New Delhi: India's fledgling Olympic campaign got a big boost on Wednesday when two men from the heartland of Haryana gave India its best ever medal haul at any Olympics.
The dismal record – of getting no medals at the Games – that’s been held for the last 56 years, is on the brink of being broken with India's Olympians assured to return home with at least three medals.
But how did it come about?
While shooter Abhinav Bindra’s shot at fame is stuff history is made of, India's wrestler Sushil Kumar won three consecutive rounds to win the bronze in the freestyle 66kg category on Wednesday. He is the second wrestler to do so after KD Jadav in the 1952 Games.
Sushil Kumar: Wrestling with fate
Sushil defeated Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan 3-1 in the repechage match of the men's freestyle wrestling 66kg to win India's India's first wrestling medal since the 1952 Helsinki Games.
With his first-round conqueror reaching the final, Sushil got a reprieve, as it were, and a place in repechage, which then gave him a chance to win three bouts in a space of 75 minutes and bring in India's second ever Olympic wrestling medal.
Sushil, a resident of Boprala village in West Delhi's Najafgarh area, won the fight in the extra 30-second period to ensure a podium finish, when everyone had lost hope after his first round loss Wednesday morning.
Sushil had gone down to Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine on points. But his slender hopes hung on the results of his conqueror, Stadnik, who went on to reach the final. That gave Sushil an extra lease of life as all wrestlers losing to the two finalists then contest the repechage.
Here's Sushil Kumar's path to that Bronze Medal in Beijing:
- He lost in the quarterfinal of the 66kg category wrestling to Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine 1-3 on Wednesday morning.
- But he fought back in the Repechage 1st Round bout.
- Sushil beat Doug Schwab of the USA 3-1.
- Then in his second repechage Round he beat Albert Batyrov of Belarus again 3-1 and then finally in the Bronze medal bout he overcame Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhastan 3-1
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Vijender Kumar: The model boxer
For eight minutes around half past 6 on Wednesday evening, it was almost as if all work had stopped. Millions stayed glued to their TV sets to watch what could be the most inspiring fight in his entire career.
Indian middleweight boxer Vijender Kumar carved out an emphatic 9-4 victory over Ecuador's Carlos Gongora in a lop-sided quarterfinal at the Workers' Gymnasium. Both losing semifinalists are given bronze in the discipline.
Vijender never kept anyone in doubt about his victory since the bout started.
Vijender looked indefatigable and his nimble footwork stood him in good stead as the Indian tired out his opponent and connected most of his blows to run away with the game.
Once he got himself into a 3-0 lead, Vijender decided he was not going to do anything silly and started evading, with a desperate and exasperated Gongora chasing him all over.
Vijender is assured of at least a bronze as he goes into the semi-final bout on Friday because both the losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze at the Olympics.
NEXT PAGE: THE MEDALS TALLY
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Following is the medals tally on the twelfth day of the Olympic Games here Wednesday. India is at 42nd position after wrestler Sushil Kumar clinched the bronze in the freestyle (66 kg).
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China 45 14 20 79
2 US 26 28 28 82
3 Great Britain 16 10 11 37
4 Russia 13 14 18 45
5 Australia 11 12 13 36
6 Germany 11 8 9 28
7 South Korea 8 10 6 24
8 Japan 8 6 9 23
9 Italy 6 7 7 20
10 Ukraine 5 5 8 18
11 France 4 12 14 30
12 Netherlands 4 5 4 13
13 Jamaica 4 3 0 7
14 Romania 4 1 3 8
15 Spain 3 5 2 10
16 Poland 3 4 1 8
17 New Zealand 3 1 5 9
18 Slovakia 3 1 0 4
19 Canada 2 6 5 13
20 Kenya 2 4 2 8
21 Belarus 2 3 8 13
22 Czech Republic 2 3 0 5
23 Denmark 2 1 3 6
24 North Korea 2 1 3 6
25 Ethiopia 2 1 0 3
26 Switzerland 2 0 3 5
27 Georgia 2 0 2 4
28 Cuba 1 6 6 13
29 Kazakhstan 1 3 4 8
30 Zimbabwe 1 3 0 4
31 Azerbaijan 1 2 2 5
Norway 1 2 2 5
Slovenia 1 2 2 5
34 Turkey 1 2 1 4
35 Bulgaria 1 1 3 5
Indonesia 1 1 3 5
37 Finland 1 1 1 3
38 Estonia 1 1 0 2
Mongolia 1 1 0 2
Thailand 1 1 0 2
41 Brazil 1 0 5 6
42 Argentina 1 0 1 2
India 1 0 1 2
Mexico 1 0 1 2
45 Bahrain 1 0 0 1
Cameroon 1 0 0 1
Panama 1 0 0 1
Tunisia 1 0 0 1
49 Hungary 0 4 1 5
50 Sweden 0 3 0 3
51 Uzbekistan 0 2 3 5
52 Greece 0 1 2 3
Lithuania 0 1 2 3
Austria 0 1 2 3
55 Algeria 0 1 1 2
Kyrgyzstan 0 1 1 2
Colombia 0 1 1 2
Croatia 0 1 1 2
Serbia 0 1 1 2
60 Chile 0 1 0 1
Dominican Republic 0 1 0 1
Ecuador 0 1 0 1
Malaysia 0 1 0 1
Netherlands Antilles 0 1 0 1
Portugal 0 1 0 1
Singapore 0 1 0 1
South Africa 0 1 0 1
Trinidad and Tobago 0 1 0 1
Vietnam 0 1 0 1
70 Armenia 0 0 5 5
71 Chinese Taipei 0 0 3 3
72 Afghanistan 0 0 1 1
Egypt 0 0 1 1
Iran 0 0 1 1
Israel 0 0 1 1
Latvia 0 0 1 1
Morocco 0 0 1 1
Tajikistan 0 0 1 1
Togo 0 0 1 1
Venezuela 0 0 1 1
(With agency inputs)
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