A bronze medal winner for India at the Paris Olympics in the 57kg freestyle wrestling category, Aman Sehrawat also had to go through plenty of hardships in order to maintain his weight. After what happened with Vinesh Phogat, with the wrestler getting disqualified ahead of her gold medal match due to a failed weigh-in, Aman and his team had to be extra cautious in order to manage weight. In fact, Aman revealed in an exclusive chat with DNTV that his weight increased by about 3.5 kilograms ahead of the second day of bouts in Paris.
Speaking to NDTV during his return flight home, Aman said that he started his weight management 15-20 days before the Paris Games. The night before his bronze medal match, however, he couldn’t sleep for a single minute as he had to reduce 3.5 kg weight overnight.
“Weight needs to be set beforehand, at least 15-20 days before. But, during the bouts, weight does become an issue. My weight increased by about 3.5 kg. I had to stay awake the entire night to reduce it. Towards the end, sometimes we get desperate for even a sip of water.
“Not just the night before the bout, we find it difficult to sleep even two days before, since we have to remain empty stomach. When you don’t eat anything, how would you sleep?,” he revealed.
When asked if an exemption should be given to wrestlers on the second day of their bout, Aman said that a limit of 2kg should be put in place, considering the brutality of the sport.
“About 2kg of exemption should be given for the weigh-in on the second day,” he said.
A bronze in Paris Olympics automatically makes Aman a contender for a medal at the LA Games in 2028. The wrestler is keen to return to training and prepare for the next Olympic Games. “I’ll return and start practice again,” he said when asked about the LA Olympics.
