13 August : The Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers Shri Ram Vilas Paswan today gave a warm send off to three Indian wrestlers to participate in the Beijing Olympics at a simple function here today. The three wrestlers Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Rajiv Tomar will leave for Beijing tomorrow. Sushil Kumar will participate in freestyle lightweight 60-kg category, Yogeshwar Dutt in 66-kg and Rajiv Kumar in 120-kg category. The three wrestlers are supported by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in their expenses for preparation for 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Wishing them successes at the Olympics, Shri Paswan said, the whole country was proud of the success of its athletes and reminded the wrestlers of the euphoria after the gold medal winning effort of Abhinav Bindra at the Beijing Olympics. He hoped the three wrestlers will also make the country proud in a similar way. The Minister urged SAIL to support more and more sportspersons. He said if they win medals at international competition it will bring glory to the company also.
2005 Arjuna awardee Yogeshwar Dutt as well as Sushil Kumar successfully competed at the 2008 Asian Wrestling Championship held in South Korea. While the former bagged the gold medal in the 60-kg event, Sushil Kumar won the silver in the 66-kg category. Both were trained in Patiala under the guidance of Asiad gold medallist Satpal Pehalwan and have also undergone training schedules in Minsk, Belarus and Havana. Former Commonwealth gold medallist Rajiv Tomar defeated world-renowned wrestlers at the qualifying round of the Beijing Olympics held at Switzerland and bagged the silver in the 120-kg category.
Earlier in the day SAIL Chairman, Shri S.K. Roongta also wished them best of luck at the Olympics.