PARIS: Ahead of his bronze medal play-off, Aman Sehrawat faced a daunting challenge after his semifinal defeat on Thursday, August 8.
Weighing in at 61.5kg, 4.5 over the permissible limit for the men’s 57kg category, the Indian wrestler had just 10 hours to shed the excess weight.
This compelled him to engage in a grueling 10-hour effort to lose the excess weight and make the cut for his next match.
Aman's semi-final bout against Rei Higuchi of Japan concluded around 6:30 p.m and he had to race against time to meet the eligible criteria.
Senior Indian coaches Jagmander Singh and Virender Dahiya immediately focused on the objective of helping Aman meet the required weight within the stipulated time.
The stakes were high, especially after the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat earlier in the competition due to a weight issue.
Notably, the intensive weight-cutting process started with a one-and-a-half-hour mat session, where Aman practiced standing wrestling.
Subsequently, Aman indulged in a hot bath session lasting for one hour which was designed to produce sweating and aid in weight loss.
This was followed by a rigorous gym session, where Aman sweated it out in a non-stop one-hour run on the treadmill.
This drill happened to be a vital part of the plan which would eventually help in further reducing his weight.
After a short break, Aman went through five sessions of 5-minute sauna baths. Despite the exhaustive efforts, Aman was still 900 grams over the limit.
This led to the coaches deciding to carry out a light jogging and additional running sessions for him to fulfill the target.
Their persistent efforts reaped rewards as the weighing scale finally tipped in their favor by 4:30 a.m. Aman weighed in at 56.9 kilograms, just 100 grams under the limit.
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