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Sushil Kumar

Overview

Sushil Kumar is an Indian freestyle wrestler from Najafgarh, Delhi, widely regarded as one of India's most decorated wrestlers in international competition. Competing in the men's freestyle 66 kg category, he became the first Indian individual athlete to win two Olympic medals in successive Games, with a bronze at Beijing 2008 and a silver at London 2012. He also won the gold medal at the 2010 World Wrestling Championships in Moscow, becoming the first Indian wrestler in over half a century to claim a world title.

Key Facts

Full name Sushil Kumar Solanki
Born 26 May 1983, Baprola, Najafgarh, Delhi
Sport Wrestling (freestyle)
Weight category 66 kg / 74 kg (freestyle)
Coach Satpal Singh (Chhatrasal Stadium)
Club Chhatrasal Stadium akhara, Delhi
Employer Indian Railways
Major honours Padma Shri (2011), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009), Arjuna Award (2005)

Background

Sushil Kumar was born into a Jat family in Baprola village in the Najafgarh area of south-west Delhi. His father, Diwan Singh, was a driver with the Delhi Transport Corporation, and his cousin Sandeep was also a wrestler, which influenced his early entry into the sport. At the age of fourteen he joined the Chhatrasal Stadium akhara in north Delhi, training under Mahabali Satpal, a former Asian Games gold medallist and Arjuna Awardee, who became his lifelong mentor.

Career

Early career

Sushil first came to national notice by winning the World Cadet Games gold in 1998 and the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in 2000. He represented India at the 2003 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships, taking gold, and at the 2003 Asian Wrestling Championships, where he won silver.

2004 Athens Olympics

Making his Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games in the 60 kg freestyle event, he finished fourteenth, an experience he later described as a turning point in his preparation.

2008 Beijing Olympics

At the Beijing Olympics, competing in the 66 kg freestyle category, Sushil won the bronze medal through the repechage round, defeating Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan. The medal was India's first Olympic wrestling medal since K. D. Jadhav's bronze at Helsinki in 1952.

2010 World Championship and Commonwealth Games

In September 2010, at the World Wrestling Championships in Moscow, Sushil won the 66 kg gold, becoming the first Indian to win a senior world wrestling title since K. D. Jadhav's era. Weeks later he claimed the gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games on home soil.

2012 London Olympics

At the London Olympics, Sushil reached the 66 kg freestyle final, defeating opponents from Belarus, the United States and Kazakhstan, before losing to Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan in the gold-medal bout. The silver made him the first Indian individual athlete to win medals at two consecutive Olympic Games.

Later career

Sushil won gold at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in the 74 kg freestyle category, and again at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He also took gold at the 2018 Tbilisi Grand Prix. A long-running selection dispute with Narsingh Yadav preceded the 2016 Rio Olympics, in which Sushil did not compete after the courts upheld Yadav's selection.

Timeline

  • 1998: Gold, World Cadet Games.
  • 2003: Gold, Commonwealth Wrestling Championships; silver, Asian Wrestling Championships.
  • 2004: Competes at Athens Olympics, 60 kg.
  • 2005: Conferred the Arjuna Award.
  • 2007: Bronze, Asian Wrestling Championships.
  • 2008: Bronze, Beijing Olympics, 66 kg.
  • 2009: Awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
  • 2010: Gold, World Wrestling Championships, Moscow; gold, Delhi Commonwealth Games.
  • 2011: Conferred the Padma Shri.
  • 2012: Silver, London Olympics, 66 kg; appointed flag-bearer for the Indian contingent.
  • 2014: Gold, Glasgow Commonwealth Games, 74 kg.
  • 2018: Gold, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 74 kg.

Honours and Awards

  • Arjuna Award (2005)
  • Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009)
  • Padma Shri (2011)
  • Honorary doctorate from Chaudhary Devi Lal University (2011)

Personal life

Sushil Kumar married Savi, daughter of his coach Satpal Singh, in 2011. He has been employed with Indian Railways and was promoted to Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Railways' sports department. In May 2021, he was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with the death of a young wrestler, Sagar Dhankhar, at Chhatrasal Stadium; the matter remains before the courts.

Significance

Sushil Kumar's success is credited with reviving popular interest in wrestling in India and inspiring the rise of a new generation of grapplers, including Yogeshwar Dutt, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. His back-to-back Olympic medals broke a long drought in Indian individual Olympic performance and led to greater institutional investment in wrestling at the akhara level, particularly at Chhatrasal Stadium, which has produced multiple Olympic medallists.

References

  • Official records, United World Wrestling.
  • International Olympic Committee, athlete profile.
  • Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Padma Awards directory.
  • Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, National Sports Awards listings.