The rise and fall of wrestler Sushil Kumar

From being India’s flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics to winning two Olympic medals, wrestler Sushil Kumar brought laurels to the country. However, he saw a major downfall as Kumar was arrested on May 23 in a murder case of a young wrestler. 

His rise in wrestling:

Kumar won his first medal at the World Cadet Games in 1998 and went on progressing in the game. 5 years later he won a bronze medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships and a gold at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. He made his first Olympic appearance at Athens in 2004. He won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2014.

Shushil Kumar won gold at the 2010 World Championship which was held in Moscow. He won India its first Olympic medal in wrestling in the 2008 Beijing Olympics after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav won a bronze in 1952.

He was not done, he was gunning for more. And at the 2012 London Games, he catapulted himself by winning a silver.

He has represented India three times at the Olympics and is a two-time winner.

Also Read | All about Sushil Kumar, the Olympic silver medalist who is on the run

His downfall:

Sushil first made it to the headlines for the wrong reasons in 2016 for insulting the Wrestling Federation India over representation of India at Rio Olympics.

While Maharashtra’s Narsingh Yadav had won the quota to represent India, Sushil wanted his own trials to be held on the basis of his medals and records.

However, Narsingh failed a dope test weeks before the Olympics. Even though he claimed that he was a victim of a conspiracy, the case still remains unsolved.

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He made it to the headlines again in 2018 when he was involved in a case where Sushil’s opponent Parveen Rana alleged that he and his brother were attacked by Sushil’s supporters.

And in 2021, he was named in the murder case of a former junior national champion – Sagar Kumar. An FIR was lodged against the Olympic medalist.

The Delhi Police, on May 17, announced that anyone who has any knowledge of the wrestler’s whereabouts will be given a prize amount of Rs 1 lakh. He was arrested in Delhi on May 23.

Sushil’s success has inspired a generation of Indian wrestlers, including Yogeshwar Dutt and the Phogat sisters.

Whilst still active in the sport, he has not qualified for the Tokyo Games scheduled for August this year.