Rajinder Singh Rahelu (born 22 July 1973) is an Indian

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

. He won a bronze medal at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympi ...

in the 56 kg category. He represented India at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, finishing fifth in the final standings. Arjuna Award recipient, Rahelu, represented

India at the 2012 Summer Paralympics India competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. Competitors Medallists Athletics Selected team of 5 athletes ;Men’s Field Events Powerlifting Selected team of 3 athletes. ;M ...

in London, United Kingdom; he failed in all his three attempts at .

Personal life

Rahelu was born on 22 July 1973 in Mehsampur village, Jalandhar district, Punjab, in a poor

Kashyap rajput The Kashyap Rajput or Kashyap are a caste in India. They are sometimes called the Koshyal or Kanshilya. History ''Kashyap'' is originally one of the eight primary gotras (clans) of the Brahmins, being derived from Kashyapa, the name of a rishi ...

family. He is the youngest of five siblings, with two older brothers and two older sisters. His father, Rattan Singh, worked as a bandmaster, and his mother Meera Singh was a maid. Rahelu has

infantile paralysis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

. He contracted polio when he was eight months old. He is married to Jaswinder Kaur and has two daughters named Ridhima and Ravneet.

Powerlifting

After finishing

higher secondary education Higher may refer to: Music * The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band Albums * ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007 * ''Higher'' (Ezio album) or the title song, 2000 * ''Higher'' (Harem Scarem album) or the title song ...

, Rahelu chose not to continue his education further. He decided to pursue powerlifting following encouragement from his friend Surinder Singh Rana, who himself is a powerlifter. Captain Piara Singh VSM(Vashisht Seva Medalist) was his coach in 1996. He lifted 70 kg on his first bench press attempt and within six months he was able to lift 115 kg. He won his first ever title in powerlifting in 1997 at the Punjab Open Meet. In August 1998, he won National Powerlifting Championship held at Chhindwada in Madhya Pradesh. Rahelu competed in the 56 kg category at the

in Athens, Greece. He finished fourth in the final standings after lifting a total weight of 157.5 kg. However, this position was later upgraded to a third-place after Syrian lifter Youseff Younes Cheikh, bronze medallist of the event, was disqualified due to doping. In doing so, he won the first ever medal for India in the powerlifting event of the Paralympics. In 2006, he was conferred by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award. Rahelu was one of the two Indian competitors at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

. He participated in the powerlifting event. He managed to lift a total load of 170 kg putting him at position fifth, behind

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

Mariusz Tomczyk, out of thirteen contenders in the final. Rahelu won silver in 2014 Commonwealth Games, with a total lift of 185 kg.

Occupation

Working as Weightlifitng (Para Powerlifting) Coach in Sports Authority of India at NSWC Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

References

External links

Profile
at london2012.com
Profile
at ipc.infostradasports.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh Rahelu, Rajinder 1973 births Living people Indian powerlifters Paralympic powerlifters of India Powerlifters at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for India People from Jalandhar district Weightlifters from Punjab, India Les Autres category Paralympic competitors Recipients of the Arjuna Award Powerlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Powerlifters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Jalandhar Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Paralympic medalists in powerlifting Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Personal life

Powerlifting

Occupation

See also

References

External links