Such are the rules of “repechage”. Every competitor who had lost to an eventual finalist then got to play a knock-out format for two bronze medals.

Vijender, with his filmstar good looks, played a cool bout against the left-handed Carlos Gongora of Ecuador. The 22-year-old used a deft mix of right guard and right counterpunch to take the bout 9:4.

Earlier in the evening, his Bhiwani Boxing Club mate, Jitender Kumar, showed what it means to take it on the chin. Jitender, whose participation itself had been somewhat in peril after he suffered an injury in his pre-quarterfinal bout, had to have 10 stitches. The 20-year-old nonetheless fought a brave bout to lose 15:11 to the crowd favourite, Russian Georgy Balakshin, at the Worker’s Gymnasium. He basically lost it in the third round which went 2:6.

Vijender and Sushil have done more than give India its most abundantly successful day in its Olympics history. These are men who come from families of limited means, men who try to find excellence and possibly achievement in the most grassroots of India’s sports culture, the akharas and the neighbourhood boxing clubs. They are not men, as you will find in the first flurry of scant profiles and interviews, who flaunt their personal quirks or who know how to keep the media interested with enigmatic remarks.

These are men who have brought the dust of India’s urban periphery to the medals podium at the Olympics. Their first words of gratitude were to their first coaches, coaches who saw exceptional talent and made as much of a sacrifice as their parents of meagre means did.

... contd.