Subedar Arokia Rajiv (born 22 May 1991) is an Indian sprinter and a

Junior Commissioned Officer Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) is a term used for a group of military ranks which is higher than havildar (non commissioned officer) and lower than lieutenant (commissioned officer). The term is only used by Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Sen ...

(JCO) in

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

who specialises in the 400 metres distance. He won silver medals in the men's and mixed 4 × 400 m relays at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

and placed third in the individual 400 m in 2014. He won medals in both the 400 m and 4 × 400 m events at the 2016 South Asian Games and 2017 Asian Championships. He competed in the relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed in the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

in the Men's relay event where the Indian team broke the Asian and National Records and clocked a time of 3:00.25.

Early life

Rajiv was born in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bei ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, in a poor family. He studied at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School,

Lalgudi Thiruthavathurai (Lalgudi) is a town in Tiruchirapalli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town of Lalgudi heads the Lalgudi taluk, Lalgudi division, Lalgudi Educational District, Lalgudi DSP and Lalgudi Constituency (1952 onward ...

, and

St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli (SJC) is a Catholic college in Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1844 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and it is regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions in India. It was affiliated wi ...

Career

Rajiv began his career as a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er before taking to 400 metres. At the 2019 Asian Championship, he Finished 4th Place, clocking 45.37 seconds in the final. In the process, he bettered his previous best of 45.92 seconds, which he had achieved at the Asian Games in Incheon on 28 th September 2014. Enrolled into the 8th Battalion of the Madras Regiment of Indian Army on March 15, 2011, Subedar Arokia Rajiv was honoured by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi with the prestigious Arjuna Award for his outstanding contribution in Athletics in 2017. Subedar Arokia Rajiv becomes the second Arjuna Awardee from the Madras Regiment after Havildar Peter Thangaraj who had received the Award for his outstanding achievements as India's football goalkeeper.

International competitions

¹Did not finish in the final

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajiv, Arokia 1991 births Living people Indian male sprinters Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Tiruchirappalli Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for India Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Athletes from Tamil Nadu Tamil sportspeople South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics Recipients of the Arjuna Award Commonwealth Games competitors for India World Athletics Championships athletes for India Asian Athletics Championships winners