championships, and cap it with a gold medal winning performance in 2023 at the Asian Championships in Astana and winning a bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Riding on his successes, Aman Sehrawat outperformed 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya in the trials to book a ticket as India’s representative to the Paris Olympics in the men’s freestyle 57 kg weight category, an opportunity he grabbed with both hands.
The young man is on a roll, winning millions of hearts, and etching his name in India’s sporting history!
