Sushil Kumar won the gold medal in Men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling. (PTI)
Wrestler Sushil Kumar on Thursday dedicated his gold medal win at the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast to the 27 school students from Himachal Pradesh who tragically died in a bus accident. The 34-year old grappler, who clinched the top podium finish in Men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling, in a tweet said that he is dedicating his third gold medal at the Games to the victims.
“Nothing more precious than life. Winning gold for the 3rd time is indeed a proud moment for all of us but this is my tribute to those innocent kids who have lost their lives in an accident in #HimachalPradesh,” he tweeted.
Nothing more precious than life. Winning gold for the 3rd time is indeed a proud moment for all of us but this is my tribute to those innocent kids who have lost their lives in an accident in #HimachalPradesh #CWG2018 pic.twitter.com/XAa6exYhEY
— Sushil Kumar (@WrestlerSushil) 12 April 2018
With a third gold medal win in CWG, the Haryana athlete, who defeated South Africa’s Johannes Botha by technical superiority in just 80 seconds, became India’s most successful wrestler. He also added India’s 14th gold medal on Day 8 of the Games with another wrestler, Rahul Aware, clinching the gold in Men’s 57 kg freestyle wrestling.
Kumar was congratulated by several sportspersons on Twitter for his historic victory. Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag described him as “unstoppable”.
Lord of the Wrestling Ring! 🎉
When Sushil steps into the Wrestling Ring he means a 🥇.
No words are enough to praise this champion who bagged his career’s 3rd straight🥇in CWG crushing the opponent 10-0 in 1 min 20 sec. Hats off to you @WrestlerSushil! #CWG2018 #RangDeTiranga pic.twitter.com/Ql59iOkrCF— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) 12 April 2018
Just 80 seconds to win the finals! Proud of you @WrestlerSushil on clinching yet another Gold for the nation. #GC2018 #GC2018Wrestling pic.twitter.com/ViwzDx83M7
— R P Singh (@rpsingh) April 12, 2018
Whoaaa.. amazing @WrestlerSushil 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽 http://t.co/mC0LKO2Mz4
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) April 12, 2018
What a day,memorable victorious show by our wrestlers.#SushilKumar wins a gold in Men’s Freestyle 74 kg event in just 80 seconds,Champ you are unstoppable @WrestlerSushil 👍
Nation is immensely proud of you. #GC2018 #GC2018Wrestling #CommonwealthGames2018 #VijuWithU pic.twitter.com/el15dPQroV— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) April 12, 2018
Gc2018wrestling कॉमन्वेल्थ खेलों में भाई @WrestlerSushil और #rahulaware ko 🥇🥇#goldmedal जीतने पर बहुत बहुत शुभकामनाएँ #जयहिन्द pic.twitter.com/EMScUoLF15
— Yogeshwar Dutt (@DuttYogi) April 12, 2018
India won four medals in total in wrestling on Thursday with Babita Kumari clinching silver in Women’s 53 kg freestyle and Kiran winning the bronze medal in Women’s 76kg freestlye. India increased its total medal tally to 29 on Thursday, with Tejaswini Sawant claiming a silver medal in Women’s 50m rifle prone.