Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who was a silver medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics hinted that he is likely to compete at a higher category for the upcoming wrestling events, after Aman Sehrawat's bronze medal victory at the Paris 2024 Summer Games.
Sehrawat was the only male wrestler from India to compete at the recent Olympic games, while the women had five athletes, who qualified for the event.
During the Tokyo 2020 Games, two Indian male wrestlers, Ravi Dahiya (silver, 57kg) and Bajrang Punia (bronze, 65kg) had returned from their events with medals.
However, with only one quota for male wrestlers from India for the Paris 2024 Games, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) decided to send Sehrawat over Dahiya for the Men's freestyle 57kg category.
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Will Ravi Dahiya compete in 65kg weight class after Aman Sehrawat's Olympic bronze medal in 57kg wrestling category?
Ravi Dahiya, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, had suffered a knee injury during the 2020 games, and as a result, he has been in a process of recovery, to get back to his best fitness ahead of the next event.
Post winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham in 2022, he has struggled in all events since then, including missing out on a chance to compete at the Olympic qualifiers, as he lost 14-13 to Aman Sehrawat, in the nationals' trials.
Speaking to reporters at a felicitation ceremony for Sehrawat's Olympic victory, Dahiya hinted that he will return to the mat very soon, after full recovery from his injury.
"I will be back soon. My surgery was done and I am on my way to recovery. You will see me on the mat very soon," he said.
With Sehrawat's success at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the 57kg category, there have been doubts if both wrestlers will continue to compete in the same weight class, in the future.
Dahiya hinted that he might consider moving to a higher weight class, once he has recovered fully from his injury.
"I will continue to wrestle in the 57kg category at the moment and if needed, I might move to a heavy category like 65kg but for now I am focused on my return," he added.
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