At his first Olympics appearance, Bajrang Punia gave his all on the mat, and won a bronze medal in the 65kg freestyle wrestling event in Tokyo. But the wrestler is not satisfied. “I have won a medal but it is not the one I wanted. Nonetheless, I am happy to have made my country proud,” says the 27-year-old, whose victory is part of India’s biggest medal haul at the quadrennial mega event. Punia’s bronze gave India its second medal from wrestling in Tokyo after Ravi Dahiya’s silver. Punia says, “I was struggling with a knee injury, but I knew that the hopes of my nation are pinned on me, so I moved past the pain and tried my level best.”

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