Sushil Kumar Solanki (born 26 May 1983) is a former

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 ...

wrestler. He carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of 2012 London Olympics. His 2008 Olympic medal was second for India in wrestling, and the first since

Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (15 January 1926 – 14 August 1984) was an Indian athlete. He is best known as a wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was the first athlete from independent India to win an indiv ...

's bronze medal at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. In July 2009, he received the

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award ( Major Dhyan Chand Sport Jewel Award), is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Governm ...

– India's highest honour for sportspersons. On 3 October 2010, Kumar handed the

Queen's Baton The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingha ...

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

in the

Queen's Baton Relay The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingh ...

for the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

Opening Ceremony.CBC, 2010 Commonwealth Games, Opening Ceremonies, airdate 3 October 2010, 9:00am-12:30pm (Eastern), c. 2h20m mark, CBC Television main network"CWG Opening ceremony: Live Blog"
, Geetika Rustagi, ''3 October 2010'' (Retrieved 5 October 2010) Sushil won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 74 kg division at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Career

Kumar started training in

pehlwani Pehlwani, (पहलवानी) also known as Kushti, is a form of wrestling contested in South Asia. It was developed in the Mughal Empire by combining Persian Koshti pahlevani with influences from native Indian Malla-yuddha. The words ''pe ...

at the Chhatrasal Stadium's ''akhada'' at the age of 14. He was trained at the ''akhada'' by Yashvir and Ramphal, later by Arjuna awardee Satpal and then at the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

camp by Gyan Singh and Rajkumar Baisla

Gurjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tra ...

. After switching to

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

Kumar's first success came at the World Cadet Games in 1998 where he won the gold medal in his weight category, followed by a gold at the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in 2000. Moving out of the junior competitions, in 2003 Kumar won the bronze medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships and a gold at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. Kumar placed fourth at the 2003 World Championships, but this went largely unnoticed by the Indian media as he fared badly in the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, placing 14th in the 60 kg weight class. He won gold medals at the Commonwealth wrestling championships in 2005 and 2007. He placed seventh in the 2007 World Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He won a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, becoming the first person to win two Olympic medals for independent India. Kumar 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 2006 and a coveted Padma Shree by the Indian Government in 2011.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Kumar lost to

Andriy Stadnik Andriy Volodymyrovych Stadnik (Андрій Володимирович Стаднік, born 15 April 1982) is a male wrestler from Ukraine. He won a silver medal in the Men's freestyle 66kg event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Andriy ha ...

in the first round of the 66 kg freestyle wrestling event, leaving his medal hopes hinging on the

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

. He defeated

Doug Schwab Doug Schwab (born August 3, 1977 in Osage, Iowa) is a male freestyle wrestler and NCAA wrestling coach from United States. He participated in men's freestyle 66 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. He wrestled at the University of Iowa, where he was a ...

in the first repechage round and

Albert Batyrov Albert Batyrov (born November 2, 1981, in Vladikavkaz) is a male freestyle wrestler from Belarus. He participated in Men's freestyle 66 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 1/8 of final he beat North Korean Yang Chun-Song then in 1/4 of final he lo ...

in the second round. In the bronze medal match on 20 August 2008, Kumar beat

Leonid Spiridonov Leonid Spiridonov (born December 16, 1980 in Kerdyom) is a male freestyle wrestler from Kazakhstan. He participated in Men's freestyle 66 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. He lost bronze medal fight against Sushil Kumar from India and was ranked on 4-5t ...

3:1. Kumar disclosed that he had no masseur during the three bouts he won within a span of 70 minutes to take the bronze. The team manager Kartar Singh who is a former Asian Games medallist acted as the masseur for him.

2010 World Wrestling Championships, Moscow

At the 2010 World Wrestling Championships Kumar became the first Indian to win a world title in wrestling. He beat the local favourite Alan Gogaev of Russia 3–1 in the finals in the 66 kg category.

2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi

Kumar won gold medal at the

held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

on 10 October 2010. He beat

Heinrich Barnes Heinrich Barnes (born 12 December 1986, in Pretoria) is a male freestyle wrestler from South Africa. He participated in Men's freestyle 66 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. He was eliminated in the 1/16 of final losing to Mongolian Buyanjavyn Batzor ...

7–0 in the finals in the 66 kg freestyle wrestling category. The bout was stopped by the referee in the second round. Earlier, in the semifinals, Kumar defeate
Famara Jarjou
3–0 within 9 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Kumar defeated Muhammad Salman 10–0 in 46 seconds.

2012 London Olympics

Olympic Freestyle Wrestling (66 kg - Medalists)

Kumar won a silver medal after losing the final to

Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu is a Japanese wrestler. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, beating Sushil Kumar of India in the finals of the 66 kg Men's Freestyle Wrestling. He is Second lieutenant in the Japan Ground Self-Defense For ...

. Earlier, he had entered the final amid some controversy by beating Kazakhastan's

Akzhurek Tanatarov Akzhurek Dostykuly Tanatarov ( kz, Ақжүрек Достықұлы Таңатаров; born 3 September 1986) is a Kazakh freestyle wrestler. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he was defeated in the semifinal round of the 66 kg freestyle event ...

in the semifinal. The Kazakh athlete claimed that Kumar had bitten his ear, which was denied by the latter. Kumar was the Olympic flag bearer for India at the opening ceremony. This win made him the first Indian to win 2 individual Olympic Medals since India's Independence.

