Yogeshwar Dutt’s Paris Hopes Met Aman Sehrawat’s Bronze
Yogeshwar Dutt expressed confidence in India’s wrestlers before the Paris Olympics in July 2024. The London 2012 bronze medalist expected the team to continue India’s Olympic medal-winning sequence, with the draw influencing how many podium places might follow.
The outlook before the Games
Speaking to PTI, Dutt suggested a favorable bracket could give India opportunities for multiple wrestling medals. He pointed to the sport’s results across four consecutive Olympics and said he believed the wrestlers had prepared well.
India qualified six wrestlers for Paris: Aman Sehrawat was the only man, competing at 57 kg, while five women qualified across the Olympic weight classes. Competition began on August 5 at Champ de Mars Arena.
Sehrawat secured the medal
India ultimately earned one wrestling medal, with Sehrawat winning men’s freestyle bronze on August 9. He defeated Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz 13–5, producing repeated takedowns across both periods.
Sehrawat had earlier lost his semifinal to Japan’s Rei Higuchi by 10–0 technical superiority. The bronze match gave him another opportunity, and his attacking performance against Cruz ensured a podium finish on his Olympic debut.
A fifth consecutive podium appearance
The bronze continued India’s run of wrestling medals that began at Beijing 2008. It fulfilled Dutt’s central expectation that the sport would again contribute to the country’s Olympic medal collection, even though his hope for several wrestling medals did not materialize.
The preview and the completed result mark different stages of the same campaign: optimism before the draw and a confirmed bronze won on the mat.
Sources
- PTI / myKhel: Dutt’s pre-Games assessment and Indian qualification
- United World Wrestling: Sehrawat’s semifinal and bronze-medal results
- Olympedia: India’s Olympic freestyle wrestling medal record
- United World Wrestling: Sehrawat’s bronze and five-Games medal sequence
