For young readers: How wrestler Aman Sehrawat became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal

If challenges are a part of every sportsperson’s life, young Aman Sehrawat got a raw deal.

Aman Sehrawat was born on July 16, 2003, in Birohar, in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, to a family facing significant financial struggles. Born into a farming family, Aman has often mentioned days when they didn’t have the means to have proper meals.

Aman’s entry into wrestling wasn’t planned. Dangals (wrestling events) in mud-based akhadas used to be organised in Birohar, where winners used to receive Rs 10–20 each. Aman was barely ten years old when he participated in his first mud wrestling match.

“I don’t have a lot of memory from those matches, but I started doing well quite early,” Aman says.

As the child’s play turned serious, his family decided to take him to Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi, which has produced many champion wrestlers for India over the years. Most of India’s Olympic medallists in wrestling – Sushil Kumar, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, and Yogeshwar Dutt – were trained at Chhatrasal.

However, before Aman could take his first big step in the world of wrestling, tragedy struck. He lost his mother when he was just ten, and barely a year had passed when he lost his father as well.

“I was training at Chhatrasal and for quite some...

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