Satpal Singh (born 1 February 1955), also known as Guru Satpal, is a wrestling coach and former wrestler of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was a Gold Medalist in

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of t ...

and a Bronze medalist in 1974 Asian Games. Today he is better known as the coach of

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medal winners Sushil Kumar and

Ravi Kumar Dahiya Ravi Kumar Dahiya (born 12 December 1997), also known as Ravi Kumar or Ravi Dahiya, is an Indian freestyle wrestler who won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 57 kg category. Dahiya is also a bronze medallist from 2019 World Wre ...

. He was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third highest civilian award of India, in 2015.

Biography

Satpal was born on 1 February 1955 in Bawana village 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 ...

. He was coached by the famous wrestling coach Guru Hanuman at Hanuman Akhara, Delhi. He was Indian national champion for 16 years. He achieved international success at commonwealth games winning 3 silver medals in 1974, 1978 and 1982 commonwealth games. In Asian Games too, he improved his performance at successive games, winning a bronze in 1974, a silver in 1978 and peaked with a gold in 1982. Satpal was also good in traditional kushti. He won several titles like Bharat Kumar (1973), Rustom-e-Hind (1974 and 1975), Bharat Kesari (1975), Rustom-e-Bharat (1975), Maha Bharat Kesari (1976), Mahan Bharat Kesari (1976), Rustom-e-Zaman (1976), Hind Kesari (1977), Bharat Shri (1978) and Bharat Balram (1979). Satpal now works as Assistant Director of Education, Delhi. He is also the Chief Patron of School Games Federation of India. He runs an '' Akhada'' for coaching of wrestling with fellow coach Virender Singh from 1988 in Chhatrasal Stadium in

. He trained two time

medal winner, Sushil Kumar for the Beijing Olympics 2008 and London Olympics 2012. He was awarded

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ...

in 2009 by the

Indian Government 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, ...

. He was earlier conferred the Arjuna Award in 1974 and the

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

in 1983.

Awards and achievements

* 1974: Arjun Award (

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

) * 1983:

* 2009:

* National Heavyweight Champion 16 times. * 2015:

Participation

* Wrestling at the 1980 Summer Olympics - Men's freestyle 100 kg

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Satpal Olympic wrestlers of India Indian wrestling coaches 1955 births Living people People from Delhi Wrestlers at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Indian male sport wrestlers Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Recipients of the Arjuna Award Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Asian Games gold medalists for India Sport wrestlers from Delhi Asian Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 1974 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 1978 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 1982 Asian Games Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games