Three years ago, the Chhatrasal Stadium was a no-go zone for most people after two-time Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar was charged with murder of junior wrestler Sagar Dhankar in May 2021.

However, the fabled Chhatrasal that has given India all the four male Olympic medallists in this century, regained it’s old charm after Aman Sehrawat went on to clinch the bronze medal in men’s freestyle 57 kg wrestling event at the Paris Olympics late on Friday night.

In the process, the 21-year-old continued the tradition of an Olympic medal in wrestling for a fifth successive time that began with Sushil’s bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games. Aman’s bronze also boosted India’s tally to six at the ongoing Paris Games.

Back in North Delhi’s Chhatrasal, that produced the likes of Sushil, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya, all of whom have either spent their entire life, or at some point trained, celebrations continued through late into the night after Aman defeated Puerto Rico’s Toi Darian Cruz in the bronze medal contest.

The seeds of Aman’s wrestling career were sown at the North Delhi facility, back in 2013, when he was brought under a residential programme, in which young children were admitted and moulded into champion wrestlers.

Having lost both his parents at 11, Aman battled depression and tried to take drugs to forget his pain, and it was at that crucial phase when his uncle Sudhir Sehrawat decided to enrol him at the Chhatrasal Stadium. And as they say, the rest is history.

By that time, Sushil and Yogeshwar returned from the 2012 London Games with two medals, and quite naturally were the role models for the juniors. For the likes of Aman, the Olympics was the only destination they knew.

“It was his destiny that got him to Chhatrasal but it was his hard work and sheer dedication that took him to Paris and eventually to the podium. He knew he had nothing to fall back on if he failed in wrestling, so his goal was always clear,” said his coach Lalit Kumar.

It took almost five years for Aman to finally prove his worth when he picked a bronze at the World Cadet Championship in 2018 and then the Asian title in the same age group in 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. In 2022, Aman went on to win the Under-23 Asian and World titles — making his coaches believe that he could target the podium in Paris, two years later.

Aman’s focus next turned to Paris 2024 when he took part in the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul. He defeated Chongsong Han of Korea 12-2 in the semi-finals to become the only male wrestler from India to book his Olympics berth.

While Aman’s dream of winning an Olympic gold might have fallen short in Paris, he believes that the bronze will give him that base and confidence to prepare for Los Angeles 2028. Inspired by Sushil’s feats (bronze in 2008, silver in 2012), Aman assured the nation of working hard towards that goal even as he has dedicated the bronze to his late parents and the country on an emotional note.

“It’s been a long time since I won a medal for my country. I had to do something about it. I would like to say to the people of India that I will definitely win a gold for you in 2028,” he said.

“The target was gold but I had to be content with bronze this time. I had to forget the semi-final defeat. I told myself, let it go and focus on next. Sushil pehlawan ji won two medals, I will win in 2028 and then in 2032 also,” Sehrawat said after winning the bronze medal bout.