Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sushil Kumar



Wow.What an Olympics this has been for india... another inspiring story...Sushil Kumar the bronze medal winner in wrestling.The second wrestler in India's Olympic history to win a bronze medal in the men's 66 kg freestyle category.
On Thursday, at the Beijing Agriculture University Complex, Sushil fought four continuous bouts but refused to go back to the Athletes Village to take rest after two bouts. It was typical of Sushil, who does not believe in deserting the ring midway through. Born in a middle class family, Sushil resisted many provocations to say good bye to the sport and decided to pursue his dream of an Olympic medal.

Sushil’s father, Diwan Singh, a former wrestler himself, is employed as a driver with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited in Delhi. He could not generate enough cash but provided priceless encouragement.More here



Sushil then talked about how his father would get milk for him every morning so that he could be strong enough to train. "He did that for years, without fail. He was sure I could do something big," he said, getting emotional.

Did he know that the medal was coming when he went into the last round? "No one knows that. You just fight. I was tense this morning but Kartarji kept massaging my body the whole day. He is a double Asian Games gold medalist, secretary of the wrestling federation. I felt bad, awkward but he insisted that it was necessary."

It surely was, and Kartar, standing next to him smiled. "We don't have masseurs and doctors here with our team. I was his coach, his masseur, his trainer, his motivator. It was my responsibility to do it. But I would now request the government to give better facilities to the wrestlers.More here

The disbelief grows as one enters the dingy room. It looks dark despite the light outside, and with barely any space to walk between the beds, the room gives the impression of being much smaller than it is. The shelf at the back has a number of trunks thrown together, taking up precious space, but it’s all they have to spare for their belongings.

Sumit, one of the wrestlers who bunks in the same room as Sushil, proudly points out his now famous colleague’s mattress among nine others in the small room. “See, this is where he sleeps. In the summer he sleeps this side, but in winter he moves to the other mattress. We have to manage with just these two coolers, so he moves to be more comfortable,” he says.More here


Video of Sushil thanking everyone

Video of the last one minute of the bronze medal match

Video of celebrations at sushil's home

http://broadband.indiatimes.com/Sports_/We_were_sure_of_Sushils_win/videoshow/3388036.cms

Links
Village boys give India their best show

Insatiable hunger for perfection

Labels: , , , , ,


Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?