Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar’s freestyle gold medal at the Moscow world championship on Sunday is another signal event in India’s slow but sure momentum in the world sporting arena. For years, team sports like hockey, football and later cricket held the tricolour aloft... at long last, though, individual sports and athletes are slowly making a mark on their own. Consider the feats of Ramanathan Krishan and Vijay Amrithraj and later of Prakash Padukone, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to find a parallel. The closest one comes is two years ago when Abhinav Bindra struck gold at the Beijing Olympics, months before Saina Nehiwal put in her golden run in women’s badminton. Some of these feats must stand the test of time before being counted among the truly great moments in Indian sport, but there can be little doubt that Sushil’s latest achievement, when he beat Russia’s Alan Gogaev 3-1 in the 66-kg freestyle final to earn India a first-ever gold at the world level, is extraordinary by any description. There is in one sense a very direct link to the Haryana lad from the near legendary D.K. Jadhav, who landed independent India’s first-ever individual Olympic medal at the 1952 Helsinki Games, and it comes at an important time for Indian sport.
Not very long ago, four fellow-members of the wrestling squad for the Delhi Commonwealth Games returned positive samples in a drug test, casting a cloud over a team expected to win a significant number of CWG medals. In that sense, Sushil’s Moscow triumph, under a strict regimen of frequent drug tests in and out of competition, is a signal achievement — one that the nation and the Wrestling Federation of India will hail. As WFI president G.S. Mander said, “The victory comes at a very important time because everyone is looking forward to India doing well at the Commonwealth Games. Though there is no direct bearing on others’ prospects because of those doping cases, Kumar’s victory is a morale booster... and shows the kind of form he is in”. Hopefully, that shameful episode will now be left behind as the CWG countdown enters its final lap. Sushil himself looked pleased as punch, and said on return: “This gold means a lot to me... all wrestlers dream of becoming a world champion some day, but only a few realise this dream... I am the first wrestler from India to win the world championship. It is great for the sport — all wrestlers will now think if Sushil can, why can’t I?” Sushil is now set to become as much of a role model as fellow Haryanvi Vijender Singh, who too returned home from Beijing with an Olympic bronze. Vijender, however, managed to generate far more public adulation, possibly due to his sheer physical appearance, and perhaps greater media savvy. Sushil, in the meantime, plugged away in the shadows, but now with his impressive Moscow performance will earn a well-merited slot among the poster boys and girls of modern Indian sport. It is nothing less than the unassuming lad deserves, despite the fact that Indian officialdom once again put on display its worst colours, with the Union sports minister literally pushing Sushil’s coach Satpal Singh — himself a wrestler of no mean achievement — out of the frame in a desperate bid to corner the limelight with the star of the moment. It is at times like these that one is forced to wonder when sport will truly and genuinely get its moment in the sun in India, not just when it throws up the occasional champion.