Sushil suffered dysentery, dehydration before 66 kg final

Sushil Kumar would have made greater history had he conquered Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in London yesterday But the 66kg wrestler was up against much more than just a fiery Japanese opponent in the gold medal bout Moments after Sushil became the countryrsquos first Olympic silver medalwinning wrestler and the only Indian athlete to win backtoback Olympic medals he won bronze at Beijing 2008 the Indian wrestling camp in London revealed lsquothe other opponentrsquo ldquoMinutes before the final Sushil suffered a severe bout of loose motions He visited the toilet five to six times and lost a lot of fluids in the process The dehydration made him very weak and that showed in the final as the Japanese actually managed to carry Sushil mdash something that he has faced very rarely in a boutrdquo Wrestling Federation of Indiarsquos WFI chief coach Vinod Kumar told MiD DAY from London yesterday Sushil 29 won India its sixth and final medal of the London Games when he lost 13 to Japanrsquos Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the summit clash at the ExCel Arena yesterday The Japanese won the first round 10 and executed a strong throw in the second to seal the fight Moments earlier Sushil beat Kazakhstanrsquos Akhzurek Tanatrov 31 in the semifinals Before that Sushil dominantly disposed off defending champion Ramazan Sahin of Turkey and followed it up with a 31 win over Uzbekistanrsquos Ikhtiyor Naruzovu00a0 Entangled Indiarsquos Sushil Kumar in red wrestles with Japanrsquos Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the 66kg freestyle gold medal match at the London Olympics yesterday Pics Getty images AFP The string of tough fights though took its toll on the Indian ldquoWe left our rooms at 6 am to come here Sushil had a couple of bouts in the morning followed by a short break then the semis then another break and the final He was naturally exhausted and hungry by the time the semifinal was over So he quickly nibbled on some vegetables and topped it up with bananas and juice But it backfired as his stomach gave way He was a little low before stepping into the ring for the final So we gave him some hot tea to sort of freshen him uprdquo explained WFI secretary general Raj Singh who doubled up as team manager at the Games Needless to say Sushil was not very happy with his effort ldquoThe first words Sushil uttered to me after the final were lsquogold jeetna tharsquo I should have won gold Thatrsquos the sort of fighter he is But however hard one trains one cannot fight against nature cannot go against his own body The gold wasnrsquot meant to be and unfortunately due to factors beyond the wrestling ring The silver medal however does not belittle Sushilrsquos effort one bit He has written a brand new chapter in Indian wrestling once againrdquo Raj Singh signed off Earlier Kazakhstanrsquos Akzhurek Tanatarov ends up with a bloodied ear after his 66 kg semifinal defeat to Sushilu00a0 Sushilrsquos glory chain Olympic Games gtgt Bronze Beijing 2008 gtgt Silver London 2012 World Championships gtgt Gold Moscow 2010 Commonwealth Games gtgt Gold Delhi 2010 Asian Championships gtgt Gold Delhi 2010 gtgt Silver Kyrgyzstan 2007 gtgt Bronze Delhi 2003 gtgt Bronze Jeju Island 2008 Commonwealth Chrsquoships gtgt Gold London 2003 gtgt Gold Cape Town 2005 gtgt Gold London 2007 gtgt Gold Jalandhar 2009 Would have loved to hear the national anthem Sushil London Olympics silver medallist Sushil Kumar said he would have been happy to win gold in the 66kg freestyle wrestling event and hear Indiarsquos national anthem Sushil lost the final to Japanrsquos Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu ldquoI would have loved to hear the national anthem here The golden days of wrestling are backrdquo the 29yearold Beijing Olympics bronze winner told NDTV referring to the bronze won by compatriot Yogeshwar Dutt 60kg category on Saturday The national anthem is played for gold medalists at major international sporting events PM Prez Delhi CM send good wishes Indiarsquos prime minister Manmohan Singh President Pranab Mukherjee and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit all send out congratulatory messages to silver London Olympics medalwinning wrestler Sushil Kumar yesterday Dikshit also announced a reward of Rs one crore to the star grappler Sushilrsquos mother livid at son Sushilrsquos mother Kamla Devi was disappointed that her son lost out on the gold medal yesterday ldquoI am really angry I donrsquot know what to say The gold was there for taking I donrsquot know how he missed itrdquo said Diwan even as she distributed sweets at their home at Baprola Village near Delhiu00a0