New Delhi: Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar who brought Double Olympic wrestling medals to India and Former world champion has revealed that he was approached to throw the championship bout at the 2010 world meet in Moscow.
Sushil Kumar had told to a daily newspaper that he was made an offer of a substantial amount to lose the bout while he was preparing for his final against Russian wrestler Alan Gogaev. “A member of my entourage came up to me and said, ‘Sushil, kushti ki liye keh rahe hai (They want to talk about the bout)’.”
Sushil while remembering said, “When he explained the whole thing, I was aghast”. Sushil said, “The money offered was around a good few crores. For a wrestler, it was really good money. The offer was communicated to one of our foreign coaches. The event was taking place in Russia and my final opponent was a Russian. It’s our country so our player should win that’s what they seemed to want.”
“I said, ‘It’s very strange. Here, we are on the threshold of getting the winning belt home to India, and I’m supposed to tank the final?'” Sushil swiftly put the thought behind him, focused on the final and proceeded to demolish Gogaev 3-1 for India’s only world championship wrestling gold medal.
Sushil Kumar said during the visit to the office of a daily news paper on the one year anniversary of his return home after his silver medal at the London Olympics, “It was not a matter of two or four crores. Hamari bhi izzat ki baat thhi.”
Sushil Kumar also memorizes the day of his winning and said, “As I climbed down from the mat, I looked up and remembered noticing that there was no one sitting. Everyone in the stadium was giving me a standing ovation. It was most humbling.”
Sushil Kumar recalled, “I have participated in four or five world championships, but the support I received in Moscow in 2010 was commendable. To beat a home wrestler in a country with a strong wrestling base is not an easy task.”
Bureau Report
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