Gold medal at Paris 2024 is my next goal: CWG gold medalist Deepak Punia to Mirror Now

New Delhi: At just 23 years of age, he has a world championship medal to his name, a Commonwealth Games gold medal. Deepak Punia represented India not just at the Asian Championship but also at Tokyo Olympics. Deepak Punia defeated Pakistan's Muhammad Inam in the 86kg bout in the final to claim his gold medal at CWG in Birmingham. Talking exclusively to Mirror Now, about his high-pressure final game against a Pakistani wrestler, Deepak Punia said that he kept maintained his calm and didn't repeat the mistake he did in Tokyo Olympics.

"I lost my Tokyo Olympics bronze medal bout on August 5, 2021 and coincidently this game (CWG final) was also on August 5 but a year later. My final game was against a wrestler from Pakistan and everyone knows the kind of pressure when you play if there's a clash between India and Pakistan. But I decided to keep all the things aside and play with a free mind. I didn't take any extra pressure that I took during the Olympics," said Deepak Punia exclusively to Times Network.

Deepak was the country's top medal prospect at the Tokyo Olympics as well but, unfortunately, he missed the medal after coming very close to it. He lost his bronze medal game against San Marino’s Myles Amine. But that loss led him on a path to work harder for CWG.

In the interview, Deepak also stated how Prime Minister Narendra Modi motivated him after the Tokyo Olympics and gave him confidence for tournaments ahead.

"After losing an opportunity to win a bronze medal in Tokyo, I was unhappy and upset with myself. Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi called me and said, the country is considering me as a winner so don't think much about it because of my efforts, and he asked me to prepare myself for future tournaments," he further added.

Representing India is a dream for every sportsperson in the country, Deepak has proven himself multiple times on the world stage that he is worth that spot. And with the Commonwealth Games gold medal, he has raised the expectations as he gears up for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Talking about the Paris Olympics, Deepak said after Tokyo 2020, he made a few goals out of which CWG gold was one of them keeping the 2024 marquee event as the biggest.

"After Tokyo 2020, I had set a few goals for me out of which the first was winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. My second goal is the Asian Games while the ultimate goal is to grab a gold in Paris 2024, concluded Punia.