Only Concern Was Injury Before Tokyo Olympics: Bajrang Punia To NDTV

Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who won the bronze medal in the men's 65kg freestyle category at the Tokyo Olympics, said that his only concern was the injury he had sustained a month before the Games. "There was no fear (due to pressure of having to win a medal). I was only concerned about the injury I suffered before the Olympics," Bajrang Punia told NDTV ahead of the Olympic medallists' felicitation ceremony in New Delhi after their return from Tokyo on Monday.

Punia sustained a knee injury during a bout at the Ali Aliyev Memorial tournament in Russia and many feared it would cost the Indian wrestler his Olympic dream.

However, he not only regained fitness in time for the Games, but also delivered India's 7th Olympic medal in wrestling.

Despite seeming to struggle with his knee during the initial stages -- he was also wearing a strap around his knee during the Olympics -- in the bronze medal match against Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov, the 27-year-old thoroughly dominated his opponent to win 8-0.

Later, at the felicitation ceremony, he said that he took off his knee protection in the bronze medal match as he thought that it's his last bout and he was happy to even let his knee break if it meant he could give it his all and win the bout.

"The opponent is not going to see that (the injury), he is also there to fight for the medal. So I thought that even if it breaks, it's okay. I can get rest later, but this is the final bout and it can change my life," Bajrang Punia said.