Vijender and Sushil

New Delhi: The two latest sporting icons of India – wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar – were greeted by thousands of fans when they returned home from Beijing after midnight on Tuesday.

Hundreds of people from Sushil Kumar’s Bapraula village in Najafgarh and busloads of Vijender’s fans from Bhiwani swarmed the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the middle of the night.

The fans came to receive their heroes with drums, musical instruments and firecrackers.

The securitymen, who were hopelessly outnumbered by the surging fans when the two champions came out of the airport, had a tough time in controlling the crowd.

So overwhelmed was Sushil with the welcome that his first reaction was that the next time he would go all out to win the gold.

“I cannot believe that so many people have come to welcome me in the middle of the night for winning a bronze,” he said.

“The only way I can show my gratitude is by winning a gold in the next Olympics. I will try my best to do so in London ,” he added.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Vijender, who was escorted out by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) officials after a lot of difficulty.

“The first thought I had after arriving here was to meet my parents and go back to the ring to start practising again. Believe me, I never expected so many people to come to the airport only to see me. This is incredible,” said the medal winner in the 75kg category.

Both Olympians had a series of receptions lined up for the day. The most important of them were to meet the President and the Prime Minister, followed by a felicitation function organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in the evening.

“I am happy I could show the way,” Vijender said. “I strongly believe that India have many boxers who are capable of winning medals in Olympics. Now that I have won the bronze, I am sure that they, too, will be encouraged to do better.”

Vijender, who is likely to sign an endorsement contract with Adidas, said his next job would be to concentrate on doing better in London 2012.

“With all these celebrations around, I should not lose focus. I want to go to Olympics again as a better boxer than what I am today.”

With his looks inviting as much attention as his exploits inside the ring, Vijender said he is enjoying his moment of recognition.

“I know there is lot of talk about my looks and I take everything as a complement. Blessings of the Almighty,” he said.

“Bollywood is out of question right now. I am a boxer and would remain so no matter what is being said about me. Modelling is something that I can handle easily with my boxing career but that's about it,” he said.

Sushil said that Tuesday was one of the most memorable days of his life.

“I have been rewarded for my hard work. Even the President and the Prime Minister praised my performance. Only I know how satisfactory the day has been for me.”

At the IOA fuction, gold medallist Abhinav Bindra said: “Let’s adopt Olympic sports and it is time we encouraged the stars of the future.”

The IOA awarded Bindra Rs 20 lakh while Vijender and Sushil were given Rs 10 lakh each.