After flying under the radar of the much-fancied Akhil Kumar, Vijender Singh created history by winning India’s first boxing medal in Olympics.
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At the start of his career, Vijender Singh used boxing as a means to secure a stable government job. As a youngster from Bhiwani, Haryana, Vijender took up boxing as a platform to attain his goal for a better life. Little did he know that the 2004 Athens Olympics would change his approach towards the sport. Participating in his debut Olympics at the tender age of 18, he wanted the Olympics tag to be attached along with his name to land a decent government job. However, it wasn’t until Singh arrived in Athens that he realised the magnitude of what he had accomplished and what lay ahead for him.
“I didn’t realize how big the Olympics stage was,” Vijender Singh revealed during The Medal of Glory show on Sony Sports’ Facebook page. “I thought at least I will get a better job with the Olympic tag attached to my name,” he added. An opening round defeat in Athens might have been a major disappointment, but seeing the other boxers in the podium lifting their medals spurned Vijender to dream for the same. “During the medal ceremony I saw the four medallists (of the light welterweight category) on the podium and I felt that this is the real joy (to be on the podium),” the boxer recollected.
This was the moment the Haryana boxer decided to dream big and realised the heights he might scale in this sport. Vijender Singh set his sights on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his main objective was landing a medal for the country. When the 2008 Games approached, Singh was not the main medal hopeful from the country. Akhil Kumar was leading India’s charge and Vijender was happy to fly under the radar. Akhil, however, suffered a shock defeat in the quarterfinals, leaving Indian boxing fans in dismay. Soon after Vijender made up for the disappointment, winning India’s first boxing medal in Olympics, to change the script of the country’s boxing forever.
Coming from humble beginnings, his father is a bus driver with the Haryana Roadways, while his mother is a homemaker. With his parents struggling to make ends meet, Vijender took up boxing to ensure a better life for his family. He was inspired by his elder brother Manoj, who was a former boxer. Boxing began as a way for Vijender to get a ticket to a better life, but it quickly became a vital part of his life as he started to make a name for himself in the sport.
He trained at the Bhiwani Boxing Club, where former national-level boxer Jagdish Singh recognised and nurtured his talent. Vijender won a silver medal in his first sub-junior nationals in 1997 and went on to bag his first gold medal at the 2000 Nationals. In 2003, he became the all-India youth boxing champion.
Despite being a junior boxer, Vijender made his senior India debut in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, winning silver for the country in Hyderabad. There was no looking back for the promising young boxer after that. The pugilist qualified for his first Olympics as an 18-year-old in 2004 after a string of good performances. Vijender competed in the welterweight division at the Athens Games but was defeated by Mustafa Karagollu of Turkey by a score of 20-25.
Undeterred by the opening round defeat in Athens, the youngster set his sights on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He began his journey to Beijing by winning bronze at the 2006 Asian Games, silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and silver at the 2007 Asian Championships. Vijender was no longer an unknown promising youngster as he started to make a name for himself with a string of good results in global competitions.
The qualifiers, however, did not go well for Vijender Singh, who had now moved to the middleweight division (75kg). He had exited the first Olympic boxing qualification tournament in Thailand in the second round and the second qualifiers in China in the first round.
Before the last and final qualifier tournament in Kazakhstan, the pugilist was under a lot of pressure. However, his perseverance paid off when he won the gold medal in Kazakhstan to qualify for the Beijing Games.
Akhil Kumar was India’s main medal hopeful in boxing and that allowed Vijender to calmly go about his business with little pressure. A straight forward win over Gambia’s Badou Jack in the opening round was followed by a physically demanding fixture against Angkhan Chomphuphuang of Thailand. The 13-3 scoreline of Vijender Singh’s second-round fight against the Thai boxer created an image of a comfortable victory, but the Indian left the ring bruised.
Soon Akhil started making the headlines, defeating then world champion Sergey Vodopyanov. The entire country started rallying behind Kumar and the first boxing medal for India looked closer to reality. But then the unbelievable happened. Akhil Kumar was knocked out in the quarterfinals, shocking the entire nation as well as the boxing squad in Beijing.
With Abhinav Bindra winning a gold medal in 10m Air Rifle shooting and Sushil Kumar bagging a bronze in wrestling, the boxing contingent was desperately looking to open their account in the Games. The entire nation’s hopes were riding on Vijender’s quarterfinal fight.
In his bout against Ecuador’s Carlos Gongora, Vijender was tested on the offensive and defensive fronts. For the Indian, his left-hand jabs and crucial uppercuts made the difference. In the latter half of the fight, Vijender relied on his evading tactics and superb footwork. Despite a flurry of punches from the Ecuadorian in the final seconds, the Indian was declared the winner on points.
India’s first boxing medal has arrived and a star is born! The boxer from Haryana might have lost to Cuba’s Emilio Correa in the semifinals, but the medal was assured since a semifinal appearance in boxing is rewarded with a bronze medal, even if the boxer loses.
Vijender Singh was not able to replicate the feat at the 2012 London Games and later turned professional, where he has enjoyed considerable success to date. He might continue to entertain fans in the professional circuit for many years to come. However, it was his bronze medal at the Beijing Games that will be remembered forever, as the pugilist changed the narrative of Indian boxing history.
