Jitender Kumar (born 1977) is an Indian

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who has medaled twice at

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and represented India in both the 2000 and 2004

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 ...

Biography

Jitender Kumar hails from

Bhiwani Bhiwani is a city and a municipal council in Bhiwani district in the state of Haryana, Bhiwani was also known as "Gate of Rajputana". Besides being a seat of spiritual learning, the city is at the centre of regional politics and hometown of t ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

. He was trained at

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

facility in Bhiwani under coach Jagdish Singh.

Career

Kumar represented India at two consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, starting with the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

category in the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games he lost to John Pearce in the finals. In the 2002 commonwealth games, he lost to Oscar Williamson in the semi-finals.Commonwealth Games 2002
/ref> In the national circuit, he fought in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

category as well. He was awarded the

Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

in 1999. Kumar qualified for the 2004 Athens Games by ending up in second place at the

1st AIBA Asian 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament The 1st AIBA Asian 2004 Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament was held in Guangzhou, PR China from March 18 to March 23, 2004. It was the first chance for amateur boxers from Asia to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics after the 2004 Asian Amateur ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

PR China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In the final he lost to South Korea's Song Hak-Seong.

References

Indian male boxers Middleweight boxers 1977 births Living people Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Olympic boxers for India Boxers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Arjuna Award Boxers at the 1998 Asian Games Boxers at the 2002 Asian Games Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Boxers from Haryana Asian Games competitors for India Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games {{India-boxing-bio-stub