For a fourth straight time, India will be returning from an Olympic with at least one medal in wrestling and that has been made possible by the unassuming Ravi Kumar Dahiya who quietly grabbed the nation’s attention thanks to his stunning run to the final of the men’s freestyle 57kg event.
He dazzled on Wednesday outclassing his opponents in the pre-quarters and quarters. He won by margins of 13-2 and 14-4. He saved the best for the semifinal bout against Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev.
At one stage the 23-year-old Indian was trailing 1-9 which he cut down to 5-9 before his opponent took a medical timeout. Once the bout resumed, in the dying seconds, Ravi produced a sensational reverse as he pinned Sanayev to win the bout and enter final.
The gold medal clash saw Ravi up against a formidable Zavur Uguev of the Russian Olympic Committee. The two-time world champion didn’t do his reputation any harm clinching the gold but the Ravi gave his all in a 4-7 defeat.
He thus became the second ever Indian after Sushil Kumar to win an Olympic silver in wrestling. And he’s the fifth ever wrestler from his country after KD Jadhav, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sakshi Malik to win a medal at the quadrennial Games.
Here’s everything you should know about the new Olympic medallist
- Date of Birth: December 12, 1997
- Residence: Nihari, Sonipat, Haryana
- Sport: Wrestling
- Training Base: SAI NRC Sonipat/ Chattrasaal Stadium
- Personal Coach: Kamal Malikov
- National Coach: Jagmander Singh
Achievements
- Tokyo Olympics: Silver
- World Championship - Bronze
- Asian Championship - 2 Gold
- U-23 World Championship - 1 Silver medal
- World Junior Championship - Silver
- Asian Junior Championship - Gold
Life-story
Ravi hails from the Nahri village in Sonepat district of Haryana. He comes from an agrarian family background and his father used to work in the paddy fields at his village. He started wrestling at the age of 10. He suffered a knee injury during the Senior National in 2017. Due to this, he had no sponsors and had to depend on his well-wishers to recuperate from his injury.
But his talent took him places with the Haryana boy intent on making a name in the world of wrestling and repay the faith shown by his father who worked in rented paddy fields, and celebrated coach Satpal Singh.
With a silver in Tokyo, he has fulfilled a childhood dream.
Key Govt. Interventions
- Inclusion of personal Support staff in National Camps
- Participation in Asian Championships, Sr World Championship, Matteo Pellicone Ranking tournament, Yasar Dogu and Word Cup between 2018 and 2021 through ACTC
- Training camp in Russia along with personal Support staff for preparation of Olympics 2020
- Visa support for participation in Poland Open 2020
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