Paris, France

India wrestler Aman Sehrawat lost 4.6kg in about 10 hours to be eligible for the 57kg freestyle bronze medal bout on Friday (Aug 9) which he eventually went on to win at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024.

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After he lost the semifinal against Japan's Rei Higuchi on Thursday (Aug 8), the 21-year-old was weighed at 61.5 kg - 4.5 kg more than the permissible limit for the bronze medal bout. 

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With women wrestler Vinesh Phogat being disqualified from her 50kg freestyle gold medal bout after being found 100 grams over than the limit, the Indian coaches worked on war-footing to ensure Sehrawat gets to play the bout.

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The wrestler spoke to WION's Digvijay Singh Deo and gave details on how he lost the weight to be eligible for the bronze medal bout:

  • He started off with a 1.5-hour mat session, where Aman engaged in standing wrestling under the guidance of his two senior coaches.
  • It was followed by a 1-hour hot-bath session to help him start sweating and cutting weight.
  • At 12:30 am, they headed to the gym. Aman had a non-stop 1-hour run on the treadmill to further promote sweating.
  • After the treadmill session, Aman took a 30-minute break.
  • Post-break, Aman underwent five 5-minute sauna sessions to continue shedding weight.
  • Despite all this, Aman was still 900g over the limit. He received a massage and then engaged in light jogging as advised by his coaches.
  • Aman then completed five 15-minute running sessions and by 4:30 am, he weighed 56.9kg—100g below the limit.

Jamander Singh and Virender Dahiya, national wrestling team coaches, also informed the news agency PTI how anxious was the process.

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"We kept checking his weight every hour. We didn't sleep the whole night, not even during the day,” said Dahiya.

“Weight cutting is routine, normal for us but there was tension, a lot of tension due to what happened the other day (with Vinesh). We could not let slip another medal,” he added.

Aman's bronze was the fifth for India at the Paris Games to go with a silver won by Neeraj Chopra in men's javelin throw.