Out of the 7 Tokyo Olympic medalists from India is Bajrang Punia, a freestyle wrestler who competes in the 65-kg category. He suffered a severe knee injury just a few weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, but that didn’t seem to deter his spirit as he came back home with a bronze medal.
One of the driving forces behind Bajrang Punia’s win was a fellow wrestler and wife Sangeeta Phogat’s support. Sangeeta, who is the youngest of the 6 Phogat sisters, got married to Punia in November last year.
Life stories of our Indian Olympians have proved time and again how family stands as rock-solid support in their journeys. And it was no different for Punia. His main support was his wife. After losing his semifinal match to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Bajrang called Sangeeta and promised, “Aaj ya to toot kar aana hai, ya jeet kar aana hai.”
And as fate would have it, Bajrang Punia did keep his promise. After his winning moment, Sangeeta Phogat took to Twitter to share a picture of him and wrote, “All the moments we stayed apart you had promised me accomplishment…you kept your promise.”
You are a champion and you shall remain one❤️💪🏼. All the moments we stayed apart you had promised me accomplishments……you kept your promise. Thank you. ❤️I know you were going to prove the haters wrong. I love you honey…….I will be waiting for you @BajrangPunia pic.twitter.com/uuNYxxx7hR
— Sangeeta Phogat (@sangeeta_phogat) August 7, 2021
After coming back home, Bajrang shared a picture on Twitter with Sangeeta and wrote, “It’s her moral support and love that gives me that ‘extra’ boost to excel.”
Finally sharing it with my better half. Its her moral support and love that gives me that “extra” boost to excel. pic.twitter.com/7zovp06YaR
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) August 11, 2021
Bajrang Punia is indeed blessed to have such strong support in his life!