Ajay Kumar Saroj (born 1 May 1997) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

middle-distance runner. He won gold medals in the 1500 m event at the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

and the

2017 Asian Athletics Championships The 2017 Asian Athletics Championships was the 22nd edition of the Asian Athletics Championships. It was held from 6 to 9 July 2017 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India. Bhubaneswar was the third Indian city to host Asian Championships. ...

. He also won Gold medal in 1500 m event at South Asian Games 2019.

Early life

Ajay Kumar Saroj hails from

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Saroj is the youngest of three brothers, and has three sisters. His father is a farmer and his mother is a housewife. He took up athletics at age 15.

Career

Noticing his lack of interest in academics, his family encouraged him to take up sport at a young age. An avid learner, he used to watch the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

on television to learn the nuances of athletics. Beginning his career on track with 400m, Saroj, on the suggestion of his coach, shifted his focus to 1500m & 800m. He is currently supported by the

GoSports Foundation The GoSports Foundation (GSF) is an independent, donor-funded non-profit venture, working towards securing funds and professional expertise for some of India's junior Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Established in 2008, it has worked with nume ...

through the GoSports Long Term Athlete Development Programme.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saroj, Ajay Kumar Indian male middle-distance runners 1997 births Living people Athletes from Uttar Pradesh Sportspeople from Prayagraj World Athletics Championships athletes for India Asian Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games bronze medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics