Saw Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt winning Olympic medal, I wanted to do the same – Ravi Kumar Dahiya

One generation always inspires the other. India’s silver medalist at Tokyo Olympics 2020 in 57kg Freestyle Wrestling Ravi Kumar Dahiya wanted to follow in the footsteps of Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt Sushil won India’s first medal in wrestling when he bagged a Bronze in Beijing Olympics 2008 and then went on to win Silver in 2012 London Olympics.

Yogeshwar Dutt had won a Bronze medal at the London Games. As a 15-year old boy in 2012, Ravi Kumar Dahiya also dreamt of getting an Olympic medal for his country after watching his idol get all the accolades and he was able to fulfill that dream when he clinched Silver.

Meanwhile, Ravi Kumar lost his final bout against Russian Olympic Committee Wrestler Zavur Uguev by 7-4.

The wrestler from Haryana received a grand welcome at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and was felicitated by Sports minister Anurag Thakur.

“I started from mud wrestling and from there I came to Delhi, to the (Chhatrasal) stadium,” said Ravi at the felicitation ceremony.

“I saw so many great champions right in front of me. In 2008 when I arrived at the stadium, Sushil Kumar won the medal. In 2012, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil both won. I saw that they were getting so much respect and I felt so happy seeing that. I also want to do something like that. I saw them and moved forward and today I am standing here and I would like to thank all of you for that,” said Ravi.

Meanwhile, Ravi Kumar Dahiya was a tad disappointed as he could not win Gold after losing to the Russian wrestler. Dahiya added the expectations were of Gold from him and he will definitely target Gold in the Paris 2024 Olympics.