Sushil Kumar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Sushil Kumar

Kumar in 2014
Personal information
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1983-05-26) 26 May 1983 (age 40) Delhi, India
Height	166 cm
Weight	66 kg
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle
Club	NIS, Delhi
Coached by	Satpal Singh
Medal record Representing  India Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games - 1 1 World Championships 1 - - Asian Games - - 1 Commonwealth Games 3 - - Asian Championships 1 1 2 Commonwealth Championship 5 - 1 Olympic Games Bronze 2008 Beijing 66 kg Silver 2012 London 66 kg World Championships Gold 2010 Moscow 66 kg Commonwealth Games Gold 2010 Delhi 66 kg Gold 2014 Glasgow 74 kg Gold 2018 Gold Coast 74 kg Asian Games Bronze 2006 Doha 66 Kg Asian Championships Bronze 2003 New Delhi 60 kg Silver 2007 Bishkek 66 kg Bronze 2008 Jeju Island 66 kg Gold 2010 New Delhi 66 kg Commonwealth Championship Gold 2003 London 60 kg Gold 2005 Cape Town 66 kg Gold 2007 London 66 kg Gold 2009 Jalandhar 66 kg Gold 2017 Johannesburg 74 kg
Updated on 26 February 2018.

Sushil Kumar (born 26 May 1983) is a former Indian wrestler. He carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of 2012 London Olympics. His 2008 Olympic medal was the second for India in wrestling, and the first since Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav's bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. In July 2009, he received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna – India's highest honour for sportspersons. On 3 October 2010, Kumar handed the Queen's Baton to Prince Charles in the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. Sushil won the gold medal in the 74 kg division at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Sushil won the gold medal in the 74 kg division at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Career

Kumar at 2008 Summer Olympics

Kumar started training in pehlwani 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 camp by Gyan Singh and Rajkumar Baisla Gurjar.

After switching to freestyle 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 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, becoming the first person to win two Olympic medals for independent India. Kumar was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2006 and a coveted Padma Shree by the Indian Government in 2011.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Kumar lost to Andriy Stadnik in the first round of the 66 kg freestyle wrestling event, leaving his medal hopes hinging on the repechage. He defeated Doug Schwab in the first repechage round and Albert Batyrov in the second round. In the bronze medal match on 20 August 2008, Kumar beat Leonid Spiridonov 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 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi on 10 October 2010. He beat Heinrich Barnes 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 defeated Famara Jarjou 3–0 within 9 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Kumar defeated Muhammad Salman 10–0 in 46 seconds.

2012 London Olympics

Kumar (left) at the 2012 Olympics

Kumar won a silver medal after losing the final to Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu. Earlier, he had entered the final amid some controversy by beating Kazakhastan's Akzhurek Tanatarov in the semifinal. The Kazakh athlete claimed 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 in the 74 kg final to win the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. He won in 107 seconds by fall.

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

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	opponent	Score	Repechage opponent	Score
2012	2012 Olympic Games	London	66 kg	02	Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu (JPN)	Loss
2008	2008 Olympic Games	Beijing	66 kg	03	Andriy Stadnik (UKR)	Loss	Leonid Spiridonov (KAZ)	Win
2004	2004 Olympic Games	Athens	60 kg	14th	Yandro Quintana (CUB)	Loss

World Championship

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	opponent	Score	Repechage	Score
2019	2019 World Wrestling Championships	Nur-sultan	74 kg	20th	Khadzhimurad Gadzhiyev (AZE)	Loss
2011	2011 World Wrestling Championships	Istanbul	66 kg	14th	Andriy Stadnik (UKR)	Loss
2010	2010 World Wrestling Championships	Moscow	66 kg	01	Alan Gogaev (RUS)	Win
2009	2009 World Wrestling Championships	Herning	66 kg	5th	Rasul Dzhukayev (RUS)	Loss	Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu (JPN)	Loss
2007	2007 World Wrestling Championships	Baku	66 kg	7th	Andriy Stadnik (UKR)	Loss
2006	2006 World Wrestling Championships	Guangzhou	66 kg	13th	Elman Asgarov (AZE)	Loss
2003	2003 World Wrestling Championships	New York City	60 kg	4th	Arif Abdullayev (AZE)	Loss

Personal life

Kumar was born in a Jat family of Solanki clan in Baprola village, near Najafgarh in South West Delhi. 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 Solanki. Sandeep later stopped competing as the family could only support one wrestler. Kumar trained in pehlwani wrestling at the akhada (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 and fresh vegetables. He is a devoted Hindu and a strict vegetarian.

He completed his Graduation (B.P.E.) and Post-Graduation (M.P.E.) from the Noida College of Physical Education, Dadri. Kumar is presently employed with the Indian Railways as an assistant commercial manager. Currently, he stands trial for the murder of rival wrestler Sagar Dhankar, rioting and using a deadly weapon.

Commercial endorsements and media

Kumar endorses brands such as Mountain Dew, Eicher tractors, and the National Egg Coordination Committee which earns him ₹10 million (US$170,000) annually. He refused the offer of ₹5 million (US$85,000) to appear in a surrogate ad for a leading liquor brand.

He appeared in the Indian documentary film Carve Your Destiny by Anubhav Srivastava. Kumar also served as a judge on MTV India's reality television series MTV Roadies. Other media appearances include in The Kapil Sharma Show and Comedy Nights with Kapil.

Awards, rewards and recognition

• Arjuna Award, 2005
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award (joint), India's highest sporting honour.
• Padma Shri, 2011

For the bronze medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics

• ₹5.5 million (US$94,000) cash award and promotion to Assistant Commercial Manager from chief ticketing inspector by Railway Ministry (his employer)
• ₹5 million (US$85,000) cash award from the Delhi Government.
• ₹2.5 million (US$43,000) award by the Haryana Government.
• ₹2.5 million (US$43,000) cash award by the Steel Ministry of India.
• ₹500,000 (US$8,500) cash award by R K Global
• DSP Rank in the Haryana Police.
• ₹1 million (US$17,000) cash award by the Maharashtra State Government.
• ₹1 million (US$17,000) cash award from MTNL.

For the gold medal at 2010 World Wrestling Championships

• ₹1 million (US$17,000) cash award from Indian Railways (his employer) & out-of-turn promotion from his current position of Asst. Commercial Manager.
• ₹1 million (US$17,000) cash award from Sports Authority of India, (Government of India).
• ₹1 million (US$17,000) cash award from the Delhi Government.

For the silver medal at 2012 London Olympics

• ₹20 million (US$340,000) cash reward from the Delhi Government.
• ₹15 million (US$260,000) cash reward from the Haryana Government.
• ₹7.5 million (US$130,000) cash reward from the Indian Railways.
• Land in Sonipat for a Wrestling academy by the Haryana Government.
• ₹1 million (US$17,000) cash award from ONGC.

See also

In Spanish: Sushil Kumar para niños

• India at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 66 kg
• Wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 66 kg
• Wrestling