Ravi Kumar Dahiya joined a select club of elite Indian athletes on Thursday as he became only the second Indian wrestler to win an Olympic silver medal. The 23-year-old from Haryana, however, could not hide his disappointment at not winning the gold.
“I am happy but didn't get what I came for. So, the silver is okay,” he said after losing to Zavur Uguev of the ROC.
“We’ve been working for so long towards this (the Olympics), and after I qualified, my target was the gold medal. I’ve got silver now; maybe, I deserve this now. Going forward I will work harder and win the gold,” he said.
Ravi looked worn out. And it wasn’t because of the bout. He had to go through a draining phase to lose four kilograms ahead of the final in the 57kg freestyle. He weighed around 60kg after Wednesday’s bouts and spent two hours in the gym in the evening to shed the extra weight.
He drastically limited his food intake and slept for two hours last night. He worked out again this morning and just about managed to make the weight limit. The aggressive weight cut had taken a toll on him, and he was visibly weary after the bout.
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Ravi, though, is not one to make excuses. “Uguev is a good wrestler and has been a world champion a few times. We worked on the opponent but maybe we fell short somewhere. We will work on these areas and try for gold next time,” he said. He had lost to Uguev at the World Championships as well.
The other Indian in the fray for a medal, Deepak Punia, lost a closely contested bout for the bronze medal to Myles Amin of San Marino.
Amin, who was born in Michigan and competes in the NCAA collegiate tournaments, won San Marino’s first wrestling medal at the Olympics. In addition to his medal, the nation of less than 34,000 people also claimed silver and bronze in shooting.
Myles’ parental lineage allowed him to represent San Marino, but he also had a chance to represent Lebanon. “My grandfather was also a wrestler and represented Lebanon at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics,” he said.
Wrestling runs in the family as his father was also a wrestler.
The 24-year-old has won bronze at the European Championships earlier this year.
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