2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow

Kumar defeated

Qamar Abbas Qamar Abbas (born 1 September 1989, Faisalabad) is a freestyle wrestler from Pakistan. Career At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Abbas reached the final of the 74 kg freestyle event, where he lost to India's Sushil Kumar S ...

in the 74 kg final to win the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He won in 107 seconds by

fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia

Kumar won gold in 74 kg category on 12 April 2018, Thursday, beating South Africa’s Johannes Botha in the final that lasted 80 seconds thus achieving a feat of winning 3 gold medals in 3 consecutive Commonwealth Games.

International competition

Summer Olympics

World Championship

Personal life

Kumar was born in a Jat family of

Solanki Solanki may refer to: *Solanki (name), surname and given name *Solanki (clan), Indian clan associated with the Rajputs *Solanki dynasty, alternate name for the Chaulukya dynasty The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty tha ...

clan in

Baprola Baprola (or Bapraula) is a census town and village on the outskirts of Najafgarh in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It lies near the Delhi-Haryana border and is one of 12 villages of Solanki clan in Delhi. The Jat-dominated village is s ...

village, near

Najafgarh Najafgarh is a town in the South West Delhi district of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. It is one of the three subdivisions of the Southwest Delhi district. Najafgarh is located in south western part of Delhi sharing its territory ...

South West Delhi South West Delhi is one of the eleven administrative districts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Kapashera serves as the administrative headquarters of South West Delhi. South West Delhi is bounded by the districts of West D ...

. His father, Diwan Singh, was a driver in MTNL Delhi, while his mother, Kamla Devi, is a housewife. Kumar was inspired to take up wrestling by his father, himself a wrestler, and his cousin Sandeep. Sandeep later stopped competing as the family could only support one wrestler. Kumar trained in

wrestling at the ''

akhada Akhara or Akhada (Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to ''khara'' Hindi: खाड़ा) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists o ...

'' (wrestling school) in the Chhatrasal Stadium from the age of 14. With minimal funds and poor training facilities for wrestling in India, even for the 2008 Olympic team, his family made sure he obtained the necessary dietary supplements by sending him tinned milk,

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from c ...

and fresh vegetables. He is a devoted Hindu and strict vegetarian. He has completed his Graduation (B.P.E.) and Post-Graduation (M.P.E.) from Noida College of Physical Education, Dadri. Kumar is presently employed with the

as an assistant commercial manager.

Commercial endorsements and media

Kumar endorses brands such as Mountain Dew,

Eicher tractor Eicher tractor was a manufacturer of tractors, agricultural machinery and engines. The company was founded in 1936 by the brothers Josef and Albert Eicher in the Upper Bavaria town of Forstern. The brand name "Eicher" was last used in Europe in ...

s, and the National Egg Coordination Committee which earns him annually. He refused the offer of to appear in a surrogate ad for a leading liquor brand. He appeared in the Indian

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

'' Carve Your Destiny'' by Anubhav Srivastava. Kumar also served as a judge on

MTV India MTV India is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of MTV and is owned by Viacom 18, a joint venture operation between MTV International ow ...

's reality television series ''

MTV Roadies ''MTV Roadies'' is a youth-based reality show. It was launched in 2003 and airs on MTV India. The show is also digitally available on Voot. In this show, a group of contestants travel to different destinations and participate in various tasks ...

''. Other media appearances include in ''

The Kapil Sharma Show ''The Kapil Sharma Show'', also known as TKSS, is an Indian Hindi-language stand-up comedy and talk show broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television. Hosted by Kapil Sharma, the first season of the show had its premiere on 23 April 2016. The ...

'' and '' Comedy Nights with Kapil''.

Awards, rewards and recognition

, 2005 *

award (joint), India's highest sporting honour. *

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, 2011 ; For the bronze medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics * cash award and promotion to Assistant Commercial Manager from chief ticketing inspector by Railway Ministry (his employer) * cash award from the

Delhi Government The Government of Delhi, officially the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) is the governing body of the Union Territory of Delhi, whose urban area is the seat of the Government of India. It also governs the city or l ...

. * award by the

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 ...

Government. * cash award by the Steel Ministry of India. * cash award by

R K Global {{Infobox company , logo = R K Global logo.svg , name = R K Global , type = Private , genre = , predecessor = , foundation = New Delhi, India, 1995 , founder = Ramesh Ku ...

*DSP Rank in Haryana police department. * K Global. * cash award by the Maharashtra State Government. * cash award from

MTNL Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) (d/b/a MTNL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited which is in turn under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. Head ...

. ; For the gold medal at 2010 World Wrestling Championships * cash award from Indian Railways (his employer) & out-of-turn promotion from his current position of Asst. Commercial Manager. * cash award from

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 ...

, (

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

). * cash award from the Delhi Government ; For the silver medal at 2012 London Olympics * cash reward from the Delhi Government * cash reward from the Haryana Government * cash reward from the Indian Railway * Land area in Sonipat for Wrestling academy by the Haryana Government. * cash award from ONGC.

Ongoing case

Delhi Police arrested Sushil Kumar in connection with the murder of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankhar during a brawl in the Chhatrasal Stadium on 4 May 2021. After arresting Kumar, Delhi Police presented him in Rohini court and the court ordered a six-day remand of Kumar to Delhi police. In October 2021, a judge ordered Kumar continue to be held without bail. The decision was reached after arguments from both sides, and a review of evidence from the prosecution, including a video taken by an alleged accomplice of a man purported to be Kumar engaged in the attack.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Sushil 1983 births Indian male sport wrestlers Living people Olympic wrestlers of India People from South West Delhi district Sport wrestlers from Delhi Sport wrestlers from Haryana Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in wrestling Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Indian Hindus Olympic medalists in wrestling Olympic bronze medalists for India Olympic silver medalists for India Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Recipients of the Arjuna Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports World Wrestling Championships medalists Asian Games bronze medalists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Wrestling Championships medalists