London, Aug 12: Wrestler Sushil Kumar, India's flagbearer at the Olympics opening ceremony, bagged the silver medal in the men's 66kg freestyle category at the London Games today.

The 2008 Games bronze medallist went one better this time. The 29-year-old may have lost to Japan's Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the final but still he became the only Indian athlete to win two Olympic medals.

Sushil also helped the country to double its Beijing haul. Four years ago, our contingent returned from the Chinese capital with three medals - one gold and two silvers. Now the nation is celebrating six medals - two silvers and four bronzes.

Today, Sushil fought gallantly to win the opening round, the quarter-final and the semi-final all in just under two hours. However, in the final his Japanese opponent got the better of him.

Yonemitsu secured a point to win the first period. In the second, Sushil managed to get a point but he was also thrown down by the Japanese grappler. That fetched the latter three points and the gold medal.

Reports say that Sushil had sustained an injury in the semi-final and was also suffering from stomach cramps. Probably, he was hampered by this and could not quite overcome Yonemitsu.

OneIndia News