‘BRONZE IS WORTH GOLD TO MY FAMILY'

Having Won An Olympic Medal Despite Battling Serious Injury Concerns, Bajrang Punia Reveals How His Mother Was More Concerned About His Knee Than The Prospect Of Winning

- Sabi Hussain

New Delhi: Olympic Games medal-winning wrestlers Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia returned home to a rousing reception on Monday, with hundreds of ecstatic, dancing supporters from Haryana’s Sonepat, adjoining areas and the Chhatrasal Stadium turning up at the Delhi international airport with garlands, bouquets and sweets.

The two made their way from the airport to a felicitation function where they were joined by the gold-medal winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, bronze-medal winners PV Sindhu and Lovlina Borgohain and the men’s hockey team.

Bajrang, who won a creditable bronze in the men’s freestyle 65kg category despite nursing a serious knee injury, said his mother Om Pyari had been worried about him the night before his medal-playoff bout against Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov.

“After I lost in the semifinal against Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev, I went to sleep early in my room as I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Later, I called up home and spoke to my mother. She said, ‘I am more worried about your knee injury and not wrestling. Winning and losing is part of the game. You should first protect your knee, that’s more important to me’. All parents want their kids to win a medal. They said this bronze is worth a gold to us because they knew about my injury and how it kept me away from the mat for 20-25 days in Russia,” Bajrang said.