Olympic-bound Ravi Dahiya wants to make the most of his debut at the quadrennial event in Tokyo next year. His target? Nothing but a Gold!
“Medal toh medal hi hota hai but chahna toh yehi hai ki Gold hi le aaye kyunki Gold hi bahut zyada zarurat hai desh ko” (a medal is a medal but my personal ambition is to bring home the Gold as it is what India needs the most),” Ravi told Sports Authority of India in his trademark Hariyanvi accent, with a child-like innocence but a strong determination.
Ravi secured a Bronze at the World Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan before clinching a quota place for the country in the 57kg men’s freestyle wrestling category. He achieved the milestone after a 6-1 victory over former world champion Yuki Takahashi in the quarterfinals of the meet.
The 22-year-old, hailing from Sonipat’s Nahri village, was also included in the Sports Authority of India’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) soon after.
“TOPS is going to benefit me a lot. We can go outside for practice,” Ravi adds. “There will be good physios and quality sparring partners. And the training can be taken a notch higher.”
When asked to reveal his training plans, he mentions, “For 20-odd days, I would like to train in some other places in India like Shilaroo (Himachal Pradesh) or even go abroad for 20-25 days. This will complement my training at the Chhatrasal Stadium (in New Delhi) which is going on pretty well.”
Ravi, along with another Olympic-bound wrestler Deepak Poonia, goes through a rigorous training regime at the Chhatrasal Stadium. They wake up at 3:30 in the morning and start their practice session from 4. The warm-up regime includes several rounds of uthak-baithak (half burpees), that can easily pin an average joe.
“I get free after training at 8am and have some badaam (nuts) and juice as well as fruits later. Then we rest for 2-3 hours and start training again in the afternoon non-stop from 4 till 7.30,” says Ravi, who does make it a point to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day.
On a parting note, the 22-year-old pehlwan reveals the benchmark he has set for himself with humility. “I hope to take part in 2-3 more Olympics, apart from 2020. Bas desh ke liye kuch accha karke aaye (I want to do something good for the country)!”