Injury can wait, but medal must be won now: How Bajrang Punia braved knee pain to win Olympic bronze

For Bajrang Punia, pain has been a constant theme in Tokyo. He came to the Japanese capital with an injured knee. He played all the bouts knowing he could never really give his best and will leave the city with the injury probably having got worse after all the pressure he put on it.

Punia though will leave with a medal, but not the one that he wanted. He came here for gold and will leave with bronze. More pain.

“I am upset that I couldn’t fulfil the nation’s expectations,” was one of the first things Punia said when he spoke to reporters in India in virtual interaction.

Punia isn’t someone who is satisfied easily. He has strong reasons for being that way. He is a three-time world championship medallist, a two-time Asian champion and was seeded second in Tokyo. But in his first Olympics, he couldn’t return empty-handed.

“My doctor asked me to return to India for treatment but I didn’t want to take any risks with Covid-19 so close to Olympics. It was going to be my first Games, so I had to be ready for it,” he said.

However, Punia had to stay away from the mat for 25 days to be…

Read more