By Aman Sehrawat had a monumental challenge ahead of him before his bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024. The young wrestler, orphaned at 11 and now India’s youngest Olympic medallist at 21, had to shed 4.6 kg to meet the permissible weight limit for his category. The story of how Aman and his coaches, Jagmander Singh and Virender Dahiya, managed this feat has now come to light after his medal win.
Aman faced this daunting task after his semifinal defeat on Thursday, August 8. Weighing in at 61.5 kg, he was 4.5 kg over the limit for the men’s 57 kg category. With only 10 hours before the next weigh-in, Aman and his coaches had to act swiftly to shed the excess weight and avoid disqualification. The incident brought back memories of the Vinesh Phogat fiasco, where the Indian wrestler was disqualified from the women’s 50 kg final for being just 100g over the limit. Determined not to let history repeat itself, Jagmander and Dahiya set out on a mission to ensure Aman made the cut.
Aman Sehrawat Wins Olympic Bronze at 21
The pressure was immense. The clock was ticking, and the stakes were high after Aman’s semifinal loss to Japan’s Rei Higuchi around 6:30 pm. With no time to spare, Aman and his coaches began an intense weight-cutting regimen. Every hour, they checked his weight, ensuring he was on track. The coaches didn’t sleep, staying vigilant throughout the night and the following day, driven by the fear of another disqualification.
“Weight cutting is routine, normal for us, but there was a lot of tension due to what happened the other day with Vinesh,” said Coach Dahiya. “We could not let slip another medal.”
Their efforts paid off. By the time of the weigh-in, Aman had successfully shed the necessary weight, narrowly avoiding disqualification. The result was worth the struggle: Aman Sehrawat won the first medal for the Indian wrestling contingent at this year’s Paris Olympics 2024, a victory dedicated to his parents, who never got to witness his incredible achievement.
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