Thousands of wildly cheering fans descended on the Indira Gandhi International Airport to give Olympic bronze medal winners, wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar, a tumultuous reception in the wee hours of Tuesday.

In a welcome that Indian cricketers would envy, it appeared as if the entire Bapraula village of Najafgarh was there to receive their famous son Sushil Kumar. Not to be outdone, busloads of Vijender's fans from Bhiwani district of Haryana joined the stream of people cramming the terminal.

After the rapturous welcome, supporters of both the medal winners burst crackers and danced to the beats of cymbals, drums and other percussion instruments.

Security arrangements went haywire as the fans arrived in cavalcades of cars, buses and trucks to take their heroes through a victorious drive down the city.

Arriving by the same flight were officials of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), including its president Suresh Kalmadi, secretary-general Randhir Singh along with members of the contingent who finished their events in the second week of the Games.

Officials of the sports ministry, Sports Authority of India and the IOA received the members of the contingent.